While there might be an underlying health issue related to hip pain, for many, the cause is a sedentary lifestyle and too much time sitting down.
When you sit for long periods of time the muscles surrounding the hips can get tight and weak and suffer from reduced range of motion.
Tight hips can be really uncomfortable and can have a knock-on effect on the lower back.
Tight hips are a common concern for many who seek out yoga. In this article we’ll take a look at:
- What are the causes of tight hips
- Why yoga can help tight hips
- Yoga for tight hips poses and instructions
How Yoga Can Ease Tight Hips
Yoga is a great way to work with tight hips as it promotes range of motion, muscle lengthening and even strengthening.
Most yoga classes will have some emphasis on the hips so you should be good to go with any class you take.
The great thing about yoga for tight hips is that there are all kinds of poses to help lengthen and strengthen the hamstrings and glutes as well as the adductors and hip flexors. This gets into the full circumference of the hip.
Ideally, you want a good combination of seated, standing, supine and prone yoga poses to access all parts of the hip and include strengthening and lengthening.
As always, check in with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.
yoga for tight hips
Below are a number of yoga for tight hips poses that can be mixed and matched throughout your week to give you a well-rounded approach to easing hip discomfort due to tightness.
#1: Pelvic tilt
- Great for mobility of the hips
Start by lying on the floor with the knees bent and gently arch and round the lower back. Be sure to keep the hips on the floor as you do this, and try to use as little muscular effort as possible.
This is a super gentle way to warm up the hips joint and get them moving forward and back. Try and make it as easy as possible. You can do this one for as long as feels good but two minutes is a good place to start.#2: Reclined Butterfly Pose
- Great for lengthening the inner thighs.
While lying on your back, bring the soles of the feet together and let the knees fall out wide. If this feels too intense, you can place a cushion or yoga block underneath each thigh.
A great way to work in this pose is to bring one hand to the belly and one hand to the heart and imagine the hips relaxing and dropping as you exhale. Hold for around two minutes.
#3: Happy Baby Pose
- Great for lengthening inner thighs.
Start by lying on your back and draw your knees into your chest. Take your arms on the insides of your legs and grab hold of the ankles, feet or toes. Bend the knees deeply so that the soles of the feet are facing toward the ceiling. Sway gently from side to side to massage the lower back. Stay in the pose for up to a minute.
#4: Supine Figure of Four Pose
- Great for the piriformis and outer hip
Lie on your back with the soles of your feet on the floor. Take the right ankle and place it on the left knee. If this feels like enough, stay there; otherwise, draw the legs in towards you and interlace the fingers behind the left thigh.
Take a gentle sway from side to side. You can stay for up to two minutes and then repeat on the other side. One thing to bear in mind here is that the shoulders can get tight, so be sure to use your breath to relax the shoulders as well as the hips!
#5: Bridge Pose
- Great for lengthening the hip flexors and engaging the hamstrings.
Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet well placed on the floor. For most people having the knees and feet a little wider than hip-width works well. Have your arms by the sides of the body, palms facing down.
As you begin to lift up the lower back, middle back and upper back create the gentle motion of pulling your feet back towards your hips without them moving. This helps to engage the hamstrings. Stay for five easy breaths before returning the spine to the floor. Repeat this pose a few times.
#6: Knees into chest pose
- Great for easing the low back.
Not directly for the hips but a great one for easing the lower back and lengthening the back of the hips. Start by lying on the floor and draw the knees into the chest. Make small circles with the knees, going one way and then the other. Be sure to relax the shoulders. Hold for up to two minutes and focus on the exhalations allowing the knees to drop further into the chest.
#7: One knee into chest pose
- Great for lengthening the hip flexors.
Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent and place a folded blanket or yoga block on the lowest height underneath the hips/sacrum (not your lower back). Lengthen one leg long on the floor and draw the other knee into the chest.
Try not to pull on the lifted leg but visualize it dropping towards your belly with each exhalation. Be sure to do both sides. Hold the pose for one to two minutes on each side before bringing the prop out from underneath your hips and rest for a few moments.
#8: Garland pose
- Great for lengthening the inner thighs.
From standing, come down into a squat with the toes turned out around 45 degrees. Keep the heels on the floor or raise the floor up by placing a yoga block or book underneath them.
Bring the hands to prayer in front of the chest, bringing the elbows to the inner thighs, and then elevate the spine towards the ceiling. Hold the pose for around half a minute before coming out.
#9: Locust Pose
- Great for strengthening the back of the hips.
Start by lying on your belly. Have your arms by your sides and your palms facing down. Lift up your legs and upper body on an inhale and hold for around five breaths. Make sure that the back of the neck is long.
#10: Pigeon Pose
- Great for the outer hip and the hip flexors.
Start in a downward-facing dog. Reach the right knee to the back of the right wrist and keep that knee bent, lengthen the back leg long so that the front of the left hip is facing the floor. Imagine the front of the left hip dropping towards the floor as you exhale.
Keep the top of the left foot on the floor. You can keep the torso upright or come down onto the forearms or onto the floor with the upper body. Hold for around one minute. Repeat on the other side.
#11: Frog Pose
- Great for lengthening the inner thighs.
This is a more intense stretch for the inner thighs so go easy as you approach it. Start on all fours. Gently widen the space between your legs by walking the knees away from each other until you get a sense of stretch.
The inner calf and foot should stay in contact with the floor. You can lower down onto the forearms if that feels comfortable. Create a gentle action of pushing the hips back. Hold the pose for around one minute.
#12: Low Lunge Pose
- Great for lengthening the hip flexors.
From all fours step your right leg forward so that your right foot is at a 90-degree angle underneath your knee. Reach your arms up and overhead for a stretch in the left hip flexors. Stay for around half a minute before practicing on the other side.
#13: Crescent Lunge Pose
- Great for lengthening the hip flexors.
Start in a downward facing dog. Step the right leg forward to the top of the yoga mat. Keeping the back knee lifted reach the arms up and overhead for a front-of-hip stretch in the back leg. Press down deeply through the front heel to activate the glutes and hamstrings. Hold for half a minute and then switch to the second side.
#14: Double Pigeon Pose
- Great for the outer hips.
This is a tricky pose, and for many, it can be super intense, so go easy with this one. Come into a seated position. You are going to stack the shins like two logs stacked on top of each other. Bring the right shin to sit on top of the left shin so that the right knee is over the left ankle and the right ankle is over the left knee.
The top knee might not come to rest on the bottom one. If the shins stack and touch, then you can begin to lean forward and come into a forward fold. Hold for around 30 seconds and then repeat on the other side.
#15: Camel Pose
- Lengthens the hip flexors.
Begin kneeling. Make sure that your knees and feet are roughly hip-width apart. Place the hands at the heart center in prayer. Hinge back at the hips without bending the spine.
Bring the hands to the heels (or bricks if you prefer), and then lift the chest into a backbend by drawing the sternum up. To come out of the pose sit back onto the heels and rest for a moment. Hold the pose for five easeful breaths.
What next?
If practicing yoga for tight hips has got you thinking about your lower back then why not check out Yoga for Lower Back Pain: 20 Poses to Ease and Prevent Lower Back Pain.
