Not feeling "Hip" enough??

Not feeling "Hip" enough??

Are you feeling a little immobile this week or bogged down?  Tired or emotional? Doing hip-opening yoga practice will help everything in your body move more easily.

Hip-openers are some of my favorite of poses. As everyday people, we tend to store emotional trauma and stress in the hips causing an unknowing clenching of the muscles. Opening poses can help release this tension and really lighten your mood. 

Tight hips are also very common because most of us sit at a computer all day, keeping our hips in a flexed position. The non-use of hip joint will cause shortening and shrinking of the hip flexor and decrease the ability to fully extend or straighten in the hip area. This can lead to lower back discomfort due to the shortened muscles across the front of the hips affecting the pelvis, which in turn affects the position and movement of the low back. Hip-openers can be really beneficial to your mental health, aid in good functional standing posture alignment, and aid in yoga posture alignment. How great is all that!!!

So what are good hip opening poses? Here are three of the ones I would like to suggest today:
 

The 1st  pose that is perfect for tight hips is Pigeon Pose, or Eka Pada Rajakapotasana in Sanksrit

Benefits: Opens the hip joint. Is a significant stretch for opening the buttocks, gluteals and piriformis muscle, which is very helpful for sciatic problems. Opens hip flexors. Helps relieve low back pain and stiffness.

Start on your hands and knees, with your hands aligned under your shoulders and your knees below the hips. Move your right knee forward, hugging it into the right wrist. Keep your right thigh parallel to the sides of your mat. Sweep your right shin and foot toward the left side of mat until the foot is directly below left hip. Lengthen your left leg back toward the back of the mat until it is straight and your toes are untucked. Once you have established yourself in this position, make sure that your hips are squared off and walk the hands or fingertips back in line with the hips. Take a gentle back bend for length, and lower both sides of your pelvis toward the floor. Your hips will have a tendency to lean to the right, so ensure that you keep your hips level to benefit fully from the stretch. If you cannot even out the hips, a blanket or prop can be placed under the right hip to equalize. As you inhale, extend your torso and spine. As you exhale, walk the hands forward and fold your body over the front right thigh until you can rest on the forearms and maybe release your head and neck until the forehead touches the mat. The sensation in this posture can be overwhelming at first and that is why it is important to continue breathing as your settle into the pose. If you experience pain, always back off just slightly to get to a place where you can breathe easily into the stretch. Stay in the modified position for several breaths, and with each exhale try to get a little bit closer to the final pose. Move on to the other side when ready. 

other variation of this pose looks like this:

My 2nd suggestion is Happy Baby Pose or  Ananda Balasana in Sanksrit

 

 

Benefits: Releases the low back, stretches the hamstrings Come to lie on the back on your yoga mat. Next bend the knees into the chest. Open the knees, bringing them towards the armpits. Stack each ankle directly over the knee, so that the shins are perpendicular to the floor. Flex the feet. Hold the outer edges of the feet at you draw the knees towards the floor. Rock softly back and forth side to side to give your spine a little massage. As I was telling my students in our Sunday power yoga class, if you would like to make baby sounds in this pose it is perfectly acceptable :P

From being a baby lets try out being a Lizard :) Lizard lunges or Utthan Pristhasana in Sanksrit will target your hips and hip flexors.

Benefits: Opens hips. Stretches the hamstrings and thighs.

Begin in Downward Facing Dog. Step your right foot forward between your palms keeping your hands on the floor. Lower your left knee to the mat, and release your elbows to the floor as well. Either rest your hands on the ground or bring your hands together in prayer position. Continue to squeeze your right knee toward your body and gaze forward to encourage your hips to lower toward the floor. After five breaths come back onto your hands. Tuck your left toes and step your right leg back. Either switch legs by stepping up the opposite leg from a plank position (like how we do in class) or take a vinyasa (exhale as you lower inhale cobra or  Upward Dog, then exhale to Down Dog), step your left foot forward, and repeat this pose on the left side.

Hope this three poses have loosened you up. Let me know if you would like to explore more hip openers. Have an amazing rest of your day. Stay hip

Enjoy. Namaste!

love Tara