By nurturing the connection between the hips and emotions, the practice of yoga empowers us to cultivate self-awareness, explore our suppressed emotions and balance our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
It’s often mentioned during yoga practice that our emotions are stored in the hips. The hips, which are considered the seat of emotions, hold tension, memories and stored energy from past and current experiences. Through the practice of yoga, especially hip-opening asanas, these deeply rooted emotions and energy can be released, allowing for greater emotional balance and freedom. As the body opens and stretches the hips, stagnant energy can begin to flow, often triggering a corresponding release of emotional blockages in the Muladhara (root) and Svadhisthana (sacral) chakras. This process can be very liberating and cathartic, allowing suppressed emotions to surface, providing an opportunity for acknowledgement, acceptance and healing.
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On the 19th of July, we will be releasing a brand new 7-Day Course ‘INTO THE HIPS’ on the Soul Sanctuary membership.
This hips course is a deep exploration of the hip space (and our connection to emotions and energy stored here), through different movement modalities. Throughout this course you will build a new level of awareness for both the physical and emotional needs of the hips. You will strengthen the body and mind as you move and transition through mobility drills, long emotion-provoking asana holds, breath and body connection, an honouring of the divine feminine energy held in the hips and so much more. This 7-day course is a beautiful journey.
Like everything at the Soul Sanctuary, it is an invitation for you to show up for yourself, your body, your mental wellbeing and everything in between. You will finish this course, not only feeling stronger, more aware and observant of the hips, but with a sense of freedom as you will have surrendered and let go of so much throughout the week. Here’s to an honouring of healthy and happy hips together!
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At the beginning of 2023, our founder Cat Meffan spoke with Stylist Magazine about the link between emotions and hip openers. See the full article here and see questions from the article below:
Is there truth to the idea that hip-opening poses can make us emotional?
“There is absolutely truth to the idea that hip-opening yoga classes can make us emotional because we store unmet trauma and emotion in our pelvic space,” explains Meffan. From a physical point of view, Meffan explains that women often have a lot of mixed experiences around that area of the body: “From having our first period, to losing our virginity to unpacking sexual shame.”
Meffan says that, on an energetic level, the area of our hips (our sacral chakra) is related to our creativity, a space of ideas coming together, relationships, expression, sensuality and sexuality.
“Even just reading that list, it’s no wonder that many people find themselves going on an emotional rollercoaster during hip-openers. And sometimes it won’t be obvious in the moment and the emotion may take a while to arise, which is why we can find ourselves confused when feeling emotional days after a class.”
What if we don’t feel emotional during a yoga class, especially one with a lot of hip-openers? Does it mean we’re not doing something right?
Meffan says that “The most important thing to remember, both in life and in a yoga class, is that we are all on a different path and the more we can be accepting of that, the more we can enjoy the journey. There are so many factors that could contribute to not getting emotional in a hip-opening class and it’s important to know that there is no right or wrong”.
“Some people may still be in a place of energetic resistance (not being willing to get intimate with the emotions), even if physically they are the deepest person in the asana. On the flip side, it could also mean that they are feeling aligned and attuned to this part of their body and, in that present moment, there is nothing that needs to come out. That doesn’t mean to say that it won’t come at a later date.
It’s also important to remember that emotion comes out in many different forms and all types of reactions can tell us something about what we are feeling internally. For some people, it might mean tears, for others yawning or big releasing breaths or even laughter and eyes darting around the room.” Meffan explains.
“Sometimes it might be that someone isn’t breathing fully into the asana in order to really connect with the sensations in the body. A lot of people will find that a hip-opening yin practice – where shapes are being held for up to 10 minutes – is the most triggering for these emotions, though I know from experience that a dynamic hip-opening class can do the same.”
See below for SIX top yoga poses for the hips that you can practice:
There are different types of hip-opening poses and usually people enjoy one or the other. Some asanas will activate the inner hip space and the groin, others will activate the outer space, the glutes and the IT band.
ANJANEYASANA - LOW LUNGE
KAPOTASANA - PIGEON POSE
SKANDASANA - SIDE LUNGE
HANUMANASANA - SPLITS
PADUKABANDHINI - SHOELACE
UTKATA KONASANA - GODDESS
