In my classes I find myself saying “listen to the wisdom of your hips”.  Healthy hips lead to a healthy back & healthy knees.  For the greater part of my life as a health and fitness nut I continually had lower back pain.  No matter how many sit-ups I did to strengthen my abs my low back would still quietly nag every day.  Then, I discovered the importance of open, balanced hips and my low-back pain dissolved.  Aaahh…

Hips are used in pretty much every movement of every day.  So your hips are one of the most critical parts of your body.  Flexibility, strength, functionality, stability & balance are all needed to maintain healthy, happy hips.  On the job, in the car, sitting down for a meal, all these seated positions train the hips to remain in one position.  “It may feel like you’re not doing anything sitting at your desk all day, but this position actually contracts the front of the hip and stretches the back of the hip, which can throw off your alignment,” says New York-based yoga and Pilates instructor James Darling. Sitting down shortens the hip flexors and lengthens the hamstrings.  This causes an anterior pelvic tilt (pelvis tilting forward), extreme cases are called cases of Lordosis.  The low back is constantly compressed causing this constant nagging pain.  To change this, it is important to open and stretch your hip flexors every day by stretching.

Here are three simple Yoga poses I do every day to stretch my hip flexors and rebalance my hips for increased, pain free mobility.

Warrior I Pose - no, you don’t have to go to a full Yoga class to do warrior pose.  Simply placing your feet in the proper stance and opening the front of the body to rebalance the hips will do your hips and body good.

Baby Cobra - by pressing the pelvis into the ground, engaging the glutes and abs while expanding the chest this does the body doubly-good because I’m not only opening my hips but opening by chest and strengthening my back muscles by squeezing my shoulder blades together.

Triangle Pose - this pose actually opens the hips and stretches the inner thigh.  Wonderful for releasing all that pent up stress from the day.

You can take the beginners’ Lotus Flow Yoga Class Sundays 3:30 - 5pm or the new TRX + Yoga evening series 8pm Mon-Thu at The Space Market & Studio: 195 Arizona Ave, L/W #7, Atlanta, GA 30307.  Call 404.226.9966 or email info@holisticstrategiesinc.com for more info.