Yoga for Hip Pain

If you’ve been noticing some pain or discomfort in your hip or groin region, there’s a possibility you are experiencing the first signs of what could become a bigger, more long-term issue. Whether your hip pain is the result of a sore, pulled, or torn muscle, arthritis, tendinitis, or a more serious issue, using yoga for hip pain is a great way to begin alleviating your symptoms.

Our Smithfield, NC yoga studio has the information you need to help relieve hip pain, improve hip flexibility, promote blood circulation, and get back on your feet to be a happier, healthier version of yourself through yoga practice.

Why Do Yoga for Hip Pain?

There are many potential reasons your hips feel tight, sore, or in pain. Some of the most common causes of hip pain are:

Sedentary lifestyles.
Pulled muscles.
Hip impingements.
Injury to the pelvis, lower back, or another region of the body.
Hip fractures caused by an injury or fall.
Arthritis of the thigh or groin.
A more serious bone condition or underlying medical factor.

If you have experienced an injury that led to hip pain, it’s best to see your doctor and receive treatment before trying at-home remedies. However, if you know that you are experiencing inactivity due to your work-from-home lifestyle, think you pulled a muscle or strained your hip and groin region, or are in the recovery stages of an injury and want to introduce activity back into your routine, yoga for hip pain offers many benefits.

Yoga practice strengthens the legs, thighs, core, and back and can aid in improving your day-to-day quality of life as well as your mental health.

The benefits of using yoga for hip pain are:

Improvements to balance and posture.
Building strength in the muscles surrounding and supporting the hips, thighs, and pelvic areas.
Increased mobility and flexibility.
Activates the core, glutes, and lower back to alleviate stress off hip joints.
Reduces the risk of injury to the hips and back.

Incorporating a yoga regiment into your life, whether it’s through starting a home yoga routine for a few minutes each morning or at a local yoga class after work. The deliberate movements, stretches, and focus of a yoga pose will help to open up your hip flexors, strengthen hip muscles, and avoid hip impingement that leads to pain or hip injuries.

Best Yoga for Hip Pain Poses

The hip joint is made of a ball and socket joint. The top of the thigh bone, called the femur, is situated inside the socket of the pelvic bone. Within that socket, there is smooth cartilage tissue and synovial fluid that cushions the joint as it moves. In a healthy hip, the ball can move in all directions of the socket without pain or discomfort thanks to this lubrication. In a hip that is experiencing pain or discomfort, it’s important to promote blood circulation and avoid further inflammation of the hip joints, and one way to achieve that is through a series of yoga poses for hip pain.

Let’s explore some simple ways that you can improve hip pain with yoga, regardless of whether you are a novice at yoga practice or a yoga aficionado.

Seated Spinal Twist

The seated spinal twist stretches your lower back muscles to relieve hip pain and back pain relief.

STEP 1: Begin in a seated position with your legs extended in front of you and straightened posture.
STEP 2: Bend the knee of your right leg, and cross it over your left leg, with your right foot placed next to your left thigh.
STEP 3: Bend the knee of your left leg, and position the ankle next to your right glute, checking to make sure your right foot is still planted on the floor. If you find your hip pain is in too much discomfort to fold the left foot toward your glute, you can skip this step and continue the stretch.
STEP 4: Reach behind you with the right hand, placing it on the floor slightly behind you, with the left arm raising in the air above you.
STEP 5: Take your left arm, and hook your elbow around the bent right knee, breathing gently in, then out, as you twist at the spine. As you exhale your breath, push deeper into the stretch, continuing to feel the twist in your lower back.
STEP 6: Gently release your body from the pose, and repeat on the opposite side.

Pigeon Pose

The pigeon pose is a forward bending stretch that opens up the hip flexors and stretches the groin, thighs, glutes, and back.

STEP 1: Begin on all fours, moving your right knee forward toward your right wrist and folding your leg so that the bottom of the right foot is facing the left side of your mat.
STEP 2: Bring your left leg extended outward behind you, with the bottom of your left foot facing the ceiling and the top of your left foot against the yoga mat.
STEP 3: Keeping your posture aligned, reach your hands above your head, then slowly forward, folding your chest outward toward the right bent knee.
STEP 4: Take a deep breath in, and as you slowly exhale, lean forward toward that right leg with your chest aiming to lower as far down toward the mat as possible.
STEP 5: Hold the pose for a ten count before resetting and repeating on the opposite side.

Happy Baby Pose

The happy baby pose is great for the health of your tight hips, hamstrings, and thighs while offering a relaxing, anxiety-reducing pose to realign the spine.

STEP 1: Begin by laying flat on your yoga mat, with your head flat against the mat.
STEP 2: Bending both the right knee and left knee toward your chest, face the soles of your feet upward toward the ceiling.
STEP 3: With each hand, grab the outer or inner side of the corresponding foot at the same time, spreading your knees apart, and opening up your outer hips.
STEP 4: Keep both feet flexed, and gently rock back and forth, feeling your lower back press into the mat as you slowly breathe in and out.

Bound Angle Pose

A great stretch for your inner thigh adductors, quads, and overall posture, the bound angle pose helps to reduce hip pain, open the front hip region, and strengthen thigh muscles.

STEP 1: Beginning in staff pose with your legs outstretched in front of you, take a breath in and out.
STEP 2: Slowly bend your knees, allowing them to open at the outer thighs as you turn the bottoms of your feet toward one another, touching the soles of the feet together. Depending on your flexibility, press the knees against the mat as much as they allow.
STEP 3: Focus on an upright posture, chest forward and out and shoulder blades pressing in toward one another, and gently lean forward, making sure you keep that straight posture and do not round the back.
STEP 4: Clasp your ankles with your hands, and lean forward as much as you can, inhaling, then exhaling and pressing gently forward more as you release that breath.

Bridge Pose

The bridge pose is a great way to strengthen your core while stretching the back, glutes, and groin muscles. For beginners, you can use yoga blocks to help maintain the pose until your strength improves in order to avoid injury to your back or neck.

STEP 1: Lay on your back with both knees bent and your feet flat on your mat, hip-width apart.
STEP 2: Pressing the bottoms of your feet into the floor, inhale deeply, and slowly lift your hips upward toward the ceiling, feeling your spine lift off the mat vertebrae by vertebrae.
STEP 3: Continue to press your feet down toward the mat, and press your shoulders into the mat as well, lifting just at the midsection as the spine rolls off the mat, and squeeze the knees toward one another to activate your core.
STEP 4: With your hips lifted, squeeze your glute muscles, holding for 5-10 seconds as your body allows.
STEP 5: As you slowly exhale, lower the spine downward toward the mat again to rest.

Schedule a Therapeutic Yoga Class Today!

If you’ve been experiencing hip pain and want to find a fun, approachable, and therapeutic way to relieve your hip pain, schedule a yoga class with us today.

At The Yoga Connection, we offer private yoga lessons and group yoga classes for all levels, offering modifications for your skill level or any poses that may bring further discomfort to your ailing hips.

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