Unlock Your Hips

Your hips are the most important joint in your body. It is the foundation of movement for your entire body. If your hip joints are moving freely then they absorb the shock of your actions. If they are tight, the shock is absorbed by other areas less able to cope with it, like your back, knees and neck. This results in pain and stiffness.

Sitting shortens and can tighten your hips....

Tight Hips = Fat Storage

If you have tight hips it can result in fat storage.

Your psoas is intimately involved in the fight or flight response of the body. When you have tight hips it signals your body that you are in danger.

When the body is in danger the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) activates the body’s natural survival response, which will exhaust the adrenal glands and deplete the immune system.

This feedback loop will continue subconsciously until your hips are in a relaxed state.

Our adrenal glands govern our stress response, by secreting hormones relative to our stress levels. They actually help control many hormonal cycles and functions in our bodies. When the adrenals are overworked the body prepares for disaster by storing fat and calories. This can expand our waistline.

Tight Hips= Low Energy and Emotions

The psoas besides being a core stabilizing muscle is an organ of perception that literally expresses our deepest urge for survival. Our psoas grounds us to our surroundings similar to a grounding wire in a circuit. Once the spine is open and grounded, the spine can become alive and perform optimally as it is supposed to.

Your emotions are connected to your psoas through the fascia and nerves surrounding it. When your emotions are stressed & heightened, that fear, guilt or anger travels through the nerves in the psoas to the spinal column and then to the brain which is headquarters for your emotions.

So when you have open and functioning hips and a strong mobile lower back you are:

• More playful
• Creatively free
• Perhaps calmer
• Better equipped to handle stress

The emotions that you experience during the day will be transmitted more freely with clarity and will flow freely from your psoas to your brain.

Fear and your body’s reaction to this powerful emotion can be reduced and improved through the release and repair of the psoas.

Tight Hips= Pot Belly

Tight Hips = Poor Digestion

Tight Hips = Increased Stress

A tight psoas muscle pulls on the spine creating your belly to protrude forward, thus a pot belly which is fairly hard and somewhat rigid. Whereas fat is soft and pudgy.

A tight psoas also affects digestion because it is pulling on your small and large intestines.

The tighter your psoas the more pressure that is placed on your organs and other muscles.

By returning to a neutral pelvis you will create more space for your organs and muscles and they will all function better.

Having tight hip joints and tightness in the surrounding muscles – like your hamstrings – that pull on your back and knees.  Enjoy some of the movements you can do below with Miracle Balls and Rollers that will relieve back pain, sciatic pain, pressure on heel spurs, foot aches and knee instability.  

Exercises

Pelvis lift - no equipment needed

See video for Pelvis Lift move - 4 minutes, click here

“Before changing how I moved I would fall several times a year. Usually on the street and steps. After adding these exercises that Tanya teaches, I feel quite confident on uneven surfaces. My balance has improved immensely. This exercise has been instrumental in improving my hips, balance and posture.” - Betty

Continuous movements mask balance issues because when in motion we can’t identify them. Think of a bike – in motion, no problem, but try and stay on the bike when not in motion. Walking is a continuous pattern of almost falling and if our body is weakened this can increase the chances of falling.

Notice:

When doing the Pelvis lift notice:

• Are your ankles wobbly?
• Does your foot keep touching the ground?
• Where is your pelvis?
• What is happening at your knees?
• How would you rate your balance?

When your lateral hip muscles are not fully engaging when you are walking, you tend to be falling forward more than controlled walking.  Good news – strengthening your hips will help you to improve your strength and your balance.

Stretches:

Dynamic Stretches

• Swing leg back and forth and side to side and on a 45-degree angle
• Rock hips standing side to side and stir the pot
• Table Top hip rotations
• Kneeling Hip Rotations

Static Stretches

• Standing quad stretch (with or without chair holding leg)
• Hip flexor stretch – on knee and standing – lean over to the side – use block
• Windshield wiper

Miracle Ball:

Link to purchase your Miracle Balls

1. Hips on 2 balls – knees bent/straight
2. Windshield Wiper with ball under glutes
3. Hamstrings on balls
4. Ball under knee – one at a time
5. One ball under tailbone

Rollers:

1. Hip Openers
2. Hips Release

 See video above for a fabulous hip opener using your roller. Looking for more great videos to get rid of aches and pains, click here

Here’s to happy, healthy and relaxed hips!!,

Tanya

Enjoy this FREE Stronger to the Core Challenge to improve posture, balance and core strength, click here

I’m a wife and mum, personal trainer, fitness/pilates instructor, Behaviour Change Specialist, Nutrition Coach, Pain-Free Movement Specialist, author of Cookie Dough in the Dark, creator of Vibrant Living Membership - your ONE STOP shop for movement + nutrition + mindset..... among many other things!!  I’ve had many issues dealing with the scale going up and down, a muffin top that wouldn’t disappear, emotional eating binges that did not involve carrots and struggling with insecurity! Through all of this I just wanted to feel normal. I wanted to be happy like everyone else!

In my teens and 20’s I wanted the quick fixes, the magic pills, the fairy dust – whatever I could get my hands on to make me a lean, happy and sexy machine. Yup, found out it doesn’t exist. I wanted to cry!! I was so frustrated. I felt like I was going around and around until I was completely exhausted and back at the starting point. And when I talk with other women they feel that way too. So, I delved further into holistic health – the emotional, mental and physical – wrote a book, and have been in this field for many years helping 1000’s of women.

I discovered that by being smarter, not working harder, I could get the results I wanted and also for my clients. It started with some really small shifts that I will share with you over time. With this new knowledge, I felt ALIVE, VIBRANT and COMFORTABLE in my own skin. And my clients felt this way too!

My mission is to continue to help women step into the body they WANT. To feel confident & sexy, in control of their food choices and have their clothes fit just as they should while having the energy to live a VIBRANT life.

Ready to elevate your health? As a certified Behaviour Change & Nutrition Coach, I'd be happy to chat with you. Contact me at [email protected].

Healthy Hugs,

Tanya