What are you holding in the hips?

Baddha Konasana

Have you heard this? That we store emotions in our hips. Well everywhere in our body really but the hips location wise are at the base of our body. We can store a lot of stuff down there. The chakras or energy centres in closest proximity to the hips are the base and the sacral chakras. These energy centres rich in nerve supply and are anatomically called a nerve plexus.

The base chakra is connected to our early survival instincts and is therefore linked with security. The sacral chakra is our creativity centre and our ability to express this creativity in a healthy way.

The chakras hold all our memories. Any blockages within them could manifest as physical issues, lower back pain, endometriosis, insecurity, low libido to name a few.

With yoga when we are working with the physical aspects, the emotional aspects begin to heal too. An example would be heart ache or lack of confidence from whatever reason could manifest as rounded shoulders and slouched posture. If we did postures that opened up the rib cage, it could help clear these emotional wounds.

In my job as a Physiotherapist, one of the things I notice in people with lower back and hip pain (not everyone), is an inability to sit with the legs crossed on the floor. Its just so uncomfortable for loads of areas in the body. If this is easy for you, then some of the deeper hip opener poses would be the next step but if this is a difficulty for you then a good starting place is just that. Sitting in crossed leg position (easy pose).

Being in a particular posture may take weeks, months or even years, or you may always need props. We are all different. So a good starting point for the hips is easy pose. So many wonderful asanas and breath work can be done with this posture as a starting point.

Using cushions under your knees helps if support is needed, or sit on a cushion to get your back a bit straighter. Time length can vary to spend in this position. Again its listening to the body. Five minutes, 20 minutes, it doesn't matter,as long as you are improving. Using the breath is key to freeing up the tight areas. Things may rise up into the awareness as you try to relax the tight areas. As always check with your doctor if these things are okay for you to do. You always have to be safe.

I remember trying a Yin yoga class once. The postures are generally held for much longer than other yoga classes. I found that so difficult. I remember a feeling of just not being able to let go of my hip in a deep lunge and some fear arose. I honestly think there were emotions held there that I was not yet ready to face.

There are so many yoga postures that work on the hip joints. I'll just give a few here. Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose). Seated with the soles of the feet together like the top picture. Feel the stretch on your inner thighs and support under thighs if needed. Interlace your fingers around your toes and pull your back up straight. Use your breath and feel into the body. You can do up to eight breaths or even one is cool. Honour yourself where you are just now.

Half or full lotus position (see below) is deeper on the hips than easy pose. I find this challenging still. But I haven't practiced this very much. Sitting on a small cushion positioned towards the back of your bottom may help a little. Try for a few breaths.

I am all about self love this year. Thats the goal. Its so hard to break these old patterns. I have always felt less than because of my height. Yoga is just one of the tools that can be used to achieve this goal. It is a form of cleansing old patterns that keep us stuck. Even just doing a couple of postures a day is a step in the right direction. As a tall girl I tend to suffer with low back pain and tight hips. I'm doing lots of emotional cleansing at the moment. I feel my back is showing me what I still have to work through. Do any other tall girls have similar. I would love to hear your stories. Are you on the path to self love too?