5 Hip-Opener Yoga Poses To Release Negativity
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When we say the word emotions, what exactly comes to your mind? Don’t we all link our emotions to our hearts? But, did you know that our body too, has its own way of manifesting our emotions? Yes, our body is the carrier of intense emotions that we experience or feel, and when the body gets overwhelmed, it starts manifesting those emotions in psychosomatic disorders. Therefore, to ensure our overall wellbeing, we need to find a way to release those negative emotions from our body. And if there is one part of the body where a lot of intense, negative emotions get accumulated, it’s that part of the body that doesn’t lie. Didn’t catch our drift? Remember the hit Shakira song — Hips don’t lie (geddit?). Yes, we are talking about them.
The best way to release all the negative emotions from our hips is by the practice of yoga. Yoga is a powerful practice that helps us to channelize our energies internally and externally. It also helps us to release the energies that don’t serve any purpose to us and helps us in achieving a holistically healthy body.
To achieve this goal, we’ve put together a list of hip-opener yoga poses that will help you in your quest for a more zen body and mind. Read on.
1. Warrior II
It’s a powerful pose that demands the engagement of your entire body. By doing this with precise alignment of your body, you can release any pent-up stress, both emotional as well as physical.
This Is How You Do It: Spread your legs shoulder width apart, and firmly, place one foot on the ground, and bend your knee. Stretch the other leg in the same direction. Doing this will make you feel a rotation in your thigh area which will release your tension. The feeling of rotation in your thighs is in the outward direction. Raise your hands, horizontally align them, parallel to your shoulders as shown in the picture above.
2. Low Lunge
It is also known as the forward-bending pose. Most of us, owing to our corporate lifestyles, end up spending a lot of our time sitting on a chair which makes our body extremely stiff. This makes our body rigid and makes it tense. To disperse that tension, this is a great pose. This pose is great for our groin area and also benefits the inner areas of our hips.
This Is How You Do It: Place one foot behind and press the knee on the ground by slowly lowering your back. Once you’ve positioned the knee, in a manner similar to the one shown above, you can continue to push the hip forward. And with every breath, let your hips sink a little closer to the ground.
3. Happy Baby
We think that this is the gentlest way of letting all the tensions go. And when the posture itself has the word “happy” in it, it’s the best way to let your hips release the negative energies, right?
This Is How You Do It:Lie down on your back and slowly pull your knees towards your chest. While doing this, you need to hold the sole of your feet in your hands, it will help you push your knees closer to your chest. After this, just like a cradle, you rock yourself from one side to another, while on your back. You will find yourself inhaling calmness and exhaling tension.
4. Pigeon Pose
This particular yoga posture is designed specifically to open up your hips. And many find this posture extremely difficult to do.
This Is How You Do It: While doing this posture, you need to pay close attention to the alignment of your body. Your hips need to be facing in one direction, and your back leg has to be extended but aligned with your hips, and you need to point your feet.
Next, you need to inhale while stretching your spine and legs, then while exhaling, relax your muscles. You have to push your hips towards the mattress, then relax once you’ve reached the mattress. This releases your negative energy.
5. Garland Pose
People also call it the yogic version of a lower squat. This helps you achieve two important things, it stretches your hips and also helps open up your lower back muscles.
This Is How You Do It: Stand with your legs held apart slightly wider than your hips, with your toes facing outward. Now by bending your knees, squat low enough such that your hips are hovering right above the ground. To intensify this squat, bring your hands closer to your chest in a Namaste position and with your elbows pressing into your knees.
Strengthening our hips by doing the above-mentioned poses will help us gain access to the freedom which lies within our body. This will, in turn, help us be more expressive spiritually, creatively, sexually, and physically. The first time you try these, you might find your hips to be too tight. Don’t panic, just be patient, and cultivate good breathing habits to help yourself release the negative energy locked in your hips.
Have you ever practiced these yoga postures before? Let us know in the comments section below.
