It's also linked to how you relate to your emotions and the emotions of others. A blocked sacral chakra is said to lead to emotional instability as well as reductions in pleasure. When the hips are tight and contracted, it's possible that sacral energy that's not expressed remains stuck.
Mind-body practices such as yoga, mindfulness, breathwork, and meditation can help release emotions. Stretching can help with this too.
Releasing physical and emotional tension
Stretching the hip muscles causes a release; pent-up emotions may resurface, suppressed memories may arise, unconscious tension still held onto from a traumatic event may bubble up. All of which may unleash a seemingly inexplicable barrage of tears.
What does it mean to have tight hips? A feeling of tightness across the hips comes from tension around the hip flexors. The hip flexors are a group of muscles around the top of the thighs that connect the upper leg to the hip. These muscles allow you to bend at the waist and raise your leg.
People with trauma, stress or mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression often suffer physical symptoms as well. In all of this, there may be one common link: the hips. Neuroscience indicates that the hips are a potential storage vessel for emotions.
The hips are an important storage vessel of emotional stress because of the psoas' link to the adrenal glands and the location of the sacral chakra.
Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles. These “packages” allow the emotional information to stay in our body parts until we can “release” it. Negative emotions in particular have a long-lasting effect on the body.
The hips are located at the second chakra, also known as Svadhisthana. The second chakra is linked to sexuality, desire, pleasure, and procreation. When the second chakra is blocked it hinders our ability to let go and let it flow.
This same initial response also happens when we experience feelings of fear, anxiety and sadness. Although our physical response isn't so abrupt, we still tense our hips; trapping not only muscular tension but also emotional tension too.
Lower Back: Anger
If you sit on frustration, the lower back is a common place for storing repressed anger. For relief, learn to constructively articulate frustration and address conflicts with others in the moment.
The hips can take a beating during childbirth and as a result, afterwards, they tighten up. If something traumatic happens to you to cause tight hips, you may also be storing that negative energy in your hips.
In addition to the benefits of improved range of motion and circulation and decreased back pain, opening the hips can create an energetic shift or release as well. Yogic tradition holds the hips as a storage ground for negative feelings and pent-up emotions, especially ones related to control in our lives.
After practicing TRE® people often use the words 'grounded', 'relaxed' and 'calmer' to describe their feelings. After a period of several months people have reported relief from illnesses such as Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Eczema and IBS.
Trauma's Mental and Physical Impact
Storing trauma in our bodies comes into play when the untethered release of stress hormones over and over again at higher than normal levels begins to impact our mental and physical health. Eventually, this causes damage to our bodies.
Signs of an Overactive Sacral Chakra
An overactive Sacral Chakra means distributing too much energy throughout the body. Since Sacral Chakra governs emotions, overactive energy creates an overwhelming feeling. Experiencing emotions more deeply and extreme mood swings indicate a hypersensitive nature.
Sagittarians have a powerful sacral chakra and it is under the control of Jupiter. This chakra is what makes this zodiac sign so optimistic and passionate.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Shame is the uncomfortable sensation we feel in the pit of our stomach when it seems we have no safe haven from the judging gaze of others. We feel small and bad about ourselves and wish we could vanish. Although shame is a universal emotion, how it affects mental health and behavior is not self-evident.
The energy of the trauma is stored in our bodies' tissues (primarily muscles and fascia) until it can be released. This stored trauma typically leads to pain and progressively erodes a body's health. Emotions are the vehicles the body relies on to find balance after a trauma.
While a mild hip flexor strain can take just a few weeks to heal, it may take more than 6 weeks to recover from a more severe strain.
Hip opening yoga poses improve circulation, flexibility and range of movement in the hips, legs and back. They are also beneficial for improving posture, strengthening balance, reducing stress, and promoting mental health and overall wellness.
Intense Stretching Promotes Emotional Release
Whether you're trying to open your hips, your chest, or stretch your shoulders, it can get pretty emotional when your stretching that goes beyond a few casual swings of the arms or a quick lunge or two. It might not even register as emotion at first.