Yoga is good for the hips!
Yoga gives us a unique opportunity to take our femur on a complete circumnavigation of the hip socket. In the yoga practice, we take the femur into extension, flexion, external rotation, internal rotation, abduction and adduction; in other words, we get to explore the full range of motion of this very important joint, which can be beneficial for hip health and mobility.
The externally rotated standing poses – warrior two, side angle pose, triangle pose, half moon pose, and tree pose – are particularly delicious. They offer the student the opportunity to take the front leg into its fullest expression of external rotation. Yum! However, you gotta work this pose, supermodel. Many students miss the deeper openings of these poses because they don’t fully engage (or know to engage) the actions that will take them to their fullest expression. Or, they compromise the essence of the rotation by compensating and moving the pelvis in all sorts of funny ways. But don’t miss out! These poses are a juicy opportunity to activate the external rotators, open the adductors, and take your thigh bone on its own personal adventure.
Here are some tips to help you dive into your hip deliciousness. We’ll focus on warrior two.
Set yourself up for success.
Take a wide stance with your feet. From the top of your right thigh, turn your right thigh, shin and foot towards the front of your mat. Align your front heel with the middle of your back arch. Turn your back heel back slightly towards the back of your mat. Bend your right knee to 90 degrees.
Just external rotation ma’am.
When you’re coming into the pose, place your hands on your pelvis. The pelvis likes to take the path of least resistance by tilting anteriorly (sticking the bum out) or tipping side to side (like the little teapot). Use your hands to “levelize” the pelvis. Imagine the basin of your pelvis is filled with a delicious beverage (margaritas?) and you don’t want to spill a drop. However, you can let the pelvis turn in rotation: ie: if your front hip points are headlights, you can turn them horizontally, but don’t let them move up and down.
Find your full range of movement.
Keeping your front knee over your ankle, use your hand to manually externally rotate your front thigh. Roll the inner thigh up to the sky and the outer thigh down to the floor. Go ahead! Grab onto your thigh high up by the hip crease. You’ll feel the outer hip engage to support the movement and your knee will move towards your pinkie toe. (Did your margarita spill? Do a double check!)
Now, keeping your thigh in this position, turn your pelvis towards the side of your mat. (Note: unless you have very lateral-facing joints, you will not be able to square your hips. Don’t try! Or despair! This is normal.) This action increases the external rotation at your hip. Remember: don’t lose your margarita!
And….action.
Juicify your pose by pressing the left thigh back as you wrap your right sitting bone down to the floor. Take a moment to feel the opposing forces of these two actions:
- When you wrap your right sitting bone down, your left thigh will naturally want to pop forward.
- When you press your left thigh back, your right sitting bone will want to wing back.
Find the interplay between these opposing actions and notice how they activate your warrior. Now keep bending your knee so that you’re really at 90 degrees…for reals! Sense how the power of your hips helps sustain the lightness of your upper body.
Continue to play
Explore this deep external rotation in all of the externally rotated standing poses, and experience how these mindful actions will unlock a world of hip opening and strengthening.
Happy playing!
