Six hip unzipping yoga poses

April 17, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

Every morning, it happens.

No matter what I did yesterday, I wake with the gait of a girl sporting a pencil skirt made of steel.

Maybe it’s because I don’t do enough night yoga. Maybe it’s because I work out five times a day. Or maybe it’s just ’cause I’m in denial about the fact that I’m not-twenty-someth-anymore years old. Who knows. All’s I do know is that tight hips have become the bane of my day’s beginnings. Well, that and that there’s a drastic disparity between this sinewy prison I live in every time I shinelessly rise from my pillow – and the pigeon poses I was performing on a tranquil lake shore all of eight hours ago. But I’ve kinda come to terms with it. Why? Because, lucky for me, there are some great go to yoga poses I’ve encountered along the way – since the first day I rolled out my mat (and promptly faceplanted onto it). What’s that? You also can relate to legs that won’t release and the subsequent clumsiness that comes with it? Well, good. Yogi, or not, I invite you to add these to your practice (or stretch repertoire – or whatever you dub it) to help lessen the tenseness in your stems’ flesh.

1. THE UNSEXY MISSIONARY POSITION

Legit name? “Happy baby”. Yep, I’ve just ruined the innocence of this pose’s name for you. (But let’s face it – that’s how babies are made; so the connection’s not that far off.) Anyway, this’s kind’ve an easy hip opener. It’s a nice way to break into the harder stuff (be patient; it’s coming) but it’s tough in that the trick’s to keep your chest and shoulders relaxed as you do it (’cause you wanna focus on your southerly muscles.)

2. THE DEFLATED PLIE

Real name? “Extended wide squat”. Not only do you get a bilateral (that’s just a fancy word for “both sides” – you can use it if you like) hip stretch here, but the bottom of your back’ll also thank you.

3. THE DYSLEXIC JAZZ SPLIT

There are actually a few variations of “open lizard” (like most poses), but however you do it – this one’s a double whammy. You not only hit the hip flexors with the tail of your lizard, but the external rotators (the muscles that swivel your hips outward) with the other side.

4. THE “GO ON WITHOUT ME. SAVE YOURSELVES.”

Oooh, brotha. My ankles have a fun time getting into “wide legged split”. But if your soles don’t stay stuck on the floor, no amount’ve yoga posin can save the damage it’ll do your knees. So keep your feet flat for this. Once you get to forearms or shoulders though, the real release can begin. Only then can you breathe into the deep stretch you need for those inner thighs, hammies, ‘n hips.

5. THE SOLE TO SOLE

Anyone who closet watches Oprah’s “Supersoul Sunday” here might appreciate my title for its unmatchable wit factor. For those who don’t, you might recognize this as “butterfly” pose. I’d almost suggest doing this one first and last between the other ones as a gauge for how far you’ve come from a few simple asanas (which is plural Yoga-nese for “yoga pose”).

6. SHIN KISS

“Head to knee” is excellent for stretching the hamstring and lower back alike. But a protip they don’t always tell you: the idea’s to hinge at the hip – not Halloween cat your back over so you can faceplant on your leg. After all, we wanna stretch the backside of your thigh, not practice Igor asana. If you can’t get your head to your knee straight away, that’s alright. Breathe into the stretch, and it’ll come slowly. This’s where that whole “tune into your body” hippie stuff comes in handy. If you can’t feel the thing stretching out that you sat down to stretch in the first place, then what’s the point?

You know, in the middle of ruining the seriousness of yoga for everyone with this article, I realized something. I’ve been doing these when I wake up every day. But maybe that’s not enough. Mayhaps I need to begin implementing these into my evening foam rolling routine, too. Like I’m prepping for a nocturnal marathon of unconscious muscle shortening. That way I can stop serving this life sentence as a tissue restriction Sisyphus every sun up.

And that’s just another thing yoga imparts: self-awareness.

(But only if you’re not as uptight than your truculent hip muscles.)