Post-Run Cool Down

Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Step your right foot forward a short distance and place the heel on the floor with the toes pointing up. Keep the right leg straight and bend your left knee slightly.

1. Inhale — lengthen through your spine and place your hands on your left thigh.
2. Exhale — hinge forward from your hips, sending your sit-bones back. Keep your chest lifted and the right leg straight. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. Inhale to rise, then switch sides.

• Hinge from the hips, not by rounding the spine. A short fold with a long back beats a deep fold with a curved one.
• The standing leg's knee bends to let your hips travel back farther.
• Only go as deep as your hamstrings allow without rounding the spine.

Stand tall near a wall, chair, or other stable object. Place your left hand on it for balance. Shift your weight onto your left foot.

1. Bend your right knee and bring your right heel toward your right glute.
2. Reach back with your right hand and gently catch the top of your right foot or your ankle.
3. Inhale — lengthen your spine. Exhale — gently draw your heel closer to your glute and your right knee slightly back. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
4. Release and switch sides.

• Keep your knees close together; don't let the bent knee swing out to the side.
• Keep your hips squared forward — don't twist to follow the bent leg.
• If you can't reach your foot, loop a strap or towel around the ankle and hold the ends.

Sit on the floor (or sit upright on a chair). If you're on the floor, lie back. Cross your right ankle over your left thigh, just above the knee, so your right shin forms a horizontal line across your left thigh.

1. Inhale — flex the right foot to keep the right knee protected. Place your hands behind your left thigh (or on top of it if chair-seated).
2. Exhale — gently draw your left thigh toward your chest (floor variant) or lean forward over your shin (chair variant). Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. To switch sides, release and repeat with the left ankle over the right thigh.

• Keep the right foot flexed — this keeps the right knee aligned.
• Keep your shoulders relaxed; don't shrug them up to your ears.
• Stop where you feel a stretch in the glute, not at the knee joint.

Kneel in front of a chair or bench with your back to it. Bring your right shin up against the seat so the top of your right foot rests on it and your right knee stays on the floor. Step your left foot forward into a half-kneeling position, knee over ankle.

1. Inhale — bring your hands to your left thigh or your hips and lift your spine tall.
2. Exhale — draw your tailbone down and ease your hips back toward the chair until you feel a stretch along the front of your right thigh and hip. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. Lower down and switch sides.

• Keep your torso upright and your tailbone drawing down to keep your lower back long.
• Ease into the shape gradually — the front-thigh stretch here can feel strong.
• Start with your back knee farther from the chair and move it closer as the position opens.

Begin in a tabletop position on your hands and knees. Slide your right knee forward toward your right wrist and angle your right shin across the mat, letting the outside of the shin rest on the floor. Extend your left leg straight back behind you with the top of the foot on the mat.

1. Inhale — walk your hands forward slightly and lengthen your spine, lifting through your chest.
2. Exhale — lower your torso toward the floor over your front shin, resting on your forearms or reaching your arms forward. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. Press back up through your hands and switch sides.

• Keep your back leg pointing straight behind you, not angled out to the side.
• Flex your front foot to keep the front knee supported.
• Slide a folded blanket under the hip of your front leg if it lifts away from the floor.

Stand tall with your feet together. Step your right foot behind and across your left foot, keeping both feet on the floor.

1. Inhale — lift both arms overhead, reaching up through the fingertips.
2. Exhale — gently bend to the left, sweeping your right arm overhead and to the left. You should feel a stretch along the outer right hip and the side of the right leg. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. Inhale to return to center; release the cross-step and repeat to the other side.

• Keep both feet planted and the weight balanced; don't pop the right hip out.
• Lengthen up before you bend over; length first, depth second.
• Keep your chest open and your shoulders pulled down.

Sit on the floor with your knees bent and the soles of your feet pressed together. Let your knees fall open to the sides. Hold your ankles or feet with both hands.

1. Inhale — sit up tall, lifting through the crown of your head.
2. Exhale — gently hinge forward from your hips. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. To exit, inhale and roll up to seated.

• Hinge from your hips, not by rounding your spine.
• Don't force the knees down. Let gravity work; if your knees sit high, place a folded blanket under each knee for support.
• Bring your heels closer to your body for more inner-thigh stretch, or farther away for more hip stretch.

Stand facing a wall about an arm's length away. Place your palms on the wall at shoulder height. Step your right foot back, keeping the back leg straight and the back heel pressed into the floor. Bend your front knee.

1. Inhale — lengthen your spine.
2. Exhale — gently lean your hips toward the wall, keeping the back heel grounded. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. Release and switch sides.

• Keep the back leg straight and the back heel rooted to the floor.
• Both feet point forward; the back foot doesn't turn out.
• To target the lower calf, bend the back knee slightly while keeping the heel down.