Let's face it, after teenagehood and entering into the adult world, it is almost a given that tight hips are a way of life. There are the few exceptions from the rule but most of us including myself struggle with that stiffness around the pelvic region, and it's deeper than tight hip flexors and psoas muscle, which mind you is known as the muscle of soul. You could say it's a mixed bag of things with not stretching enough as our bodies grow, sitting all day, running too much, wearing heels, bone structure, the list can go on, but one thing to add here is the element of EMOTIONS. Our hips are one of the greatest emotional storage containers in our bodies and we can store some of our deepest vulnerabilities in them. We store memories, emotional pain and energy from our partners current and past, and childhood trauma in the fascia (connective tissue). What tight hips can also mean:
Fearing the future - living up to our own expectations (front of hips)
Fear of relationships - romantic and work
Emotional and physical trauma - childbirth, shame on sexual trauma
Chakra imbalance (sacral) - connected to sexuality, desires, pleasure, ability to let go
Inability to love yourself - to be fully open
Holding onto the past - back of the hips (lower back/ glutes)
Through my own experience of hip pain and having to go through surgery to heal the physical damage, the real healing and opening of my hips came through many hours of breath work, specific yoga postures (tree pose [pic above], pigeon pose, low lunge, spinal twists, dancers pose) and releasing my energetic blocks through healing work. I can assure you it wasn't an overnight job, but I got back to walking and running free of hip pain, and back to competing at higher levels. Learning to be OK with the tightness is in itself a way of healing as you become mindful and free of judgement and expectation on where you are and where you want to be. The hips are also connected to the brain via the central nervous system, so what you think and believe in carries on into those areas. Yoga + breath + mindfulness = happy hips :-)