Encouraging students to have an understanding of finding openness, stability and balance in their hips can be complex.
The tail bone, the pelvic floor, the hip sockets are all integral parts of this relationship and really generate our fluidity and movement. And because we are bipedal in nature, there can often be imbalances in just standing up straight. I am sure you’ve seen many a students standing (and sitting for that matter) with their backs rounded or pubic bone pushing forward. Or perhaps they lean their weight to one side or another. And since our center of gravity is upright rather than on all fours like most other mammals, our hips become the driving force behind our movement and as such a lot of tension and energy gets built up there. Thats why so many people talk about having tight hips. Therefore our hips, sacrum, pelvic floor, etc are all an integral part of keeping our alignment safe and healthy in yoga postures. It’s also why there are so many hip openers in the asana practice.
Assignment: How can we as yoga teachers encourage our students to find balance and engagement in their hips within the asana practice? What poses can we use? What language can we use?