Even if you practice yoga daily and know your asanas from your shavasana, getting into the splits can seem like an impossible feat.But yogi Melissa Eckland, 29, believes it’s achievable for anyone to master the tricky stretch in just 10 minutes, thanks to her tried and tested technique.Posting a before and after photo of her mastering the pose along with a short video on Instagram, the LA-based wellness blogger, yoga teacher and model revealed the seemingly simple steps she follows to contort her lower body.Captioning a before and after shot of her initially struggling to get into the splits with one of her perfecting the pose she wrote, ‘can you believe these photos were taken just 10 minutes apart??!!’Most people think they can’t do a particular pose or they have no flexibility – but the truth is you have to warm your muscles up to get into the deepest position of your pose and build your muscles up to it!’She then added that she wanted to show how she loosens up her hamstrings, quads and hips to ‘achieve a deeper splits and increase overall flexibility!’Explaining that when she first tries to go into the splits, tight hips and hamstrings mean she usually can’t go very low and trying to force the stretch can be painful.So in order to correct this, she started by loosening up her body with a seated stretch, stretching each leg for 45 seconds.This was followed by getting  into the downward dog position for one minute, before completing a low lunge for 30 seconds.As her limbs were warmed up by that point, Melissa then maneuvered her body into half splits for one to two minutes before sinking into a deeper lunge and grabbing her back foot.Repeating this step three to four times, she then did a downward dog again before going into a seated forward fold for one minute before seamlessly positioning herself into the splits.A former accountant, Melissa decided to make fitness her full-time career in 2015 and she frequently posts about how to perfect yoga poses on her Instagram account.’I began MelisFit as a blog to share my healthy lifestyle in hopes to inspire people to become their own inspiration. I was going through a hard time in my life and fitness, health and positive thinking is what truly kept me from slipping into a dark place,’ she explained.She added: ‘When you follow your dreams, your passion, and work really hard, anything is possible.’You are not defined by your current circumstances and you can change your life at any time for no reason at all.’
AutoNews- Source: