Take a moment and recall how you felt the last time you stood up after spending hours sitting at your desk or taking a long drive. How was your posture? How did your lower back feel? This week we’re digging into how important it is to keep your hips and legs mobile and flexible.
Our lower bodies house the body’s largest muscles and our hip joints are impacted by several muscles, ligaments, and tendons. For you to move your lower body––walk, dance, run, practice yoga––the hip flexors, extensors, abductors, adductors, and rotators must be strong yet supple. The pelvis needs to be stable but also mobile. Think of your lower body as the foundation to staying physically fit.
Because in our Western culture we sit so much, a few things happen to the natural alignment of our spines and if left unchecked, can cause not just bad posture but injuries to our ankles, knees, and lower backs. Basically, sitting too much shortens the hip flexors in the front of the pelvis and tightens the hip rotators, which can shift your pelvis out of healthy alignment.
So what’s the solution? A two-pronged approach includes creating space in the hip flexors (psoas), stretching the rectus femoris and sartorius (hamstrings), and strengthening the hip stabilizers like the gluteus medius to provide pelvic stability will help.
For mobility and flexibility, try Figure-4, Half-Pigeon, and Seated Forward Folds. To ensure you are balancing the suppleness with strength, use standing poses like Warrior 2 and Tree Pose. The combination of a variety of poses will help you maintain your current alignment or assist you in bringing yourself back into balance. And because we hold onto a lot of emotional baggage in our hips, when you create physical openings, you create simultaneous emotional release as well. It’s a win-win.
Whether you’re an elite athlete looking to stay in the game or you’re simply looking to stay as strong and flexible as you can for as long as you can, we’ve got the class for you. Check out this week’s carefully designed practices from top YogaDownload instructors. Enjoy!
Yoga and Mobility for Hips - Michelle Berman Marchildon
Lower Body Mobility - Lila Whiting
Yoga for Atheletes: Lower Body Mobility & Recovery - Kylie Larson
Myofascial Release: Pelvis to Outer Hip - Gemma Celento