Hips and Pelvis

All right here, we are again, familiar position, familiar space. Starting to make lot more connections in our body becoming more in communication altogether with ourselves. So now we're gonna bring our attention a little bit focused more specifically into the hips. So we could start with our spinal wave rocking through the head and the tail pushing and pulling through the heels. But now not only are you aware of the spine but the space in the hip itself.

So sinking back into the hip and then as the tail reaches down trying to deepen and soften into those sockets. So we'll just do a couple more waves breathing in and breathing out can take your fingers if you like and just explore that space notice where it might get stuck where the tendons jump out at you and just encourage that flow to continue going as much as you can, without too much effort, just your attention. And then come back to the center and we'll do a sway and this time think into the horizontals. So you have your centers of your ankles, the centers of your knees, and now bring in the center of the hip. So yes, the pelvis is laterally shifting.

Yes, there is a subtle rotation occurring in your spine, but for now, put your mind, put your focus into the sensation or the sensing into the center of your hips and you'll feel how as you go your feet and your legs act like these little rudders, and there's a slight difference in the quality of the movement. So come back to the middle, rearrange yourself and we're gonna take now just the leg itself. So keeping the pelvis as still as possible as centered as possible, start with the left and allow that left thigh to begin to open up to the side. And when you feel any kind of resistance or a tightness, don't push through it. But now begin to shift the weight of the pelvis was like you're pouring your right hip onto your left until you feel the whole outside of your left thigh resting on the mat and then check into right leg.

Did the knee drop, or are you still reaching out through the center of your foot? Take a moment here and let that go. See if you can let the inner thigh rest and lengthen and let the back of the leg from the knee up into the hip be the supporting structure and to return press a little bit into the heel of your right foot. Bring up the side of the left thigh and allow yourself to shift back to center. Let's do that side again.

So you're on two feet. The right knee thigh is releasing down into the hip and just the left leg. Allow it to drop out to the side. And then depending on your flexibility your range shift the whole pelvis over but maintain the alignment through the right leg and hip pressing down into the heel and the ball of the foot of the right, lift the left leg and knee and roll yourself back to the middle. And let's do that on the other side releasing the right thigh out to the side.

You may be different side to side and I know I certainly am. And when you start to feel any resist or tension tightening resistance to the movement, don't push it don't force it. Allow the shift of weight in the pelvis to take you over until the outside of your right thigh from the outer knee up into the outer hip can rest on the mat or the carpet. Feel the floor coming up underneath to hold you, as you soften down into that, pressing into the left foot release the right knee up toward the ceiling feel how as the leg comes back towards center your body will naturally shift back to the middle. Now, sometimes you have a tighter side in a less tight side and it doesn't feel good to have the leg go all the way down to the ground.

So you can take some kind of a cushion or a pillow. You could take your own hand. Basically what you're doing is having the floor come up to meet you sooner. So for me, I'm gonna block my right side. I'm gonna shove that pillow in there that carp the a little bit of blanket.

And as I allow my right leg to go off to the side, the floor comes sooner. I don't have to go as far to make the connection with the surface. That acts as a support for the weight of my leg so that I can let the tension go. I can feel the connection from the outside of the knee up into the outside of hip and allow that tension in the groin and the inner thigh to rest. And then again, pressing through the opposite foot.

Now it's not as long, it's not as heavy. It's not as far away the load isn't as great. And it's easier for me to bring the leg back up and now just sway side to side a couple of times. And if you do find that you have an asymmetry and you practice this on a regular basis you will feel change, definitely changes. It's not the same day to day.

So now plant both feet and allow both sides to reach out to the side. And as you go for any more increased range, soften into those hips allow the tail to reach down toward the carpet. And then as you come back, curl the tail bringing the weight back into the center of the joint as the knees come back up. So opening and closing the hips, allowing the pelvis the tail of the pubic bone to tilt forward toward the ground. And then shifting that weight back up toward the sacrum deepening into the hips to free that movement of the legs coming back.

One more time out, release, curl back and come back to the center and then just shake it out. All these things can be done with your feet against the wall as well. Okay, take your knees up. Palms on top, we did something like this. When we were working our shoulders, walking the knees and this time allow the focus to be a little bit more on the fact that you're holding the weight of your legs with your arms, so that you can find some freedom and release in the hips themselves.

It's fine, if you wanna do the larger movement and enjoy the movement all the way up through your ribs and spine and shoulder blades and neck and head why not, but then come back to the primary focus right now, being on the hips. And then we'll do some circles holding the weight of your legs and your own arms so that you can let go of tension and gripping in the front of the hip. Make it a little bit small. So you don't disturb your back and go for smooth and go for round and go for circle. Maybe picture again, that bulls-eye dot in the middle of the circle that you picture in your mind and see if you can make a nice clear even circle in both directions.

And then let's circle both knees in the same direction and create a nice circular feeling across the back of the pelvis. Both directions. And now of course, you're gonna feel this all the way up into your shoulder girdle as well. And then just let the feet come back to the ground. So let's do a couple of knee folds and for today.

Focus primarily on the hip. So as you let the one knee come up you can keep your fingers there to let you know that you're softening into that cable and then allow the foot to come back to the ground. So as much as possible we're simply moving the leg in the hip. We're trying to avoid much movement if any in the pelvis and in the spine. Not because that's forever but just because we're trying to see, well what's going on with my hips.

So you could employ ease imprinting here, take a breath. And on your exhalation you can imprint your sacrum to create a ground of support to free the legs. Simple knee folds, softening into the hip, hydrating the tissue, feeling for yourself which side does what? And when not worrying, not correcting just feeling what it is today and then let's stop with the right knee up. Take your hand on the one leg, do a little stir just on the one side.

Seeing if you can isolate that in both directions you don't have to use your hand if you don't want to, just make it smooth, make it soft and feel the depth of that thighbone sinking way, way back into the support in the back of the pelvis on the ground. Let's do that on the other side, rearrange your foot on the carpet, circle the knee in the hip either using your hand or not using your hand picturing the circle in the back of the pelvis. Trying not to just run over any rough spots but taking your time, relaxing the jaw, relaxing your face. Maybe thinking about that deep, bright light supporting you from inside, and then let that leg go down. And then let's slide.

Let's stay on the same side. So slide the leg away, keeping the distance between the pelvis and the ribs the same reach through the heel. And then imagine as a gentle string tugging from the bottom of your shoulder blade, running down your back through your pelvis, to your sit bone. And then it's as if your sit bone is trying to chase your heel down the carpet, and then softly reach through the top of the foot point the toes, a string on your knee, soften into the heaven. Bring that leg back and let it fold.

Put the foot down we'll do that on the other side sliding the right leg along the floor, using your hands. If you need for guidance to keep the distance between the pelvis and the ribs, the same. Put that little string on the bottom tip of your right shoulder blade, lengthen it down the backside of you through the pelvis. And then your sit bone is chasing your heel down the carpet softly reach the top of the foot through the toes. Put a nice light spring on your knee, soften into the hip as you bring the leg back and let it fold.

Let's try that with both legs. Take a nice deep breath, relax slide both feet down the mat. You get to the place where you start to arch your back. Take a moment and maybe just wiggle one leg than the other leg, one leg and the other leg. But if you can, slide them both put that string on the tip of your shoulder blade, slide it down the back of your body.

Let your sit bones, chase your heels and what the heck. Take both arms, overhead and touch the tips of your thumbs to the floor. And just take a moment, feel the glorious fullness of your whole body, and then bring your arms back down reach over the tops of your feet. Soften the knees. It gets a little trickier here, both legs at the same time, slide the legs back, soften the hips bring them up and then just wiggle for a moment.

Okay, I'm gonna fix my socks. So we're gonna roll onto the side and for this you need to have, I have my little trusty blanket, but you might use a pillow. So you're an ally on your side. You might even want a pillow for your head. So be comfortable, take the blanket or the pillow or whatever you're using between your thighs, between your knees and then rest comfortably on your side.

Bring your legs up toward a nice clear angle. And this is Eve's sidelining series part of it anyway. So this first part is called a pillow squeeze. So she would have lots and lots of different pieces of foam and she would have a nice big thick piece of foam or a wedge between our legs. Take a breath and on your exhalation, gently squeeze your pillow, squeeze your blanket and let it go.

Depending on your body, you might want something larger. You might want something all the way down your whole leg into your ankles as well. Take another breath. And as you exhale, gently squeeze and then release and squeeze and release. And the next part is called telescoping the knee.

So you take a breath and on your exhale you telescope the tip of your knee forward, take a little breath and exhale and telescope it back. Inhale, exhale, telescope, that knee forward inhale and exhale, back and forth focusing on the peripheral aspect of the movement. So the tip of the knee forward and back, and the last part of this simple part is called a rusty gate. So your feet are lined up. You take a breath and then as you exhale you lift the knee up and then you bring it back down.

Only take your leg. As far as you can go, not rolling backwards onto the pelvis up and down, breathing in, breathing out and then we put it together. So we take the squeeze, the telescope, the gate and back down. And it's another kind of circle smoothly moving through the hip forward and up and back and down and then reverse it, go back the telescope and up and reach out through the knee and put it down and back. And the rusty gate and the telescope and the pillow squeeze and the reverse telescope and the rusty gate forward and back, and then lie on your back, have the feet together but the knees slightly apart, not the souls of your feet but the in step of your feet.

And we're gonna roll through the pelvis now rocking back and forth side to side. And this one, she called rock rock, rock, press through. So it's a three count one, two, three. And here's that push up through the heel opening the opposite hip. And then you release down one, two, three the right foot pushes and you release back into the hip rock, rock, rock the left heel pushes, and you release back down.

Notice when you do the press of the heel try not to push into the front of your hip but feel the bridge quality, the heel to the sit bone to the sacrum and then release, release. So we're not pushing into the lower back nor pushing into the front of the hip, but pulling the heel back up into the pelvis, release, release, release, push through release, release, release, push through and then let's go ahead and come on to our other side, get comfortable place your pillow or your blanket. Relax into the head and the neck. Take a little breaths, exhale squeeze, inhale release, exhale squeeze, inhale release and one more softly squeeze and release. And then the telescope breathe in, slide it and come back.

You can take your time with the breath. If you like to have one breath per movement, you can or you can just simply cultivate smooth inhales and smooth exhales and get into the flow and the release quality of the movement forward and back. And then the rusty gate lifting the knee keeping the feet together, and then bringing it back down only taking the leg up as high as you can not allowing yourself to fall back onto your back. And one more time up. And then the whole thing a gentle squeeze telescope forward, rusty gate, telescope back and down, circling and circling, softening and softening, breathing in and breathing out.

And then let's go a couple of times the other way back, up forward all the time. Thinking about the tip of the knee, again like a little light shining in space and around. And one more time just come onto the back, arrange yourself comfortably. And let's just go ahead and push and pull through the heels rocking and rolling through the pelvis, shoulder girdle, the spine. feet, legs, hips sacrum base of the ribs, shoulder blades all the ribs, the sternum, the collar bones, the neck, the head rocket a little bit side to side and then bring your legs up. And we're gonna add a little bit of muscularity into all of this so that, just in case you wanna stand up and go somewhere, you can.

So take the hands on top of the knees. Try to have the knees is directly over the hips as you can, take a breath and as you exhale, put a little pressure down and as you press down into your knees lift your knees up into your hands and then let that go. Two more times, take a breath, exhaling press the palm of your hand onto the top of your knee as your knee itself, reaches up into your palm and let that go. One more time, watching out for tension now in the neck, head and shoulders as you bring more muscularity into your action and release and then take your, the flat of your palm to the outer part of your knee, where the shin comes up into the thigh and now resist take a breath. And as you press into the outer knee push your legs gently out into your hands, resist it.

And then even as you come back resist it. It's a little funny at first to keep the resistance. When you're closing the legs go back and forth like this a few times. So you're keeping the consistent pressure and you feel the toning maybe in the outsides of those hips. Couple more times, press relaxing the neck the back of the head, the jaw, the mouth, the eyes pressing and resisting, even on the way in and then take your hands to the inside.

Whatever's more comfortable for you squeeze into the midline. And then even as the legs open, keep resisting with your hand and arm and squeeze you can do fists back of the hand, palms pressing in and pressing out, bringing some tone and support to that freedom that we've filed. Take your hands to the tops of your legs the front of your thighs close up to your knees, breathe in and exhale press resist. And inhale, all of these things you could do with your feet against the wall. And one more time, inhale and ex, and now take your hands to the tops of your shins and start to lift your shin up into your hand, let your head come up and then nod forward, softening into the sternum.

Start to get a little rocking action and then see if you can come all the way up and arrive with your feet flat to the mat. And I think we'll leave it here for now and let all the choreography that goes with this for another section. So there you go.