Yin Yoga for Tight Hips

I have been teaching yoga for a long time now and have learned a lot about how to have great classes that benefit people even though they might not know that they need it. Yin yoga is like that for me. Typically I would not do this kind of class for myself but have come to realize the tremendous benefits of doing Yin yoga for everyone; not only people who do other types of yoga class but everyone from athletes and to people who are not very active.

What is Yin Yoga?

Yin yoga is a very slow moving form of yoga with very few postures in each class. The reason for having very few postures is that we, as participants, hold them for a much longer period of time than in a traditional Vinyasa, Hatha, or Flow class. In a Yin class, we hold specific postures for anywhere between 3 to 7 minutes. Yin yoga as we know it today, is a relatively knew type of yoga. Paul Grilley is credited with combining a few different streams of yoga into the Y in we know today. In this blog, and linked video I will focus on the benefits of Yin for tight hips.

I can’t relax and hold the postures for so long! My brain won’t turn off! What do I do?

 I hear this a lot. Certain types of personalities prefer not to be still for too long as their minds will not switch off; the thoughts come flooding in and then they feel overwhelmed and restless. I understand. This is not uncommon, and as an experienced teacher I spend a small portion of the start of each Yin class helping people bring their breathing under control. The breath, as always in a yoga class, is the anchor. We can always return to our breath. The breath is important to help create a calmness in your mind and body. But a normal rhythm of breath will not be enough for a yin class. and soI like to begin with a 5-5-5 breath for 3 rounds. It works like this:

Inhale for the teachers slow 5 count

Hold the breath for another slow 5 count

Then exhale, through an open mouth with another slow 5 count

While this seems very simple, the effects are often immediate and very noticeable. This slow rhythm sets the foundation for your breathing for the rest of the yin class and in effect, your life outside of the class as well. If we can get the breath under control, the mind will begin to slow down and you will begin to relax.

Why would I do a Yin class for hips?

There are many, many many kinds of Yin classes in the world; Yin for sleep, Yin for shoulders, Yin for relaxation, Yin for anxiety and the list goes on. A well designed Yin class will be effective in targeting a specific area of your body and/or serve a specific purpose such as relieving stress.

So why the hips? It has been said that the hips hold much of the tension in your entire body. Hips don’t get much love or attention but are such an important area to focus on for releasing tension and emotion, and for providing some therapeutic benefit to the tendons and ligaments around the hip sockets.

If you are athlete, Yin for hips could potentially alleviate pain in your hips caused by training and will bring much needed blood to the ligaments that surround your hip sockets. The only way to get blood to those ligaments and tendons is to hold these sometimes tough postures for an extended period of time.

If you don’t exercise, have a sedentary job, and are not very flexible, this class can help you as well as sitting causes tightness in the hips that further limits movement.

As you can see from the diagram below, the hips are a very complex and while you may not want to know all the workings of the hips and all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, trust that Atma Yoga Canada will provide you with a very safe and effective Yin yoga class to promote flexibility and range of movement in this area

Wow that’s a lot of muscles!

Ok, lets get started!

I have timed this blog to be released at the same time as our Yin for hips class, which is free on our YouTube. channel. I encourage you to take the class and really reflect on where you feel the postures, how you are breathing and the beneficial after-effects of the class.

Yin classes can be done once or twice a week. However, although Yin is wonderful for stretching and increasing the range of motion in the hips, it will not develop build muscle and develop strength. Therefore, I would strongly recommend either also taking a more active yoga class two or three times a week, continuing with your favourite sport or just getting out for a short walk. Taking a Yin class and the increased hip mobility it brings can be the stimulus to increase your overall activity level, which is good for all aspects of health.

Balance is everything, in life and in yoga.

Here is a great article on Yin yoga where you might find some more detail.

About the author:

Jay McMahon is a Registered Yoga Therapist with over 4,000 hours of teaching experience