How to Awaken Your Hips When Sitting All Day with Yoga
Sitting all day long may be inevitable for those who have an office based job, and although it is admirable that many are doing their best to earn money, the effects of sitting for hours can affect our health and shorten our hip flexors too. When this happens, you can expect some pain in your lower back which can be detrimental to our movements. This is one of the reasons why experts are recommending that we step up in terms of lifestyle, by being more active to engage our muscles and tendons to prevent spinal issues caused by prolonged sitting.
Since our hip flexors are affected by sitting for hours on end, stretching them regularly is needed. And it’s not just those who live sedentary lives who need to stretch their hip flexors, but cyclists, runners, walkers, and other athletes too, should include this in their routine. Truth be told, we can all benefit from this.
Yoga Stretches to Try
Fortunately, stretching your hip flexors is possible with the help of yoga. There are several asanas that you can try out to help open your hips gently. Here are a few that you should try out.
Crescent lunge
If you are familiar with the low lunge, execute the pose until you find your balance. Tuck your back toes while exhaling to lift your back knee from the floor to go into a standing position. Your feet should be hip width from one another with your toes facing forward. Place your hands on the hips as you bend your front knee to a right angle, or your knee is positioned over the ankle. You can bend your back leg if the hamstrings are feeling a bit tight. If you can manage to keep your pelvis squared and facing the front of your mat, then do so. Move your left hip in the forward position while the right hip is kept back to ensure that your hips remain squared. Tuck your tailbone so that your pelvis won’t be tipping forward.
Cat cow hip circles
In this yoga pose, start on a tabletop pose where you are on all fours, with your shoulders stacked over your wrists, and hips above your knees. On inhale, go into a cow pose by bringing the belly lower to the ground while pushing your tailbone upwards. At the same time, bring your shoulders down the back, so that it will be away from your shoulders, to the point that you will be looking over your nose’s tip. As you exhale, you will need to round or arch your spine while tilting your tailbone downwards to go into a cat pose. Continue alternating the cat and cow poses to help open up your hips.
Runners lunge
This yoga pose should start in a tabletop position which is being down on all fours. Step the right foot outside the right hand while moving your toes at a 45-degree angle. Push hips forward which means that your right knee should be stacked over the ankle. At this point, you will be feeling a nice stretch on your hip flexors already. Tighten your core then tuck the back toes under as you lift your left knee from the ground to allow the stretch to deepen further. Hold this for 8 breaths then release. Switch sides and repeat.
These yoga poses can help stretch your tight hip flexors when you have been sitting for hours in a day. It would be a good idea to warm up first to help loosen the muscles.