Apparently You Can Wear Retinol During the Day—But There Are Rules, People

But you’ll get more bang for your buck at night, tbh.Butterfly pose (known as Baddha Konasana in Sanskrit) is a beginner-friendly yoga pose that helps open up your hips and ease tension.

It also helps stretch and strengthen many different muscles in your upper legs. This makes it a wonderful stretch for people with tight hip flexors, such as runners or folks who have a desk job, according to Emily Forte, E-RYT 500, YACEP, lead yoga teacher at YogaSix in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.

To get the most out of this seated yoga posture, we spoke to Forte on how to do butterfly pose in yoga properly and all the different variations you can try to deepen the stretch.

How to do butterfly pose in yoga the right way every time

(image)

1. Start by sitting on a yoga mat with your legs extended out in front of you.
2. Bend your knees to bring the soles of your feet together evenly from toes to heels.
3. Grasp your feet with your hands.
4. Sit up tall with a straight spine, engaging your core muscles to support your back.
5. You can try gently pressing your knees down toward the floor with your hands if it’s comfortable for you. Keep the soles of your feet together throughout the pose.
6. Stay in the pose for at least 30 seconds.
7. To come out of the pose, slowly bring your knees together and extend your legs out in front of you.

Butterfly pose muscles worked

Butterfly pose in yoga mostly targets the muscles in your thighs and core. Here’s a breakdown of all the muscles butterfly pose works.

• Adductors: These are your inner thigh muscles, and they extend down from the pelvic bone down to the inner thigh and knee. As you bring your knees out to the sides, you’ll feel your adductors getting a good stretch. Folding forward in the pose (a variation you’ll see below) can help you deepen the inner-thigh stretch even more.
• Quadriceps: Also known as quads, or your front thigh muscles, the butterfly gives you a nice quad stretch while opening your hip flexors.
• Lower back muscles: Butterfly pose can help soothe tension in your lower back muscles along your spine.
• Abdominals: Sitting up straight in the pose can help work your ab muscles in your core, improving your posture.

Butterfly pose benefits

1. It loosens tight hips and back

Butterfly pose strengthens your inner thigh muscles, lower back, and the front of your thighs. That’s what makes it an “important stretch for anyone who sits at a desk most of the day, which can cause hip flexors to be weak, or runners and athletes that may have tight hip flexors,” Forte says.

Tight hips and back can contribute to poor posture and discomfort, which you might feel if you have a desk job, and can even mess with your body’s alignment. Regularly doing butterfly pose can help loosen those tight hip flexors and improve your flexibility and range of motion.

2. It’s safe during pregnancy

Butterfly pose is safe and helpful to do during pregnancy because it can help release tension in your low back, hips, and inner thighs, according to Forte.

“Butterfly pose can also build strength in the pelvic floor muscles and help with circulation in the pelvic floor region. Having a strong pelvic floor can also decrease the strain the muscles experience during pregnancy and can later assist with labor and delivery,” Forte says.

If the pose is difficult or uncomfortable during pregnancy, try positioning your feet farther away from the groin area.

3. It can help improve your posture

Butterfly pose requires you to sit in an upright position, which engages your core and lower back. These two muscle groups are essential for good posture, so adding butterfly pose to your routine more often might just help you stand up taller.

4. It might help strip away stress

Yoga is known to help calm the mind, and adding the butterfly pose to your practice might help you let go of stress in your inner thighs and hips. A July 2020 review in Alternative Therapies In Health and Medicine concluded that many yoga practices are beneficial for reducing stress.

Butterfly pose variations

Different variations of a pose can help you address specific areas of tightness or weakness. Here, Forte shares her go-to butterfly pose variations to try if seated butterfly isn’t challenging enough.

 1. Butterfly pose with forward bend

(image)

1. Start by sitting on a yoga mat with your legs extended out in front of you.
2. Bend your knees to bring the soles of your feet together evenly from toes to heels.
3. Grasp your feet with your hands.
4. Sit up tall with a straight spine, engaging your core muscles to support your back.
5. Slowly begin to hinge your torso forward, allowing your spine to round as soon as you feel a sensation or tightness in your low back.