Hips are the emotional center of our subtle bodies and one of the first places to hold unreleased stress, overwhelm, and emotions. For many trauma survivors, hips might feel tight, heavy, numb, or disconnected.
This 25 minute, trauma informed and somatic hip opening yoga class supports gentle release, presence, and nervous system regulation, meeting your body where it is in each moment. This isn’t as much a practice to correct or “fix” anything, but more of a way to tune in, observe, and see what your body is trying to communicate with you.
Through a trauma informed lens, we send our bodies and nervous system the message that it is safe to rest, release, and unwind. When we allow our bodies to speak to us, and release any pressure for our bodies to react in a certain way, we can soften more naturally and with less effort.
What to Expect in This Practice
This is a slow-moving, low to the ground somatic yoga class focused on grounding, exploration, and awareness of your hips.
This is also a trauma-informed practice, meaning you are always welcome to skip poses, pause, or do anything you like to make this a more comforting class. There is no right or wrong way to experience this practice and your experience will be unique to you and your current energy levels.
There are no props required, no standing postures, and this is supportive for all experience levels.
We’ll explore:
- Grounding and Butterfly Taps (0:17)
We begin with gentle grounding practices and butterfly taps to orient you into the present moment and tend to an overactive nervous system. Grounding is a foundational tool in any somatic practice, as it gives you a gentle space to return to if you ever feel overwhelmed. - Seated Somatic Hip Exploration (2:00)
We’ll explore slow, mindful movement to awaken awareness in your hips, seeing if you notice any subtle sensations and what your body might be asking of you. - Grounding (10:30)
Grounding allows your nervous system to settle and integrate the class up until this point. This is supportive to see if you’ve drifted from the practice, would like to take a pause or end, and to avoid overwhelming your system with too many movements too quickly. - Supine Somatic Hip Exploration (11:30)
We’ll explore more somatic movements in poses like supine butterfly and reclined pigeon. - Hip Rocking and Child’s Pose (19:00)
Rocking and child’s pose are soothing and low effort, still allowing for gentle release and are comforting to your nervous system and hips. - Grounding and Closing (24:00)
It’s important to end any somatic class with grounding and taking a moment to notice any shifts throughout practice, no matter how subtle.
Who This Class Is For
This practice is supportive if you:
- Have tension, tightness, or emotional holding in your hips
- Prefer slow movement and somatic exploration over deep stretching
- Have a sensitive nervous system
During this class, you might experience more body awareness, shaking, release, or a subtle presence. Just giving the practice a try and seeing what happens means you’re doing enough. There’s no right or wrong way to feel in this class.
25 Minute Somatic Hip Opening Yoga Class
If you like, I invite you to join me below for this 25-minute trauma-informed somatic hip opening yoga class to explore gentle movement, grounding, and rest to support your hips, nervous system, and emotions.
There are no props required and this is supportive for all experience levels. I provide additional options for poses and props if you like to include them, and these are shown in the top right corner of the screen. There are no standing postures in this class.
I welcome you to join me below to release stress, tightness, and stored emotions in your hips!
This class is also available inside the Embody and Bloom membership, where you’ll find a growing library of trauma-informed yoga, somatic healing, and nervous system support for sexual trauma healing.
