Do you sit for 4 or more hours a day? Afterwards, do you sometimes feel incredibly stiff or even suffer pain in your back, legs, and feet? Then this post is for you!
About 10 years ago, I suffered excruciating back and knee pain. I had orthotics in my shoes, used a Chinese massage ointment, and tried acupuncture. I was taking several OTC pain meds every day, and was seeing a chiropractor 2-3 times a week, but nothing lasted more than a couple of days.
It was only when I added yoga, and in particular, hip ‘openers,’ that everything fell into place for me! First, My Official Disclaimer: I am not dispensing medical advice nor am I claiming that my chronic condition was at all similar to anything you may be experiencing. Many conditions respond to the various treatments that I’d noted above. In fact, my body did respond initially, but the relief only lasted a day or two.
However, having said that, consider the following!
Prolonged sitting causes your hip flexors to get tight. Then, when you go to stand, they pull on your lumbar spine, which leads to a multitude of lower back problems.
For people in a sedentary society, daily hip flexor stretches are important to help counterbalance the prolonged hip flexion of sitting for hours. The best thing to do if you sit at a desk or behind a computer a lot is to incorporate daily hip flexor stretches (yoga enthusiasts call them “hip openers”) into your daily routine. But hip openers are not just to “fix” some sort of ergonomic problem; practicing them regularly can make you healthier, more graceful, and more productive!!!
How??? Here are some of my favorite benefits of hip openers
- Releasing Stress: Hip openers stretch and strengthen muscles that are directly connected to our stress response. I didn’t realize that the muscle that attaches the lumbar spine to the femur bone is actually triggered when we feel stress. So, while I rarely need to literally “fight” or “flight,” when my body experiences stress, this muscle is still triggered. I found this muscle can carry a great deal of residual tension and benefits greatly from being stretched with hip openers.
- Alignment: This was one of my main issues! My tight hips caused strain on my lower back by pulling on the spine, on my knees, and even my feet. When my hips are open, there is more range of movement, better circulation, and much more support for the muscles of my back and my spine!
- Expand Creativity: This was an unexpected benefit! Energetically, the hips are associated with the sacral chakra, or the creative center. And the hips hold and support the reproductive organs–the organs of creation. It was only after I’d been doing hip openers for a bit that I noticed that focus on this area helped me to unlock and support this creative center. My body was moving freely, and so were my creative juices! I will blog more on this in the future—this has been the source of so much exploration and fun over the past few years!
Of course, there are tons more benefits. These are just the results that I started to experience almost immediately upon beginning hip openers. Of course, as they say, your mileage may vary!
Unfortunately, now that I no longer suffer pain when I miss doing hip openers, I am not as consistent as I’d like. However, when I can manage to do them several days in a row, my morning seems brighter, my mood is elevated, and I feel great!
My results are my best argument.
Want more information on hip openers, including some stretches you can do at your desk? Come join my Facebook community, The Connected Mind*Body*Spirit!
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