Are you up for a challenge? Strong yoga practice for hips and hamstrings

Whenever you decide to work with your hips, it is not enough to simply stretch them. Since your hips are the weight-bearing joints in the body, first and foremost, you need to make sure that they are stable and balanced. This means that we are striving toward balanced muscle development from front to back, right to left, inner to outer, and so on. That is why any balanced yoga practice for the hips will include hip flexion and extension, adduction and abduction, internal and external rotation. In addition, changing the body’s position in relation to gravity while doing those movements will strengthen slightly different areas.

The yoga practice below includes all of those movements and invites you to go deeper in stages. The practice gradually builds toward Upavista Konasana and ensures that both your hips and your hamstrings are ready for it. It is a pretty strong practice that includes fairly long holds in some challenging poses. If your hips are feeling vulnerable right now, it is best to skip that one and instead explore our Yoga Series for Hip Tension and Butt Discomfort, which strengthens and releases tension in your hips much more gradually. But if your hips are up for a challenge, give this practice a try and see how it feels!

Different disciplines have different strategies for developing strength and vitality. The yoga tradition has developed its own methodology, and it revolves around your spine because your spine is the structural and energetic center of the body.

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