10-Minute Yoga Routine to Open and Stretch Your Hips

Most parts of your body naturally get some sort of stretch throughout the day. Think of the rotational stretch you get when you turn to look behind you, or the leg stretch when you lean down to pick something up.

However, your hips kind of get ignored. Unless you frequently sit cross-legged, your hips tend to remain pretty closed and rigid in most of your movements. Opening up the hips can release a lot of tension—mentally and physically.

In this episode of Flow, yoga instructor Faith Hunter guides you through an intermediate yoga sequence that stretches and opens the hips, which will improve joint mobility. Having a full range of motion allows you to fully participate in life’s activities, whether it’s chasing a soccer ball or a toddler (or a little bit of both).

Before completing this routine, Faith suggests starting with sun salutations to warm up. This is a series of poses done in succession and repeated as a cycle several times. If you do not have your own preferred sun salutation, try this traditional sun salutation sequence.

This yoga series to stretch the hips  includes the following poses:

– Downward Facing Dog

– Downward Facing Dog Split

– High Lunge Pose

– Warrior 2

– Goddess Pose

– Plank Pose

– Chatarunga (Low Push Up)

– Upward Facing Dog

– Child’s Pose

– Reverse Triangle

– Standing Split

– Floating Pigeon Pose

As you move through these yoga poses, you should start to feel a little more fluidity (and a lot less tension) in those hips. It might be challenging the first time you do it, but as you continue practicing, you will find yourself going deeper into each pose.

For more yoga poses that open the hips, try this empowering 10-minute yoga routine.