If you’ve been wanting to improve the flexibility of your hips or have been suffering from hip pain, this simple sequence of six yoga stretches will restore your body to ease and joy.
In the 26 years I’ve been teaching yoga, I can speak with authority and let you know that if you suffer from tight hips, you are not alone!
Here’s what you need to do this sequence:
- About 15 minutes of your time. You will need to do each stretch one minute each side. Let’s allow another 3 minutes to get your stuff together and transition from each pose to the next in a relaxed manner.
- A yoga strap. If you don’t have a yoga strap you can use a bathrobe belt or a leather belt.
- An egg-shaped yoga block or a wooden shaped yoga block. If you don’t have a yoga block you can use a large hardbound book such as a dictionary.
- A wall.
Here’s how you need to do each pose:
- Hold each side for 60 seconds.
- Breathe and relax.
- Don’t push.
- If your hips are tight, practice this sequence daily to release tension way down deep.
Hamstring Stretch Variation Using a Wall
I recommend using a wall if you have tight hips because you need to be sure your opposite foot on the leg you’re not stretching is straight.
The position of your feet controls the position of your hips.
Many people suffer from hip pain when their hip bone is slightly out of alignment in the hip socket.
This variation of hamstrings will set your hip bone in the socket properly.
When people need hip surgery it’s often because they have lost the range of motion in their external hip rotation.
This external hip rotation stretch variation uses an egg-shaped block to keep your hips level.
Your inner thigh will lengthen and relax.
Many people who stretch their hips do the Four Square Hip Stretch. If you practice this stretch, are you doing it correctly?
Are you keeping all four corners of your hips on the ground?
Are you flexing your feet?
If you don’t have an egg-shaped yoga block – or even a regular yoga block – you can pull out a hardback book such as a dictionary to use as a lever in this pose to open your hips.
Are you making the mistake of forgetting to stretch your quadriceps when you stretch your hips?
Your quadriceps are part of your hips.
Give yourself permission to use a yoga strap if your hips feel especially tight.
Once you have worked through the other five poses, you’re ready for Pose of Nobility.
When I asked my yoga students at the end of 2020 which yoga poses they felt most helpful to them during that stressful year, the number one pose they mentioned was Pose of Nobility.
Once you master this pose you can also practice shoulder stretches while practicing pose of nobility.
Eagle Arms with Pose of Nobility
If you’d like to learn more about how to get out of pain naturally, please read my Amazon number one bestselling book The Difference Between Pain and Suffering.
The Difference Between Pain and Suffering by Catherine Carrigan, available in paperback, ebook and audiobook
The Difference Between Pain and Suffering is a complete handbook for hope and healing for pain relief without drugs.
Written by medical intuitive healer Catherine Carrigan, this book outlines tips you can follow to restore your health naturally. Before COVID, drug overdose was the No. 1 cause of death for Americans under the age of 50.
Learn how to feel good without opioids or over-the-counter medication.
Your Physical Body: Learn how to heal pain through nutrition, yoga, posture exercise, restorative movement, juices and smoothies and food healing.
Your Energy Body: Take advantage of the hidden secrets of your chakras, energy healing, Reiki, balancing your acupuncture meridians and breathing exercises.
Your Emotional Body: Release the emotional stress behind your suffering, overcome your broken heart, understand the messages from your body and let go of the payoffs for chronic pain.
Your Mental Body: Change your story to think like a rich and healthy person.
Your Spiritual Body: Raise your vibration past pain and suffering and learn how to comfort others when all you have to give is love. This book includes an appendix with 41 therapeutic yoga exercises, charts and directions on how to balance your own acupuncture meridians and recipes for radiant health.
To join Catherine Carrigan for group or private instruction in yoga please email catherine@catherinecarrigan.com. Classes available in person and via Zoom.
At the age of 62, I still teach seven yoga classes a week (three at a private club not open to the public). Join me to feel better, improve your strength, flexibility and peace of mind!
Open classes via Zoom include:
Tuesday and Thursday evenings 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Thursday mornings 11 am to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday mornings 10:30 to 12 noon.
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To set up an appointment for a medical intuitive reading or healing work, please email catherine@catherinecarrigan or call 678-612-8816. If you are calling internationally, please call me at the same number through WhatsApp so I can return your call toll free!