To open your hips in bed, try gentle, lying stretches like Knee-to-Chest (pulling one knee to your chest), the Windshield Wiper (swinging bent knees side-to-side), or the Figure-Four Stretch, focusing on slow movements within your comfortable range to release tension in your glutes, hip flexors, and inner thighs. Remember to keep your back flat and avoid forcing deep stretches, especially if you have pain; breathe deeply and hold for about 30 seconds per side for best results.
Grab a pillow and put it between your legs. This protects the hip that you're not sleeping on. Without the pillow, the knee falling forward can put strain on your hip. With the pillow, your hips stay aligned.
9 Hip-Opening Stretches to Try
How To Release Trauma From Hips
The hips are a common storage site for emotions related to fear, anxiety, sadness, and trauma. Yoga, with its focus on hip opening and mindfulness, offers a powerful tool for releasing these stored emotions.
Signs you may have tight hips
World's greatest stretch
Lunge forward with right leg, placing foot just outside right hand. Rotate torso to right as you reach arm straight overhead. Hold this position for about 20 seconds (or less, if you want to make the stretch more dynamic); reverse movement back to start and repeat on other side.
If you have experienced trauma, it is common to hold tension and emotions in your hips. This can lead to physical discomfort and limited mobility. Fortunately, there are several techniques you can use to release trauma from your hips and improve your overall well-being.
If you have hip pain only at night, odds are the culprit is your sleep position or mattress. Side sleepers are particularly prone to hip pain due to pressure on the hip joint. The opposite hip – the one you're not lying on – might hurt, too, if it strains forward.
Research indicates that back sleepers who sleep with their legs straight experience more pressure in the lower back. Those who sleep with their knees bent change the position of their pelvis, which lengthens the lower back and creates more space between the vertebrae.
Common symptoms include:
Single knee to chest
This stretch loosens up the lower back, the hip flexors and the hip joints. Lying on your back, straighten both legs on the bed. Then hug your right knee in toward your chest as you flex your left foot, keeping the left leg straight.
Symptoms of Frozen Hip
Symptoms over one to three months include pain when moving the hip, aching when at rest, and limited activity due to hip motion changes especially when rotating your leg away from the body (external rotation).
To keep your hip flexors supple, make sure to get up and move more throughout the day. “I recommend changing position every 30 to 45 minutes—or even sooner if needed—to avoid tightness,” says Kimberly Baptiste-Mbadiwe, a physical therapist at HSS. “Stand up, walk around, or perform a quick stretch, if necessary.”
Poses like pigeon pose, lizard pose, and even downward-facing dog can be adapted to suit your body's needs, making hip openers accessible whether you're a beginner or a seasoned yogi. These yoga poses not only target the hip area but also contribute to a greater sense of well-being, both physically and emotionally.
Tight hip flexors cause symptoms like lower back pain, stiffness after sitting, pain in the front of the hip/groin, difficulty standing up straight or climbing stairs, altered posture (anterior pelvic tilt), decreased leg strength, and limited range of motion, affecting activities like running, squatting, and kicking. You might also feel muscle spasms, cramping, or a pulling sensation in the upper thigh.
The hips, which are considered the seat of emotions, hold tension, memories and stored energy from past and current experiences. Through the practice of yoga, especially hip-opening asanas, these deeply rooted emotions and energy can be released, allowing for greater emotional balance and freedom.
As you age, the cartilage in your hip joint gradually wears down. That's when arthritis pain kicks in. “Osteoarthritis is essentially the result of wear and tear,” says Dr.
Red flags for hip pain needing urgent attention include sudden, severe pain after injury, inability to bear weight, significant swelling/redness/warmth, night pain disrupting sleep, fever, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, neurological symptoms (weakness/numbness), or a history of cancer, as these can signal serious issues like fractures, infections, or malignancy, requiring prompt medical evaluation beyond typical muscle soreness.
Put heat or cold on your sore hips as needed. Use whichever helps you most. You also can go back and forth between hot and cold packs. Apply heat 2 or 3 times a day for 20 to 30 minutes—using a heating pad, hot shower, or hot pack—to relieve pain and stiffness.