Move from Hips, Not Habit

Most movement today is top-down—head and shoulders leading the way, hips following behind like an afterthought. But the hips are designed to lead. When movement starts from the pelvis, the rest of the body organizes naturally.

Your hips are your physical and energetic crossroads. They connect the stability of your legs with the mobility of your upper body. When they’re tight, movement feels forced. When they’re free, everything flows.

Why the Hips Hold So Much

The hip joints store more than tension—they hold emotion, fatigue, and survival instinct. Sitting compresses them, stress locks them, and both restrict circulation. By moving from the hips with awareness, you reintroduce motion where stagnation lived and free up the energy that supports digestion, creativity, and grounded confidence.

How to Practice

Today’s sequence moves through Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Ardha Uttanasana, Ardha Kati Chakrasana, and Katichakrasana. Each posture layers on the last to retrain your body to initiate motion from the pelvis rather than the shoulders or knees.

Practical Benefits: How to Move from the Hips in Real Life

• When lifting objects: Soften your knees and hinge from the hips instead of rounding your back. You’ll spare your spine every time.

• While walking: Feel your hips glide naturally instead of holding them rigid. Let the movement ripple upward through the torso.

• When stretching: Imagine the hips are the steering wheel, not the limbs. You’ll release tightness faster with less strain.

• In emotional moments: Place a hand on your lower abdomen, breathe deeply, and gently sway from side to side. Motion discharges stuck emotion better than stillness.

• At work: Stand up every hour and rotate your hips in small circles to reset blood flow and posture.

  
  

Physical & Energetic Benefits

• Improves spinal mobility and posture

• Increases circulation and lymphatic flow through pelvis and abdomen

• Eases lower back discomfort

• Releases trapped emotional energy

• Restores coordination between lower and upper body

A Bit of History

Ancient yogic texts reference hip-opening movement as preparation for seated meditation. Before you could be still, you had to be mobile. The hips were the gateway—home to Apana Vayu, the downward-moving current of energy responsible for elimination and stability.

To move from the hips is to respect the root. You’re not just mobilizing joints—you’re realigning your relationship with gravity. When you do, the whole body learns to move as one intelligent system again.