They are also our biggest stabilizing muscles and can often clench or become tight in moments of emotional activation or trigger. The tissues in our hips hold onto the unprocessed emotions from these moments as a way for the subconscious mind to remember to avoid that same trigger in the future,” Sherer explained.
“Stress can manifest in the body, causing lower back and hip tension,” says Bartolino. It is also believed that you store stress, anxiety, and suppressed trauma in your hips if you don't express and release them. This is a well-known phenomenon in the yoga community as well as in several cultures around the world.
What emotions are stored in your hips? Our hip region is also associated with our sacral chakra which processes emotions like fear, sadness, frustration, loss and worry. As we clench and tense up when we are faced with these emotions, we lock and store them into our hips.
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.
They are also our biggest stabilizing muscles and can often clench or become tight in moments of emotional activation or trigger. The tissues in our hips hold onto the unprocessed emotions from these moments as a way for the subconscious mind to remember to avoid that same trigger in the future,” Sherer explained.
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.
The hips are also a place where we store relationships of all kinds, argues Simmons. They're especially linked to our romantic relationships. If you have tight hips you may be more skittish when it comes to falling in love. But we don't just hold romantic energy in our hips, we hold business relationships there too.
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala. This activates the body whenever a situation reminds the person of the traumatic event(s).
To sum up, since hip muscles are where emotions are trapped caused by events that switch your fight or flight mode, working on deep tissues in hip-focused postures like pigeon pose can release both physical and emotional stress.
Grief can be stored in various parts of the body, such as the heart, lungs, throat, and stomach. People may also experience physical sensations like heaviness in the chest or tightness in the throat when experiencing grief.
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.
Why do hip openers release emotions? Hip-opening poses activate Svadhisthana, the second or sacral chakra, located within the pelvis along the spine. This chakra energy center is about self-expression and creativity, and is located near the bladder, womb and ovaries. It is the source of sexual energy and passion.
For some people, the tremors are big movements in the muscles. For others, they are tiny contractions that feel like electrical frequencies moving through the body. TRE® is not painful—in fact, most people enjoy the sensations.
"In a fight or flight situation, your muscles respond by tensing up. If you think of your pelvis as the center point for your body to work off of when trying to get away from trauma, and your body's response to trauma includes making your muscles tense, it makes sense that your hips tend to store a lot of tension."
The survivor of a severe car accident might not remember the accident in detail but may feel physically averse to getting back into a car. Their heart rate goes up, their palms sweat, and they may feel sick to their stomach. These are all physical reactions to previous trauma. The body thinks it is still in danger.
Anger and suppressed rage are often stored in the buttocks.
Hip disassociation is the ability to move your leg in your hip joint freely without moving your pelvis or spine much.
Ferreira says cracking joints may trigger a release of "feel-good" chemicals, like endorphins, which help relieve pain.
By stimulating the tendons, muscles, and blood vessels with a deep tissue massage, you're encouraging blood flow to the area. This improves blood circulation, alleviates inflammation, and reduces pain.
Do the exercises at least 3 days/week and you'll feel the results in 1-2 weeks and of course, to continue progressing consider the Hip Flexibility Solution as the next step.
Most basic emotions were associated with sensations of elevated activity in the upper chest area, likely corresponding to changes in breathing and heart rate (1).