![]() Tara Stiles posing for Channel.com Of all of the body issues that people come into yoga class with (and I can say that because I have PLENTY of them, too!), two of the most common complaints that I hear from my students are tight hips and hamstrings. Yes, lower back issues are right up there as well, but honestly, it's shocking the number of tight hips and hamstrings that we're walking around with in our culture. Although I'm no doctor and really can't say why this is happening, I like to blame it on our sedentary lifestyle. Even the most active people I know still spend at least 5 hours a day (on average) sitting down at a desk, slowly tightening their hips and shortening their hamstrings as they work. What's even worse is that often when we are sitting down, we're sitting in the same chair and the same position for a number of hours on end, without a break or much variation. So, since we can't change this--and we really can't without a cultural revolt--there are a number of little things that we can do to slowly work to open our hips and hamstrings. Most of these things are obvious, but I still think it's important to get them out there as a reminder. So, here goes...my top 10 favorite ways to loosen the hips, hammies, and everything associated with them:
Through my practice, I've learned to truly LOVE hip-openers and hamstring stretches, and nothing helps me to release tension like a good pose that targets these areas of the body. Just coming into down dog every day feels like a big sigh for my back body. Moral of the story: everyone has to start somewhere. Don't let tight hips and hammies hold you back! Namaste, Mary Catherine
Katie King
7/3/2011 03:17:38 am
Katie King
7/3/2011 03:29:28 am
MC- your post is heaven sent for me!!! I have been in sooo much pain the last 6 weeks because my tight hips led to a pull in my hip flexer as a truly of my recent increase in physical activity. I finally went and got it worked on and her last words were yoga,yoga,yoga. I will be referring to this list quite often after I finish my 9 hour car ride that I have spent the majority of perusing your fabulous blog! Much Love! Comments are closed.
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HELLO!I'm Mary Catherine, a Cape Cod-based yoga teacher, painter, designer, writer, mom, and list-maker extraordinaire. My goal is to inspire you to start living a more creative, simple, joyful, + purposeful life.
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