{"id":9452,"date":"2022-12-08T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=106986"},"modified":"2022-12-08T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T15:00:25","slug":"your-understanding-of-hip-openers-might-be-falling-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/08\/your-understanding-of-hip-openers-might-be-falling-short\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Understanding of \u201cHip Openers\u201d Might Be Falling Short"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth yoga, fitness, & nutrition courses, when you <a href="https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/outsideplus" class="o-content-cta-link" data-analytics-event="click" data-analytics-data="{"name":"Element Clicked","props":{"destination_url":"\/outsideplus","domain":"<>","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}”>sign up for Outside+<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The term \u201chip openers\u201d is used a lot in yoga, but no one ever talks about what that actually means. What exactly are we looking to open? Is it the hip bone, the hip socket, the hip joint, or all of the above? Or maybe it\u2019s Pandora\u2019s box.<\/p>\n

What most people associate with the term \u201chip openers\u201d is actually one specific type of movement\u2014external rotation of the hip joint. This is the movement that takes place at your hip joints when you turn your feet and legs out in a Charlie Chaplin-esque stance, such as when you practice Utkata Konasana (Goddess Pose), Virabhadrasana II (Warrior 2 Pose),<\/a> Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose), and Sukhasana (Easy Pose)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It can feel like your hips are literally opening in poses that engage your body in external rotation. But that\u2019s only one aspect of hip openers.<\/p>\n

\"Anatomy
Hip joint injury<\/span> (Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint, which means it can move in six different directions. This includes not only external rotation but also internal rotation, adduction and abduction, and flexion and extension. If we truly want to \u201copen\u201d our hips by stretching the muscles and connective tissues that surround the hip, then we need to focus on all of these hip movements rather than obsessing about just one.<\/p>\n

The 6 different types of hip openers in yoga<\/h2>\n

Following are various ways you can move your hips and examples of yoga poses that incorporate these movements. It\u2019s important to note that these different movements often happen at the same time in a pose. For example, in Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Pose), the hip of your bent leg is simultaneously in external rotation, abduction, and flexion.<\/p>\n

\"Janu
(Photo: Andrew Clark; Clothing: Calia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. External rotation<\/h3>\n

External rotation means turning your thigh outward away from your body. This happens in standing poses when your feet are turned away from one another and in seated poses when one or both thighs are brought out to the side.<\/p>\n

Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Pose)<\/a>\u2014the hip of your bent leg is in external rotation
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King Pigeon Pose)<\/a>\u2014your front hip is in external rotation
Utkata Konasana (Goddess Pose)\u2014both hips are in external rotation<\/p>\n

\"Eagle
(Photo: Andrew Clark; Clothing: Calia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Internal rotation<\/h3>\n

The opposite of external rotation, internal rotation means turning your thigh inward toward your body. This happens in standing and seated poses that ask you to cross your legs and in balancing poses that ask you to draw your lifted leg toward your midline.<\/p>\n

Garudasana (Eagle Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in internal rotation
Virasana (Hero Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in internal rotation
Virabhadrasana III (Warrior 3)<\/a>\u2014the hip of your back leg is in internal rotation<\/p>\n

\"Cow
(Photo: Andrew Clark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Adduction<\/h3>\n

Adduction refers to hip openers that draw your thigh toward the midline of your body. This can look like hugging your thighs together or crossing your legs.<\/p>\n

Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in adduction
Navasana (Boat Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in adduction
Garudasana (Eagle Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in adduction<\/p>\n

\n
\"Bound
(Photo: Andrew Clark; Clothing: Calia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. Abduction<\/h3>\n

The opposite action as adduction, abduction means moving your thigh away from the midline of your body. Think of stepping your feet wide apart or positioning your knees away from one another.<\/p>\n

Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in abduction
Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Angled Seated Forward Bend)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in abduction
Malasana (Garland Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in abduction<\/p>\n

\"Warrior
(Photo: Andrew Clark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. Flexion<\/h3>\n

Moving your thigh toward the front of your body is flexion. This stretch for the back of your hip happens in forward bends and some inversions.<\/p>\n

Virabhadrasana III (Warrior 3)<\/a>\u2014the hip of your standing leg is in flexion
Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in flexion
Halasana (Plow Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in flexion<\/p>\n

\n
\"Bridge
(Photo: Andrew Clark; Clothing: Calia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. Extension<\/h3>\n

As opposed to flexion, extension means moving your thigh away from your front body. This happens in back bends, stretching the muscles at the front of your hips.<\/p>\n

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips extension
Ustrasana (Camel Pose)<\/a>\u2014both hips are in extension
Purvottanasana (Upward or Reverse Plank Pose)<\/a>\u2013both hips are in extension<\/p>\n

See also:<\/em> 11 Yoga Poses That Unlock Deep Hip Opening<\/a><\/p>\n

About our contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrew McGonigle has studied anatomy for more than 20 years. After initially studying to become a doctor, he moved away from Western medicine to become a yoga and anatomy teacher. He shares his knowledge of the body and the ways it moves in yoga teacher training courses throughout the world and leads his own Yoga Anatomy Online Course. His second book, The Physiology of Yoga<\/a>, was published in June 2022. To learn more about Andrew, check out doctor-yogi.com<\/a> or follow him on Instagram @doctoryogi.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/figure>\n

There’s more to it than it seems.<\/p>\n

The post Your Understanding of “Hip Openers” Might Be Falling Short<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,35,36],"class_list":["post-9452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurveda","tag-blogs","tag-yoga","tag-yogacourseware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}