Many of you exploring yoga might have noticed that Yoga practice pays a great deal of attention on hip opening postures and sequences. The aim is not just to be able to sit in a split. In fact hips have much more information hiding in them than we think.
So let's see what our hips tell us?
Our pelvis is considered as our second scull taking into account its construction as well as its functions in the body. The pelvis is connected with the skull by vertebra and the movements of both are synchronized. We are used to thinking that our skull is the only place where our skills, talents and thoughts are located. However, it is important to know that the pelvis also has its own "intellect".
The fact that humans can walk on their two is thanks to the perfect construction of the pelvis, which permits us to balance vertically, while animals can only balance horizontally, which makes it much easier, since the whole weight is distributed evenly between four limbs.
Humans can walk or run due to the muscles connecting the upper part of the hip bone with the pelvis in the hip bowl. These muscle tissue is very strong by itself and it is not possible to rip them easily. This tightness is necessary to keep the hip bone inside the hip bowl.
Also, our hip joints are often under huge pressure and tension. Because of our way of life, various traumas, permanent load, usual uneven sitting or standing poses or other reasons, hip joints as well as the connecting muscule groups may develop in an asymmetrical way, which by its hand leads to an asymmetry of the whole body. Therefore, stabilizing and strengthening the hip joints and the corresponding muscules is crucial to have a sustainable pelvis and spine.
Yoga suggests the following poses to stabilize the hip joints, make them symmetrical and strong:
Trikonasana (Triangle pose)
ParsvaKonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose)
Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1 pose)
Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2 pose)
Vrksasana (Tree pose)
Ardha Chandrasana ((Half Moon pose)
At the same time we should avoid too much tightness and tension of the muscles responsible for strong pelvis and stable hip joints. Femoral Vein and Artery, Lymph vessels, as well as important nerves pass through the inner part of the pelvis. They are protected by the pelvic walls. Thus too much tightness of its muscles can squeeze the nerve and make less space for free circulation of those lively important fluids.
We should mention that such sports as running, football, hiking very often lead to over tightness of the hip joints. Emotional blocks and tension can cause tightness and blockage of the inner pelvic muscles.
This can become a reason for many problems in the body and illnesses, starting from lower back pain to hypertension, stress, depression, heart illnesses, etc.
Flexible hips soften the circulation of the blood, lymph and synovial liquid which influences the flow of spinal liquid. Therefore, stretching and lengthening of pelvic muscles and making the hip joints flexible is also very important!
In yoga we say that it serves for squeezing the nectar in the hips and surrounding areas to activate the upward Kundalini flow.
Among other yoga poses aiming to stretch the pelvic muscles and open the hips the below mentioned poses are spetially close to my heart :)
Upavistha Konasana (wide-angle seated forward bend)
Baddha konasana ( Bound Angle Pose)
Utthan Pristhasana (Lizard pose)
Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose)
Supta Padangusthasana 1, 2 (Reclined Big Toe Pose 1,2)
Viparita Karani in baddha konasana legs (Inverted Lake Pose)
Sukhasana (easy pose)
Gomukhasana (Caw pose)
Patmasana (Lotus pose)
In conclusion, I would like to remind you that balancing of the pelvis, strengthening, stretching and lengthening of the surrounding muscles are very important to keep the body structure firm and healthy, as well as the mind calm and happy!
Literature used:
Tias Little: Yoga of the Subtle Body