George’s Intro
Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks.
I’m also mildly obsessed with sticky-note yoga doodles: distilling the essence of a class idea into the smallest useful space before the kettle boils. This post is one of those doodles—with rather more room for hips.
Blank pages are surprisingly persuasive. Mine usually arrive with a cup of tea and the sudden conviction that I have only ever learned three yoga poses.
That was the problem behind this post. I wanted one visual place where a yoga teacher could see plenty of hip openers, choose a sensible handful and turn them into a class without disappearing down a planning rabbit hole.
So I gathered 36 poses into one printable chart. Then I used the same chart to build the 60-minute lesson plan below. The result is a clear beginning, middle and end for your class—and fewer mysterious arrows scribbled on the back of an envelope.
Jump straight to the free Hip-Openers Yoga Chart ↓
Free Hip-Openers Yoga Chart: 36 Poses
Start with the chart. It brings 36 seated and floor hip-opening poses together in one place. Download it, print it and keep it beside you while planning—or share it with students as a simple practice reference.
Seeing the poses together makes the choices easier. Instead of asking, “Which hip opener exists?” you can ask the much more useful question, “Which five or six belong in this particular class?” Your students will probably thank you for not attempting all 36.
Download the Free Hip-Openers Yoga Chart
The chart is ready. Use it as a class-planning prompt, teacher reference or student handout.
A Ready-to-Teach 60-Minute Hip-Opening Yoga Lesson Plan
Now give those choices shape. I started quietly, built towards the stronger hip-opening work and finished with enough time to settle—because Savasana should not be treated like the final ten seconds of a television quiz.
Use the plan below as written or swap in alternatives from the chart. Encourage students to work within a comfortable range, use props where helpful and treat every pose as an exploration rather than a target.
- Warm-up — 5 minutes
Begin in Easy Pose. Settle the breath with Alternate Nostril Breathing and introduce the theme of creating space without forcing it. - Cat Pulling Tail Pose — 3 minutes each side
Lie on one side, bend both knees and hold the feet. Draw the top thigh back gradually while keeping the breath easy. - Bound Angle Pose — 5 minutes
Bring the soles of the feet together and let the knees open. Sit on support if the pelvis rolls backwards. - Baby Camel Pose — 3 minutes
Kneel, lift through the torso and add a gentle side-to-side reach. Keep the neck comfortable. - Camel Pose — 3 minutes
Place the hands at the lower back or heels. Press the thighs forward while lengthening through the front body. - Bridge Pose — 5 minutes
Lift the hips gradually and keep the knees tracking forwards. A block beneath the sacrum offers a supported option. - Bridge with One Leg Raised — 2 minutes each side
From Bridge, raise one leg only if the pelvis can remain steady. Keep both feet grounded for a gentler variation. - Child’s Pose — 3 minutes
Take the knees comfortably wide and rest the torso on a bolster if useful. - Cobra Pose — 3 minutes
Lift the chest with light pressure through the hands. Keep the elbows soft and the back of the neck long. - Cow Face Pose — 3 minutes each side
Stack the knees as comfortably as possible. Sit on support or leave the lower leg extended when needed. - Cool down and Savasana — 10 minutes
Let the legs rest in any position that feels settled. Allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm. - Closing — 5 minutes
Return to a comfortable seat, notice what has changed and close with quiet breathing or the Gayatri Mantra.
Build your own version. Use the Online Yoga Lesson Planner to swap poses, reorder the sequence and create a polished plan in one place. A lesson plan is a map, not a court summons.
9 Themes for a Hip-Opening Yoga Class
A theme adds personality. It can connect the physical sequence to a wider idea without turning the class into a lecture. Choose one and let it appear lightly in your introduction, transitions and closing.
Useful Resources
Keep exploring. These resources will help you find more poses, plans and teaching ideas:
- Browse free yoga lesson plans
- Explore the Yoga Lesson Planning Hub
- View 200+ hip-opening poses
- Explore the Online Yoga Lesson Planner
George’s Conclusion
The blank page has changed. The chart gets the possibilities out of your head and onto the page; the lesson plan turns those possibilities into a journey your students can actually follow.
Start with the 36 poses, choose the shapes that suit the people in front of you, and give the sequence a calm beginning, a purposeful middle and a satisfying end. The aim is not to squeeze every hip opener into 60 minutes. Your students’ hips have enough to discuss already.
If you would like to turn the chart into a polished class plan more quickly, the Online Yoga Lesson Planner gives you more than 3,000 poses, ready-made plans and One-click Plans. It does not make the tea, but it does remove most of the midnight scribbling.
