Too loose or too tight

Very few people seem completely content with the way their hips work. It’s a sad thing to say about such a pivotal part of our anatomy. For some of us, our hips are too tight and for others too loose. We consider ourselves to have healthy hips when we get the balance just right.

I became fixated on my hips out of necessity in the early ’90’s. All because of a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. I knuckled down and did all manner of good things to maintain healthy hips. Eventually I had successful double hip surgery in 2010. I’ve written about my experience here.

Now, eight years post-surgery, I can say that my hips are healthy. But, age will have its way. So, I keep some special hip practices up my sleeve. My aim is to keep up equal measures of strength and suppleness in these newish hips.

Recently I found a great sequence, a 14-day course on Daily Om designed to thwart all-over stiffness. My hips love it!

My recipe for healthy hips

I’ve designed this sequence to give your legs, groins and hips a good workout. For more supple yogis, focus on ‘keeping firm to centre’. Make sure that you hold the muscles around upper thighs and hips close to the bones. For those of you whose hips are quite tight, focus on widening the pelvis and sitting bones.

Warm-up:

Baddha Konasana, seated on blanket (Bound Angle)

Seated Baddha Konasana

Virasana & Parvatansana (Hero and Arms Raised Stretch)

Vajrasana, belt around ankles, then stretch arms up (Hero Pose Sitting on Heels)

Malasana (Squat)

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)

Trikonasana, x2 (Triangle)

Virabhadrasana 2, x2 (Warrior)

Parsvakonasana, x 2 (Side Angle)

Parsvakonasana

Hips:

Supta Padangusthasana Cycle, 5 variations each side (Lying Down Leg Stretches and Hip Openers)

“Through-the-hole pose”

Supta Virasana (Lying Down Hero)

Abdominals:

Paripurna Navasana (Boat Pose)

Ardha Navasana (Boat Pose)

Ardha Jatara Parvatanasana (Belly Twist)

Ardha Jatara Parvatanasana

Hips:

Gomukhasana (Cow’s Head Pose)

“Awkward Pose” (Cross-Leg)

Ardha Padmasana (Half Lotus)

Padmasana (Lotus)

Supta Baddha Konasana (Lying Down Bound Angle)

Savasana & Sitting (Relaxation and Meditation)