As you are reading this ezine, bring your hands down to your left hip. Take a moment to feel how the femur (thigh bone) moves in six directions – flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal and external rotation. Now move your hands around to the back of your pelvis to feel your sacrum. Imagine its two primary ranges of motion – nutation (a nodding forward) and counternutation (a nodding backward). Next, bring your hands to your left knee and feel its two primary ranges of motion – flexion and extension.
By touching these three areas of your body, I hope that I have brought awareness to one of the key issues I have seen as a teacher of therapeutic yoga – if the hip is limited in one or more of its six ranges of motion, then inconsistent and imbalanced movement patterns will likely occur at the knee or SI joints (and elsewhere too!), which in turn can lead to pain, aggravation, instability, or weakness.
Exploring these six ranges further:
If we explore these 6 ranges of motion a bit more, we'll see that yoga asanas help to cultivate all of them –- Warrior 1 and Lunge cultivate hip extension; Wind Relieving Pose and Fierce Pose cultivate hip flexion; Standing Spread Leg facilitates abduction; and Eagle Pose encourages adduction as the top leg crosses over the standing leg.; Internal and external rotation occurs in many of the standing poses, and it often depends on how you get into the pose. For instance, if moving into Warrior 1 from Tadasana, the back leg externally rotates at the hip; however if you move into the pose from a wide- legged stance, the back leg moves internally. . . . However, there still seem to be many hip issues for many yogis of various levels of functional ability.
Why is this so?
We can place a bit of responsibility on the number of hours spent sitting, as well as other factors associated with modern living. We can also look at structural anomalies, level of pelvic stability, and the physical activities, such as running, cycling, and skiing, that a student engages in outside of yoga class. The most predominant reason I have seen, no matter the level of functional ability, is the degree of body awareness relative to hip movement.
Now what? Fostering greater awareness and more functional hips:
To help improve hip function, I have found that the more subtle the movement, and the more ease in the body and the breath, the more "a-has" a student has in the hips. In past ezines I have written about exercises with "the strap" and "the block." These two exercises are powerfully subtle moves that engage abduction and adduction in a very pure way. Today, I will share Supine Hip Release as a way to explore hip flexion and rotation.
Supine Hip Release
Supine Hip Release provides a way for flexion and rotation of the femur in the pelvis. It also helps determine if there is any compensatory movement of the pelvis.
Set-up: On your back, knees bent. Gently stabilize, while breathing easily. Jaw is relaxed, neck is at ease. Belly is strong yet soft.
Movement: Lift your right foot up, and place it on your left knee.
Notice: Did your pelvis "jig" or "jag" as your right foot was placed on your left knee?
If so: Bend your right knee to your belly to help release the myofascia of your right hip. Step your left foot forward, away from your hips by about 2 to 4 inches. You'll see that your left knee is now lower in height. Now gently take the right foot and place it on the left knee.
Notice: Was your hip movement more pure?
Next, take this into Tree Pose. With your weight on your left foot, are you able to lift the right foot and place it on your standing leg while the pelvis stays quiet? Then, if you are able, take this into Half Lotus Pose. Are you able to do the motion while keeping your pelvis still, spine light and long, while fostering ease in your knee?
Try it in a few other poses, and notice what you feel and see. Feel free to email me with your insights, discoveries and a-has.
Happy exploring,
Susi
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Therapeutic Yoga for Shoulders and Hips book and online video is now available for purchase. If you would like to buy a copy for yourself, a friend, or multiple copies for your studio, please visit my e-store at www.functionalsynergy.com/qs/category/48/4543/0/0 or you can contact Cara directly at 403-229-2617 or toll free at 866-229-2645 ******************************************************************
Copyright 2007 Functional Synergy, inc and Anatomy and Asana. All rights reserved.
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