Post-Workout Cool Down

Start in a tabletop position on your hands and knees. Bring your big toes together and let your knees fall wider than your hips.

1. Exhale — sink your hips back toward your heels, lowering your torso between your thighs.
2. Walk your hands forward and rest your forehead on the floor or on stacked fists. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. To exit, inhale and walk your hands back toward your knees.

• Let your hips travel toward your heels. If they don't reach, place a folded blanket between your hips and heels for support.
• Keep your arms either active or relaxed by your sides — either works. Pick what feels better today.
• Breathe into your back; feel the ribs widen on each inhale.

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.

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.

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.

Stand in an open doorway with your feet in a short split stance, one foot slightly forward. Bend your right elbow to about 90 degrees and rest your forearm flat against the door frame, with the elbow at roughly shoulder height.

1. Inhale — lengthen through your spine and settle your right shoulder down, away from your ear.
2. Exhale — gently shift your weight onto your front foot, letting your chest turn away from the frame until you feel a stretch across the front of your right shoulder and chest. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. Release and switch sides.

• Keep your forearm flat against the frame and your shoulder settled down, not shrugged up.
• Turn your chest away gently — a small rotation is enough to open the front of the shoulder.
• Raise or lower your elbow on the frame to shift where you feel the stretch.

Lie on your back with your legs straight along the floor. Extend your arms out to the sides at shoulder height with your palms facing up. Bend your right knee and hug it gently toward your chest.

1. Inhale — keep your left leg long along the floor and your shoulders pressed down into the mat.
2. Exhale — guide your right knee across your body toward the left side of the floor. Turn your head to look toward your right hand. Hold for the prescribed duration, breathing steadily.
3. To switch sides, inhale and return the knee to center, then repeat with the left leg.

• Both shoulders stay rooted to the floor. Don't lift the shoulder of the twisted side to chase the knee down.
• The crossed knee doesn't need to touch the floor — let it land wherever your body lets it.
• Breathe into the side of your ribcage that lifts; the breath opens the twist more than effort does.