Hips are foundational to movement. Healthy hip movement is foundational to a spine that moves well without pain. The chairs that are commonly filled with our Western derrieres are death to hip movement. The driver’s seat is one of the worst culprits especially for those with long daily commutes. In order to reverse the effects of the 1st World chair, you need to sit in the 3rd World chair often and vary your patterns of movement by stretching and forcing your brain to think creatively about different ways to move and then doing them. Conforming to the non-movement patterns that we find in society (like bent-over-the-phone texting, typing while scrunched on the couch on your laptop… waiting in chairs whereever you might be)- all of these patterns lock up the body and especially the hips. My Core Transformation class is based on the basic premise that movement is medicine and that we can use our bodies, breathe into our bodies while releasing and massaging our bodies to restore full-range of motion. “Motion is lotion,” as Connie Grantham of Crawford Family Chiropractic often shares. So, find a restorative movement practice… whether you are learning from an internet guru, or from a local class. Get moving.
The thousands of sessions of Core Alignment Therapy that I have performed have taught me so much about how the hips function, how they release and how to open up the hips in relationship to the sacrum. At this point, if you don’t know anatomy, you might be ready to snooze, but trust me you want to watch this video. If your knees can’t handle this much flexion, (or bending as they say in the real world) I’m including some other hip opener routines for you below the video and there are many more suggestions available in my blog Wellness Matters. Click here to access. Also, Katy Bowman is an amazing movement expert who has been blogging for years. Take a deep dive into her work by clicking here.
I hope you enjoy this quick informative video and some of the modifications I have made to my 3rd World chair. More than that, give it a trial run and allow your lower spine to decompress. As you say, “Aaaaah”, please hear me saying, “You’re welcome, and you’re worth it!”
#MovementisMedicineMondays
