“YOGA” – working with hip injuries…

Over the cause of the next few months will be exploring the injuries of each section of the body to help everyone through modifications in their yoga practice.

As the above words say, “THIER YOGA PRACTICE” – Every human body may have the same parts, however, every body’s body is unique and that means it moves differently.

The type of yoga I teach is called FUNCTIONAL yoga, which means that it moves with the body types that are flowing with each pose..It also means that we focus more on YOUR body and how it moves over the physical aesthetics of a pose.

A lot of teachers, teach what is called AESTHETIC yoga, this is where it is alignment based, and for those that are gymnasts, dancers, and perfectionists that want to look like the pictures of poses, this is the type for you.

Now that that explanation is out in the word world, let’s get to HIPS!!!

There are many different reasons and activities that can cause hip problems.

1. Age, normal wear and tear of the hip area as we age.
2. Athletes, Runners, and weight lifters get hip issues due to the repetitive nature of the sport they do.
3. A sedentary lifestyle & weight can cause hip injuries
4. Genetics, age, and nutritional factors.
5. Repetitive strains, this category generally comes from people that are seated for long periods- Desks and driving jobs.

All these are the reason that when teaching yoga the person teaching needs to understand so that they can modify or work within your body’s natural processes so that further injury or complications can be avoided.

Within yoga or physical fitness, we can see some common issues with hips, some of these are.

1. Bursitis – I myself have had this after training and running for a number of years and since the hips carry many bursas it can be a painful injury in nearly any movement – The bursa is part of the hip that helps to give it smooth movement.
2. Muscle Strain – caused by stretching the hip muscle beyond its limit causing strain or tears.
3. Stress fractures – This type of injury is mostly in runners from prolonged periods of movement or can also be caused by poor nutrition.
4. Arthritis – is mostly age-related, however, repetitive actions can bring this on even in younger people.
5. Dislocated Hip or hips – I wouldn’t say that this is an easy injury to come by, however, people that have had a major blunt force trauma, hip replacement, crash, or fall are inclined to suffer from this even after it heals and yoga, if not practiced correctly with modifications, can cause flare-ups, pain, and a recurrence of the injury.

So how do we prevent and avoid any of these things happening or re-occurring??

Firstly, we need to look at the holistic view of the injuries and how to strengthen each and every aspect to create a safe and fluid place for us to practice.

Doing this starts with the foundation of the surrounding joints in our body.

As our ankles and knees bare the main weight of our bodies we need to strengthen the knee and ankle joints and also the muscles in our lower legs.

Poses that require standing means that they need the strength in our lower body to be strong and protect our hips from further injury.

1. Strengthen knees, ankles, and leg muscles to support standing postures.
2. warming up the hips
3. stabilizing the core
4. not pushing into hip openings to look like the pictures, working within the body’s natural movement – for teachers just not forcing students to try to align into a posture that could cause harm to the hip area.
5. Raising the tail bone, and hip area in seated poses – just rolling up a blanket, placing a block, or pillow, or rolling the edge of the mat up under that area will help to elevate the strain that is being placed on the hips.
6. Keeping the knees bent or slightly bent in poses that require flexion will help alleviate tension in the hips – poses like forward folds and slightly bent in tree, dancer, or half moon pose.
7. MOST IMPORTANTLY – LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, don’t force, or try to become a yoga supermodel, just practice at your body’s own levels.

What are a few poses that we can modify to help avoid, create, or do an injury to our hips??

Here is a little list of a few that you can modify in any teacher’s class, or at home.

1. Child pose – sounds harmless, unless you have hip problems. For this avoid having your knees wide, bring them closer together to reduce the strain on the hip area.
2. Tree – This can be modified by utilizing a wall or chair and also bringing your foot closer to the ground to create a more stable base, engaging the core,, and pulling up through the pelvic floor to increase strength.
3. Pigeon – This should be avoided to its full extent as it is a major hip opener – you can, however, take the half pigeon to make it a choose your own adventure posture, this is done laying on your back instead.
4. Downward Dog – as this causes a bit of hip feeling, bend the knees slightly to remove the strain on this area.
5. Seated forward folds – These can be modified by placing a rolled-up towel under the seating area or a rolled-up yoga mat. It is best to avoid wide-angle to reduce the hip pressure, however, if you wish to do this place a roll under your bum… this is also the case with forward folds of any seated kind.

I could keep giving everyone a pile of modifications, however, I won’t.

The above modifications can be practiced at home or in any yoga class you go to, I do however suggest for your teacher’s sake that you let them know so that they can work with you to help you get the best practice possible for yourself.

If you need to ask, chat or find out what is the best for your hips, just message me or contact me via any of the @organichippyfamily socials.

Have fun with “YOGA HIPS” this month because we will be covering knee supports next month…

Make that light shine… Namaste…