6 Easy Hip Opening Yin Yoga Exercises

Yin yoga is a powerful practice for achieving deep physical and psychological relaxation. There are many simple poses that can help loosen the hips, which can make it easier to sit with good posture in meditation, ease back pain, and help get into other postures more easily.

Hip-opening yoga poses are gentle stretches that open the deep anterior or front hip muscles. These include piriformis, gluteus maximus and minimus, iliacus, and psoas, as well as the hip joint itself. Practiced regularly, these poses will increase the range of motion in your hip joints and improve balance in standing postures.

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Six Easy Hip Opening Yoga Exercises To Do Today

The following poses target the hip joints and promote relaxation of the lower back muscles. They will also increase flexibility in the hips and lower back. These poses are appropriate for a yin yoga practice focused on opening your hips.

1) Balasana - Wide Knee Child's Pose

Here's how you do this pose:

• To perform wide knee child's pose, kneel on your mat and sit back on your heels.
• Now separate your knees a foot apart and move forward with your arms until they're between your knees.
• Rest your torso on the mat between your legs, then rest your forehead on it as well.
• Hold this pose for at least 10 breaths and feel how it helps you relax into it.

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2) Anand Balasana - Happy Baby Pose

Here's how you can do this posture:

• Happy baby pose is a fun and playful pose that opens the hips and back.
• Lie flat on your back, bend your knees and clasp your hands with the same-side foot.
• Bring your knees toward your armpits and face the soles of your feet toward the ceiling.
• Rock from side to side here, feeling your hips, glutes, and IT band stretch open.

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3) Malasana - Yogi Squat Pose

Yogi squat pose, also known as malasana, can help relieve tension in the pelvic floor muscles and open up the hips. Here's how you can do the malasana:

• Stand on your mat with your feet hips’ distance apart and toes pointing at a 45 degree angle away from each other.
• Breathe in and open, then breathe out and squat down into your yogi squat.
• The bottom and tailbone should be reaching toward the mat, while the chest and heart open.
• Keeping the hands in Namaste, bring the elbows to inside of knees and press evenly here for five breaths.

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4) Baddha Konasana - Bound Angle Pose

Bound angle pose is popular among yin yoga practitioners, and it's easy to do. Here's how you perform this posture:

• Start by sitting on the mat with your feet together and knees apart.
• You can either sit upright or fold forward over your legs.
• This pose stretches out the inner thighs (adductor muscles), which can help relieve depression and fatigue, as well as improve circulation.

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5) Ashwa Sanchalasana — Low Lunge Pose

Here's how you can do the low lunge pose:

• In yin yoga, low lunge pose is an active pose that opens the hips.
• To open the hips, it's important to strengthen the muscles that surround and support the hips, so as to avoid injury.
• Start in crescent pose (also called anjaneyasana).
• Place your palms down on either side of your front foot and lead forward into the pose.
• This stretch will help to loosen the hip flexor of your back leg.

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6) Utthan Pristhasana — Lizard Pose

The Lizard pose is a deep hip-opening pose. It follows a low lunge, so if your body is ready for a deeper stretch, it's a great way to proceed. Here's how you do the lizard pose:

• Start in low lunge and place both hands on the inside of the front foot.
• Then try one or more of these variations to deepen the pose.
• Lower your back knee to the ground, which increases the stretch in your back hip flexor; lower onto your forearms, letting your front knee fall open or move into a deeper squat, bringing a deep stretch to your hips and inner thighs.

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Takeaway

For many, it may seem challenging to achieve so much flexibility in the hips. However, there are plenty of poses that can help you achieve your goals if you commit yourself to the practice. Take your time and find the best yoga poses for you, and consistently make an effort to increase the level of difficulty of these poses.

Over time, the body will become more flexible, while also finding ways to avoid injuries in daily life. Once you have achieved this milestone, you will feel confident and see positive results in many aspects of your life. So give Yin Yoga a try!