Phase 1 · Restore Mobility

Part of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Hip Mobility, Strength and Control

Gentle Yoga for Stiff Hips

Thirty minutes through all four directions a hip actually moves

Most hip routines stretch one thing: the outside of the hip, usually in some version of pigeon, usually for a long time. It feels like the right place because it is the place that aches. But a hip flexes, extends, rotates and moves away from and towards the midline, and stiffness almost never sits evenly across all four. This practice goes through each direction in turn, on the floor, where the joint does not have to carry you while it moves. By the end you will have a fair idea which direction is actually the tight one. That is worth more than another five minutes in pigeon.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

Getting up out of a low chair takes a moment, crossing one leg over the other is uneven between the sides, and a long stretch of sitting leaves the hip feeling set rather than sore. Thirty minutes, all of it on the floor. A folded blanket to sit on and a strap or a belt for the reclining leg work make several of these considerably easier.

Physical effect

Flexion, external rotation, abduction and a first pass at extension, each in a position where the joint carries no weight. Short hamstrings and a tight inner thigh limit hip movement long before the joint itself does.

Function

The point is range you can use, not range you can demonstrate. Every pose here has a version that stops well before the end of the movement, and that version is the one that works.

Mental effect

Guarding is part of a stiff hip. Moving it slowly, in a position where nothing can go wrong, is how that comes off.

Arrive, and find out

Lying down, doing almost nothing. It is also where you notice that the two sides are not the same.

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

On your back, legs long. Let the feet fall open and notice whether one turns out further than the other.

The difference between the two sides tells you more than any single measurement. Most people have one hip that rotates out further and no idea which.

Learn more about Savasana

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Draw one knee at a time towards the chest, hands behind the thigh.

Knees to Chest is flexion with no load at all. The cheapest movement in the practice and a good read on the day.

Learn more about Apanasana

Ananda Balasana

1 min

Happy Baby Pose

Knees wide towards the ribs, hands to the shins or the backs of the thighs.

Happy Baby adds abduction to the flexion. Two directions at once, still with the floor carrying everything.

Learn more about Ananda Balasana

Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

1 min 30 sec per side

Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose

One leg up with a strap around the foot, the other foot on the floor.

Short hamstrings tilt the pelvis and take movement away from the hip before the joint has any say. This reaches them without loading anything.

Learn more about Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

Supta Kaptasana

1 min 30 sec per side

Reclining Pigeon Pose

Ankle across the opposite thigh, then draw that thigh in. Keep the head down.

Reclining Pigeon is external rotation, the direction most people mean when they say their hips are tight. Done lying down it stops being a contest.

Learn more about Supta Kaptasana

Sitting, and turning

Five seated poses that take the hip out to the side and around. This is the half of the movement a desk never asks for.

Dandasana

1 min

Staff Pose

Sit up on a folded blanket, legs straight, and press the backs of the knees gently down.

Staff Pose is the neutral point. Sitting upright with straight legs is harder than it looks when the hips are tight, and it shows you why.

Learn more about Dandasana

Baddha Konasana

2 min

Butterfly Pose

Soles together, knees falling out, a cushion under each knee if they hang.

Bound Angle is external rotation and abduction together. Supporting the knees is how the pose works rather than a lesser version of it.

Learn more about Baddha Konasana

Janu Shirsana

1 min 30 sec per side

Head-to-Knee Forward Bend

One leg straight, the other foot to the inner thigh. Fold from the hip, not from the back.

Head-to-Knee combines a straight leg hamstring with an open hip on the other side. Two directions in one pose, and the sides are rarely equal.

Learn more about Janu Shirsana

Upavistha Konasana

1 min 30 sec

Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend

Legs wide, sitting up on a blanket, hands behind you if that is where the back is comfortable.

A wide seated position is pure abduction. It is the direction almost nobody trains and the one that limits a side lunge.

Learn more about Upavistha Konasana

Ardha Matsyendrasana

1 min per side

Half Lord of the Fishes

One knee bent across, arm pressing against it, turning from the middle of the back.

A seated twist takes the hip into the rotation Bound Angle does not: the leg turning in rather than out. Both belong in a hip program.

Learn more about Ardha Matsyendrasana

Onto all fours, then down

The last third adds the direction that has been missing so far: taking the leg behind you.

Marjaryasana

1 min

Cat Pose

On all fours, rounding the back towards the ceiling with the breath.

Cat moves the pelvis under the spine. Hip extension needs a pelvis that can tilt, and this is where that starts.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

1 min

Cow Pose

Belly drops, chest and tailbone lift.

Cow is the other half of the tilt and the first small piece of extension.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Ardha Hanumanasana

1 min per side

Half Splits

Back knee on a blanket, front leg straight with the foot flexed, hinging from the hip.

Half Splits is the hamstring with the knee straight and the body supported. It is also the position from which the low lunge becomes available in phase two.

Learn more about Ardha Hanumanasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

5 lifts, 5 breaths each

Bridge Pose

Feet hip width, lift the hips only as far as is comfortable, lower slowly.

Bridge is active hip extension and the only strengthening pose in this phase. People with stiff hips are usually short of extension and of the strength to produce it.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Jathara Parivartanasana

1 min 30 sec per side

Reclining Belly Twist

Knees stacked and dropped to one side, a cushion under the top knee.

A supported twist releases the whole hip after it has worked in four directions.

Learn more about Jathara Parivartanasana

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Both knees in, arms around the shins.

Knees to Chest brings the joint back to the middle of its range before you stop.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

5 min

Corpse Pose

Legs long, and notice the feet again. They usually fall open further than they did at the start.

Ending where you started makes the change measurable, and in a hip it is often visible within a single session.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Restore Mobility, the first phase of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Hip Mobility, Strength and Control. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Three times a week through the first four weeks, with the ten minute practice on the days between if you want them. Judge it by getting out of a chair and by how the hip feels after an hour of sitting, not by how far you got in any single pose. Sharp pain, pain in the groin, or a hip that will not take your weight are a different thing, and those belong with a doctor.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

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