How to Use a Yoga Swing to Stretch Your Spinal Column, Hips, and Surrounding Tissues

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A yoga swing is a wonderfully diverse tool for improving mobility. They are readily available at online yoga supply stores, as well as retailers like Amazon. I purchased mine here:

Yoga Swing

Yoga swings typically come with climbing carabiners to allow for convenient hanging on stable anchors. I use the following mounts which I secured to the wood joists in the ceiling of our workout area.

Wall Mounts

If you're not reasonably confident that you can install wall mounts safely and securely, I would suggest contacting a local contractor who can do this for you within an hour.

In this video, I demonstrate the basic layout of a yoga swing, how to sit up in the swing, and how to safely invert your body to allow for long axis traction for your spinal column and surrounding tissues. As you move around while inverted and induce extension, lateral flexion, and rotation through your spinal joints, your hips will also experience improved mobility. Improved core strength is also a nice benefit to gently moving around while inverted.

It's a lot safer to invert yourself in a yoga swing than it might appear to be at first glance, but if you have any doubt about your ability to learn how to use your yoga swing safely, I would suggest having a mattress or thick padding on the ground below your swing, and have an able-bodied person to assist you until you feel comfortable using it. Ideally, you might find a local yoga studio that utilizes yoga swings and take some classes from an instructor who is experienced in using a yoga swing.

Alternatively, you can do a search at YouTube for yoga swing exercises and routines - you'll find many helpful tutorials and tips on how to use a yoga swing to improve mobility of all areas of your body.

In the coming weeks, I'll share more ways of using a yoga swing to improve overall mobility. If you ever have any questions for me, please leave leave them for me in the comments section below.

For an overview of exercise progressions that you can work at to improve your mobility and balance in a systematic way, please feel free to visit our Mobility Exercise Progressions page here:

Mobility Exercise Progressions

For some suggestions on how to set up a simple workout area at home, please feel free to view:

Suggested Resources for a Home Gym