Finding Your Happiest Yoga Hips - Integrated Practice and Pelvic Floor Awareness

Our final class incorporates some awareness of the pelvic floor and exploration of how the many ways our hips move can enhance our postures...

The pelvic floor isn't really a part of the hips, but it can have a very significant impact on the hips if it is tight. This will impact flexibility in the hips as it inhibits ROM for the pelvis and sacrum – as you already know most of the hip muscles attach to these two boney structures.

Go ahead and lie down and let's find the muscles groups that form the pelvic floor. The contraction of these muscles can be very subtle, especially if they are tight, so focus and be patient with yourself. Lie in Supta Baddha Konasana (knees apart, feet together), this stretches the pelvic floor a bit and can make it easier to sense.

- The first (outermost) layer of your pelvic floor attaches public bone ↔ tailbone. Draw these bones toward each other, can you sense the layer? What else happens in your body?

• The second layer attaches SITZ bone ↔ SITZ bone. Draw these bones toward each other, can you sense the layer? What else happens in your body?
• The third layer attaches sacrum ↔ pubic bone. Draw these toward each other, can you sense the layer? What happens elsewhere in your body?
• Try engaging all the layer – what does that feel like, what do you notice?
• Deepen your breath – can you feel it as it moves your organs toward your pelvic floor? If you can, try contracting the pelvic floor, then the belly as you exhale – really moving the breath UP.

For our hips purposes, we are not going to work on strengthening these muscles, rather we will focus on awareness to bring a greater understanding to their role and maybe a little extra relaxation. For all intents and purposes, these muscles are really a part of your core, working with your central body muscles, i.e. abs.  As you move through your practice, take a moment in each pose and see if you can sense the role of your pelvic floor.

As you practice, explore the engagement and release of different muscle groups toward the enhancement of the pose.  How would it feel to engage more internal rotation in your utkatasana or uttanasana?  How would it feel to engage more flexion in your anjaneyasanas?  Experiment, play, develop your awareness.  Each body is different, find what support you best, find what opens your pose more deliciously.  Consider working antagonist groups against each other (these are muscles that oppose each other - flexors/extensors, adductors/abductors, internal rotators/external rotators).  Incorporate this new knowledge into your everyday practice for happier hips.

Note – I am working on a pelvic floor series class and will offer it as soon as I find the time. Stay tuned!