Hip Opening Yoga Poses For Beginners (Standing & Advanced)

For many people, the hips and thighs are critical areas of their body. Unfortunately, they can be problematic for various reasons, such as low back pain, sciatica, or tight hamstrings.

Yoga is an excellent solution to these problems because it offers stretching exercises that simultaneously work on the hips and thighs.

Hip Opening Yoga Poses are effective because they improve people's range of movement, flexibility, and strength. In addition, yoga hip openers have more benefits than just physical.

Thus, Stretching the muscles around the pelvis can bring relatively rapid emotional release.

So, if there’s one kind of yoga practice you should repeat regularly, it’s hip-opening yoga sequences.

We will look at some hip opening yoga poses for beginners and Hip opening yoga poses for pregnancy.

You can try standing hip opening yoga poses and also advanced hip opening yoga poses if you wish!

Let us first understand why we should do this yoga and the anatomy of the hip, and then move to the poses.

Hip Opening Yoga Poses: Why Should You Do Yoga for Your Hips?

Nowadays, tightness in the hips is one of the most common health issues. The tightness in your hips may be because we spend a lot of time sitting and lack hip-opening positions like a deep squat.

It is common for people to develop lower back pain, spinal misalignments, or even injury because of this constant tension in this area.

I had experienced hip pain before and had to start taking better care of it to prevent future issues.

It has since been my goal to share what I have learned with others to improve their mobility and flexibility when it comes to their hips.

I want everyone reading this article to know that there are many benefits for stretching the front, back, and sides of the hips which will also help relieve your lower back pain.

Before we start with the actual hip-opening yoga poses, let’s have a quick look at the anatomy of the hips.

Anatomy Of The Hips

The hip joint is one of the most important joints in our body. It is a ball-and-socket joint that connects both bones of the legs with the pelvis.

The head of one femur (thigh bone) is connected to the acetabulum (socket part), formed by the iliac, ischium, and pubic bone.

The ball allows movement in almost every direction, including flexion and extension, abduction, and rotation around its longitudinal axis.

The hip joint provides support and movement for the body supporting its weight. It connects both legs and acts as a ball-and-socket joint during everyday activities.

The ball of the joint moves in many directions -including rotation around its longitudinal axis (front-back), plus extension and flexion in the sagittal plane (side to side).

In addition, it provides support with the forward and backward movements, abduction, adduction, and rotation around its long axis.

If this flexibility is not maintained, you will have issues with your hips and lower back pain. I suffer from chronic lower back pain, which has hampered me for years now.

I have learned the hard way how to self-care by practising stretches that promote mobility in the hips.

You need to know that hip-opening yoga poses can relieve lower back pain, spinal misalignments, injury, and more. In addition, they are very effective in helping you heal your body and maintain your joints.

Hip Opening Yoga Poses For Beginners

Are your hips tight? Are you having trouble sitting cross-legged or lengthening your spine? There is a whole world of gentle and restorative yoga postures meant just for you.

Read on to find out what they are, how to do them, and why they’re so great for loosening up tight muscles.

1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

A child’s pose is a great way to start your hip-opening yoga sequence. It is a very gentle pose that helps to create space for the hips and lower back. It will also help to target the muscles in your inner thigh.

It is typically recommended that you keep your knees over your feet and have a solid grip on your hands underneath you. It is also one of the best Hip opening yoga poses for pregnancy!

2. Bowing Warrior (Baddha Virabhadrasana)

Bowing warrior is an excellent pose for those who want a gentle way to start their hip-opening sequence. It places tension on the muscles that surround our hips and spinal column.

As you become familiar with this pose, you can incorporate more pressure on your feet, which helps with the deeper hip opening.

3. Bound Angle Pose (Ustrasana)

Bound Angle Pose is another gentle pose for your first set of Hip opening yoga poses for pregnancy.

It places tension on the muscles surrounding your hip joint while working your abdominals and back and opening the hips to stretch more.

4. Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana)

Cow face pose will open up your hips while strengthening the hips and shoulders and stretching out the legs. It can be pretty intense for the lower back as well.

Advanced Hip Opening Yoga Poses

Isn’t going even deeper into hip opening poses just asking for more trouble? No. While increasing the depth and intensity of your poses is generally a good thing, there’s a point when it starts to make some problems worse.

Make sure you know when to stop, how to go deeper safely, how to hold your stretches, and how long to hold them for.

1. Lizard Pose (Uttana Pristhasana)

Lizard Pose is a great pose to do while you are just getting familiar with the hip opener sequence. It places a lot of pressure on your hips and spine, which helps open up your hips and increase mobility.

2. Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)

It is another gentle hip opener that helps to relax the body and work on the hips and upper back. It will also stretch out your hamstrings, groin muscles, as well as your lower abdominal muscles.

3. Reclined Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana)

This pose is typically done lying flat on your back with your feet turned out in the air. It helps to stretch your lower back and hips and target your thighs, hips, and legs.

4. Wide-Legged Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)

A wide-legged forward bend is another excellent way to stretch out your legs, groin, and hip joints and strengthen your chest and back muscles.It is one of the advanced hip opening yoga poses!

5. Balancing Half Split (Eka Pada Galavasana)

Balancing half split is an excellent pose for those looking to focus on opening up their hips and stretching out their legs, groin, and inner thighs. It also helps to strengthen the muscles in the hamstrings.

6. Balancing Half Split (Eka Pada Galavasana)

Hip Opening Yoga Poses For Pregnancy

There are many great yoga poses that help open up your hips, which is useful during pregnancy. Pregnancy can also cause stiff hips, so be sure to check with your doctor before beginning pregnancy yoga. Here are a few hip opening yoga poses for pregnancy:

1. Seated Twist (Pavritta Sukhasana)

This seated twist is a great way to help relieve tension in your hips and back. It also helps to target your obliques.

2. Seated Forward Bend (Paschima Astasana)

The seated forward bend is another seated yoga pose that helps to stretch the hip joint and the spinal column. It also strengthens the abdominal muscles while stretching out the hamstrings.

If you know anything about yoga poses, you know that is a deep hip opening for sure!

3. Butterfly Pose (Bakasana)

The butterfly pose will help stretch out your inner thigh, hips, and lower back all at once. However, it is a pose that places a lot of pressure on the spine and the hips.

4. Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)

The upward-facing dog is one of the great asanas among all the yoga poses for butt. This yoga pose that works to stretch out the hips, lower back, along with your abdomen muscles, and also strengthens the shoulders.

5. Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Bound angle pose stretches out your inner thigh and hip joints while also working your abdomen muscles. It is a great pose to do if you want to stretch out your entire body.

Standing Hip Opening Yoga Poses

Standing yoga poses for the hip open up your body and help you stay connected to your poses. This includes standing poses, like standing hip openers.

These poses can help you to balance your hips as they open up, as well as teach you how to use the force of gravity to strengthen your muscles and joints.

The main pose is the standing hip opener pose which is shown below in a series of images.

1. Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

A hip opening yoga poses for beginners, the Tree pose stretches out your inner thigh and hip joints while also strengthening your abdominal and spinal muscles.

However, it is an intense hip opener that puts a lot of pressure on the spine and top of the head, so you want to do this before attempting any other yoga poses. It is one of the standing hip opening yoga poses!

2. Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)

A low lunge is a great way to open the hips and stretch out your groin and hamstrings while strengthening your thighs, glutes, and abdominals. It is a simple pose that you can do almost anywhere.

3. Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

You can do this pose pretty much anytime and anywhere. It is a simple pose that helps relax your lower back and stretch out the muscles surrounding your hips and abdomen.

What are the benefits of Ardha Matsyendrasana?

4. Balancing Half Split (Eka Pada Galavasana)

The Benefits of Hip Opening Yoga Poses

Increased Range of Motion

As we age, we tend to lose flexibility in our hips. This loss of flexibility makes standing up and sitting down difficult.

Poor posture is also a common issue with those who are tight in the hips and buttocks.

When these muscles are stretched out, you will feel relief around the lumbar spine and pelvis as well as your hamstrings, hip flexors, quads, and glutes all at once.

Increased Mobility

Not everyone is flexible when it comes to their hip joints. Some people may have issues with their hip flexors or glutes that can make moving around difficult and painful at times.

Hip openers help release tightness that can make it hard to get up off the ground or perform everyday tasks. Check out this article about yoga poses for hip flexors.

Improved Range of Motion in Squatting Positions

Many people have a limited range of motion when it comes to deep squat and lunging positions. It is partly due to tightness and lack of flexibility in the muscles around their hips, lower back, and hamstrings.

By practising these hip-opening yoga poses, you will improve your squatting ability and range of motion for better performance in this position.

Reduced Lower Back Pain

There are many reasons for hip pain and tightness. A common cause is those who suffer from chronic lower back pain and strain in the lower back muscles.

When these muscles become tight, it can affect the other areas of your body as well.

To reduce this problem, you should do the following poses regularly to help release tension in this area. You can also read our article about yoga poses for back pain to get relief.

Preventative Medicine

This type of yoga practice is excellent for those who already have lower back pain or some kind of injury that affects their hips and legs (like sciatica).

Doing these poses daily (especially if done daily for maximum benefits) allows you to prevent your hips and lower back issues.

Conclusion On Hip Opening Yoga Poses

Hip opening yoga poses for beginners are a great place to start if you feel that you have a problem with your hips or are just looking to improve your hips’ flexibility and range of motion. Just start with standing hip opening yoga poses and go from there!

As you can see from the above yoga poses, there are various ways that you can stretch out your hips, groin area, and lower back.

All you need is some peace to focus on yourself for these stretches. You can try advanced hip opening yoga poses once you feel you have enough practice!

Not only will you feel more limber and relaxed, but you will also feel healthier.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and will use it to get you as thorough information on opening your hips as possible.

I also hope that the Hip opening yoga poses for pregnancy laid out in the article above will help you achieve greater flexibility and mobility in your hips if you are pregnant!

As you stretch out your hips, try not to stress out about any pain or discomfort that you may feel while doing these stretches.

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