Try This 10-Minute Yoga Routine to Help Increase Your Hip Flexibility

The hips are a large joint in your body and support a great range of motion. Because of the amount of time most of us spend sitting in chairs, it’s common for the hips to be tight. Tight hips are often linked to lower back pain and discomfort doing common activities such as running, walking or sitting. They can also be the source of problems further down the alignment chain with knee and ankle pain. Opening and closing the hips in different directions is vital not only for the health of this joint, but in some cases, your mind. In yoga, the hips are often referred to as storehouses for tension and unrelieved emotions. Maybe you’ve experienced an unexpected emotional outpour in a pigeon pose before — this release during hip work isn’t a coincidence in our experience.

In order for the hips to release some of their stored tension, the muscles around the hip joints will have to be stretched and lengthened. This simple 10-minute routine is designed to get you warm and ready to make real changes in your lower body. Like we said, this work can be potent, so be gentle with yourself and allow time to help you ease and deepen into these shapes. If you can consider the years it took for this tension to build, you can gift yourself patience as you work to unravel.

Tip: Consistency is key to see real changes in your hips. It’s better to work on your hips 10 minutes each day than an hour once a week.