5 Yoga Practices to Release Hip Tension

If you’re a person in a body, you need hip openers. As with many aches and pains such as hunched shoulders and neck tension, tight hip flexors are a common effect of days, weeks, and years of your life spent seated.

And it’s not just sitting that causes this. Walking, running, climbing stairs, hiking, and more can lead to wound-up hips. This matters, as these muscles—including the hip flexors as well as the rectus femoris, iliacus, and psoas—work to help your stability, mobility, and posture.

TLDR: The last thing you want is for your hips to feel stuck and static.

Fortunately, practices that feature hip openers come in many styles and approaches, allowing you to find the perfect class (or stand-alone pose) for you. Consider these poses counterbalances to the shapes you find yourself in throughout your daily life. So find what works for you and let the loosening up begin!

Hip Openers: 5 Yoga Practices to Release Tension

In addition to the physical benefits, hip openers can help release pent up emotions and even boost creativity, according to yoga teachings. See how you feel both physically and mentally after you start prioritizing your hip health.

1. 15-Minute Yin Yoga to Release Hip Tension

This yin yoga flow asks that you find stillness while giving your hips the space to loosen up. Yoga teacher Katie McGrath helps you spend a little extra time spent in each pose to dissolve lingering tension—especially with regular practice.

Try this hip-opening practice.

2. 7 Ways to Practice Hip Openers That Intensify the Stretch

Yoga teacher Viresh Nidanchi’s interpretation of hip openers involves a dynamic approach. This practice encourages extra movement when coming into each pose, resulting in a playfulness that pairs well with hip opening.

Try this hip-opening practice.

3. 15-Minute Hip-Opening Stretches

For a reliable hip-opening practice that fits well within any gaps in your schedule, try this short but effective class from Yoga With Kassandra. The beginner-friendly flow helps boost energy in the morning, stretch hips post-workout, or melt accumulated tension before bed for a better night’s rest.

Try this hip-opening practice.

4. 5 Hip Flexor Stretches to Relieve Pain

Releasing your hips doesn’t need to be a complicated endeavor. When you don’t have time for a full practice, seek stand-alone poses that ease tightness is an effective option.

Try this hip-opening practice.

5. 12 Poses to Relax Your Tight Hips

More poses, please! These shapes are sequenced to function as a flow, but yoga teacher Charnette Batey suggests dropping into the ones that feel right in your body whenever you have a moment.

Try this hip-opening yoga practice.