In reply to kathrync:
Rollering. Get a foam roller and / or tennis ball. Find the place that hurts most in the general area where you are tight. Make it hurt a lot more.
This has the major advantage of being easy to do (compared to stretching) and the major disadvantage of really, really hurting.
Ah, sorry, I've read the rest of your post now. I still think rollering is the way forward. You can, of course, vary the amount of pain / nausea / flashing lights depending on mood by varying the extent to which the roller takes your weight.