Trauma, stress, and intense emotions like fear, grief, and anger can get stored in the hips as physical tension, primarily in the psoas muscle, due to the body's fight-or-flight response. When stressed or threatened, the nervous system tightens hip muscles to prepare for action, and if the threat isn't resolved, this tension remains, creating a physical manifestation of past experiences that can surface during deep stretching or movement, leading to emotional release.
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.
The hips are far away from the face or the heart, so the body often can find it 'more safe' to store deep emotions like grief or fear in this area of the body.
Stretching and Mobility Exercises. Exercise programs that include hip openers like pigeon pose, butterfly stretch, and lunges help create space physically. Gentle movement like walking, yoga, and dance supports gradual release.
One key player in this process is the psoas muscle — a deep-seated muscle that connects the spine to the legs. When we're stressed, this muscle can tighten, leading to lingering tension in the hip area. This can cause pain, affect our posture, and limit mobility.
Prolonged periods of sitting, stress, and unresolved emotions can cause the hip muscles to tighten and contract, leading to discomfort and pain. Release and Expression: Understanding the connection between the hips and emotions opens up avenues for proactive health management.
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.
“There is absolutely truth to the idea that hip-opening yoga classes can make us emotional because we store unmet trauma and emotion in our pelvic space,” explains Meffan.
The second chakra, known as the sacral chakra or svadhisthana, is associated with the color orange. Almost all back and hip pain along with sciatica resides within this chakra. The reproductive system—ovaries, uterus, gonads and testes—is also included.
Over time, this tension can become chronic and lead to a range of physical and emotional symptoms. Symptoms of stored trauma in the hips can vary widely, but may include: Chronic pain or stiffness in the hips or lower back. Difficulty relaxing or feeling comfortable in hip-openers.
But in my experience, emotional healing happens in seven stages: awareness, acceptance, processing, release, growth, integration, and transformation. We don't move through these seven stages in a straight line, but we do pass through them all eventually on the path to healing.
But if you have chronic anxiety, irritability, numbness, or emotional overreactions that seem out of proportion to the moment, then this might be your clue. If you notice yourself avoiding deep conversations or feeling disconnected from your own needs, this is another clue that you could have repressed emotions.
Releasing trauma from the hips is a gradual process that varies for each person. Some may experience emotional release after a few sessions of hip-opening work, while others may need consistent practice over months. The key is gentle persistence and honoring your body's timeline.
Here are five signs that may mean someone is in emotional pain and might need help:
Psychodynamic Therapy. Psychodynamic therapy looks at how past experiences, particularly early life relationships, shape our current behaviors and feelings. For trauma survivors, this approach can help uncover deep-rooted patterns and understand how early trauma impacts present-day struggles.
How To Release Trauma From Hips
Many people experience chronic hip tension that feels deeper than muscle tightness. It can feel like the body is holding something emotional, stressful, or unresolved. That sensation is real. Trauma and stress can be stored in the body, especially in the hips.
Signs & Symptoms of a Blocked Root Chakra
Physical sensations such as tingling, warmth or a sense of energy may occur. Some people experience muscle twitching or shaking as tension is released.
You might cry tears of relief or exhaustion. Or because you didn't have a time or place to cry until you stepped onto your mat. Physician, medical researcher, and medical director of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Loren Fishman ascribes crying during yoga to “tremendous relief.”
While the front of the hips indicate a fear of the future, the back of the hips are linked to the past and our inability to let go of it. The back of the hips, which may include a tight lower back and glutes, mean that you may be too focused on the past, according to Simmons.
Hip pain is a common problem that can affect people of all ages. Your pain could result from an activity or sport that puts a lot of stress on your hip joint. Or your pain could be caused by some type of arthritis. Or a congenital condition that affects your hip anatomy could be to blame.
Trauma held in the hips can feel like soreness, tightness, tenderness, or pulling. Everybody's traumas and experiences are unique, so seeking the guidance of a trauma therapist who can customize your treatment is a good idea.
Without knowing it, it appears that men are attracted to a woman's curvy figure because it signals an abundance of DHA supply. In addition, a smaller waist signals that she is less likely to be a mother so her potential to bear children is completely untapped.