F 52 Branch Flexion EN

Extending the left leg out to the side as you lift the upper torso upright.

The tiptoe of the right foot is pressing down to the floor, gripping slightly into the floor to stabilize.

That left leg as it extends out is also active.

If you feel any impingement into the hips and/or you feel like there’s a little bit of an arch into the lower back or the sit bones lift or the chest flares, you may want to move the position of that left leg slightly forward out of the line with the other leg and the upper torso to compensate.

It’s very important that your upper torso feels upright and straight here.

Now activate through the extended leg and the quadricep of the right leg as you press the pelvis slightly forward.

Lift the sternum upright as you reach the arms out to the side and up.

And again, if your shoulders are a bit tight, keep the arms open.

They don’t have to be directly up, but continue to draw the shoulders down.

The shoulders won’t come up to the top of the ears.

Now with the legs actively engaged here, you want to start to move the body in a lateral motion down over the top of the left extended leg.

So you’re feeling that the sternum lifts first as you start to engage in this motion and that your right shoulder doesn’t collapse inward when you’re doing this.

The body stays open and the arms stay up and open.

Continue to activate the legs as you continue to engage that lateral side twist here.

And to release out of this, you want to continue to engage the legs and rather than just come straight up, you want to move a little bit to the left first and then gain leading with the chest as you lift upright and back to center.

A little bit of micro movements here into the spine to release any nooks or tension that might have come through and slowly release the arms down first to the side, then down to the floor and allow for the left leg to relax down as well.