Hip Parade
Hips too tight? This unusual sequence creates balance in your pelvis and can unlock even the most stubborn hips.
By Andrea Ferretti
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Standing in chair pose for what seems like hours-legs quivering, arms aching—I'm sweating bullets...er, I mean, "building heat." I'm thinking, "Will this ever end?" and then, "How does this pose help open my hips?" Just then New York City-based yoga teacher Charles Matkin chimes in with his signature brand of humor to take the edge off. "This pose is like eating your spinach," he says. "No one wants to do it, but it's good for you. I call it Yuck-a-tasana."
When I talk to Matkin later about his playful teaching style and his approach to sequencing, it's clear there's a method to his madness. That's why this month's hip-opening series doesn't include any of the usual suspects (think Pigeon Pose, Bound Angle Pose, Lotus ). In Matkin's view, those poses mostly focus on stretching the external rotators (a group of muscles that run along your outer hips and buttocks), overlooking the front of the pelvis and the inner thighs. He favors a more balanced approach to create stability in the entire pelvis, which he defines as the thighbones, hipbones, and sacrum. His sequence works the inner legs and the deep muscles of the lower back and hip flexors (the psoas, for instance).
One way he creates awareness of the pelvis is to forgo the sticky mat (it's like doing yoga while wearing sneakers, he says) and place a blanket underfoot in standing poses. "Doing Warrior II this way strengthens all the muscles around the hip socket," Matkin explains. "You have to pull your legs in by using your inner adductors and internal rotators, which can be sleepy in standing poses."
Matkin also teaches the difference between tilting your pelvis forward and tilting it back. It may seem basic, but gaining this awareness can set the foundation for safe and efficient work in all your poses.
This sequence won't get you into Lotus today, but the last few poses are just as challenging. They demand that you're simultaneously strong and open in your hip flexors, outer hips, hamstrings, and psoas. If they're too difficult for you right now, be patient and credit yourself for a job well done as you move into the finishing sequence. But with a sequence as balanced and complete as this, you may be surprised to find yourself looking regal in Krounchasana (Heron Pose), or floating effortlessly into the Eight-Angle Pose arm balance.
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