Butterfly Stretch
Flexopedia > Hip External Rotation, Adductors & Glutes
Butterfly Stretch
Flexibility Focus: Hip External Rotation, Adductors, Glutes
Muscle Group Strengthened: n/a
Type of Stretch: Passive Static
Difficulty: All Levels
Suggested Prerequisites: none
The butterfly stretch can be quite an intense hip opener - by opening our legs out to the side in a dramatically externally rotated position (thighs face backwards behind us), it becomes a deep inner thigh (and potentially glute as well) stretch.
How To
Step 1
Start sitting on the floor, or on 1-2 yoga blocks (for students with stiffer hips, I strongly recommend sitting on blocks!). Bend your knees and bring the bottoms of your feet together, sliding them in towards your groin. Traditionally, the butterfly stretch is done with the heels pulled in as close to your groin as you can, but if that feels uncomfortable on your hips or knees, you can experiment with sliding the feet farther away from your groin. Once you’ve adjusted your knees, udjust your spine: sit tall and upright to help un-round your low back. If you find it very challenging to sit up tall, elevate your hips by sitting on another block (that’ll make the stretch less intense on your glutes, which are likely forcing you to tuck your pelvis and round your low back).
Step 2
If you’d like a deeper stretch, you can:
Grab your ankles and, keeping your back flat (don’t let that low back round!), pull yourself into a forward fold - even a small lean might change the intensity of the stretch
Use your hands or forearms to gently press your thighs open, smooshing your knees down towards the floor
Hold this passive stretch for 20-30 seconds.
Modifications
Need to make it easier?
Don’t be shy about lifting those hips! Butterfly stretch can be a challenge because it asks for a lot of glute and inner thigh flexibility - starting sitting on a yoga block (or blocks) takes away some of the intensity of the glute stretch, allowing you to stretch more gently.
Place blocks under your knees for support. Instead of actively pressing your knees towards the floor, give them a bolster/support by sliding blocks under the outside of your knees to keep them comfortably lifted.
Want to make it harder?
Put your feet on a yoga block. If you’re someone who can comfortably get your knees to the floor and deeply forward fold in your butterfly, you can increase the amount of external hip rotation by starting with your feet resting on a yoga block, butt still on the floor.
Related Content
Flexopedia: Yogi Squat
Flexopedia: Supine Figure-4 Stretch
Blog Post: 6 Exercises for Hip Internal and External Rotation
