30 Best Yoga Poses for Hip Opening - Stretches for Flexible Hips
Want more flexible hips? Start here.
If tight hips are causing you problems, you’re not alone. Whether you spend most of the day sitting or run for a few hours a day, tight hips could be keeping you from feeling your best. That’s because your hips are central to so many movements in your body - they help you walk, run, sit, bike, bend, and even help to stabilize your pelvis so you can stand upright.
But when your hips are tight, they cause everything else to be out of balance. That’s where yoga can help.
Today, we’re giving you thirty of our favorite yoga poses for hip opening to incorporate into your daily routine. These stretches for flexible hips will target your hip muscles and the muscles that support them - everything from your core to your quads - leaving you more balanced, flexible, and comfortable in your body.
In this article, you’ll learn:
Reasons why your hip flexors are so tight
How to safely practice hip openers (for beginners and advanced yogis)
What are the hip flexors?
Your hip flexors are a group of muscles that cross the front of the hip, connecting your upper thigh to your trunk. Every time you walk, run, bike, climb stairs, or bend forward at your hips, you’re using your hips flexors. As their name suggests, hip flexors are responsible for hip flexion: the motion of bringing your knee towards your torso or your torso to your knee.
Why are my hip flexors tight?
If you have a job where you spend most of the day sitting down, you probably have tight hip flexors. That’s because when you sit, your hip flexors may not be working, but they are in the flexed (or short) position. Healthy hips need a balance between hip flexion and hip extension; a sedentary life with long periods of sitting will make your hip flexors tighter over time.
But tight hips can also be a problem for highly active people. Runners and bikers often have tight hip flexors due to the repeated motion of drawing the knee toward the chest with each step or pedal. If athletes don’t stretch after strengthening exercises, it can cause problems in performance due to tight hip flexors. That’s why we’re giving you a list of the best yoga poses for hip opening. Whether your hips are tight due to overuse or lack of movement, these stretches for flexible hips will help relieve lower back pain and improve your range of motion.
But first, here’s how to safely practice yoga poses for hip opening.
In 2017, a study found that hip joint injuries account for about 6% of all sports injuries - and they’re becoming more common by the year. The best way to prevent hip injuries is to make a yoga hip opening sequence a part of your daily routine.
Your daily exercises for flexible hips should:
1. Protect your knees
Your hip is a ball and socket joint, which means it can move in a wide variety of ways. Your knee, on the other hand, is a hinge joint. It can only move forward and back.
That’s why any rotation in hip opening yoga poses needs to come from your hip joint - not your knee. Some of the most common yoga poses for hip opening, like half pigeon pose, can put undue pressure on your knee joint if you have fairly tight hips.
Keep your knee joint safe by making sure you never twist your ankle or sickle your foot. Instead, flex your toes back towards your shin and keep your toes in line with your knee. If you feel any pain or stretching in your knee joint, slowly back out of the pose and try a modification to make the pose more accessible (more on that below!).
2. Strengthen the muscles that support the hips
A hip opening sequence should always start by warming up the body with a variety of yoga poses. For hip opening to be effective, you also need to concentrate on the muscles that support the hips.
In addition to stretches that open your hips, practice poses that strengthen the muscles that support the hips, like your hamstrings and glutes. You’ll also want to open the inner thighs and quads to support increased mobility in the hip joint.
3. Open the frontline of the body in hip extension
If you practice yoga often, you might associate hip openers with poses like supine figure four and half pigeon, where the front leg works in external rotation. But equally important is lengthening the hip flexors that run across the front of your body. Poses like bridge pose and crescent lunge are great for hip extension, which is what you need if you spend hours a day sitting.
Introducing: 30 Stretches for Flexible Hips
A Full Breakdown of The Best Yoga Poses for Hip Opening
Tight, achy hips can make it hard to feel comfortable moving through the day. These stretches for flexible hips will loosen your hips, relieve back pain, and restore balance in your body.
A note if you’re new to yoga: poses for hip opening can be difficult for beginners. Look for modifications under each pose to try on great stretches for flexible hips, no matter how flexible you start. Let’s get started!
Practice these hip openers for more flexible hips
When you’re ready to relieve lower back pain, move freely, and unlock flexibility in your hips, these yoga poses for hip opening are the best place to start.
Scroll to see instructions for each individual pose.
Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Scorpion Dog
Low Lunge
Crescent Moon
Crescent Moon with Backbend
Crescent Lunge
Runner’s Lunge
Twisted Runner’s Lunge
Lizard Pose
Half Pigeon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
King Pigeon
Humble Warrior
Flamingo Pose
Horse Pose
Wide legged forward fold
Side lunge (Skandasana)
Butterfly
Single leg butterfly
Wide Angle Seated Forward Fold
Frog Pose
Cow Face Pose
Wild Thing
Standing Figure Four
Supine Figure Four
Bridge Pose
Supported Bridge Pose
Knee to Chest
Fixed Firm pose
Garland Pose
Happy Baby Pose
The Breakdown: 30 Stretches for Flexible Hips
1: Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Practice daily because: this restorative pose is simple, accessible, easy to include in any hip opening sequence. It’s a great way to begin!
Bring your toes together, open your knees wide, and extend your arms forward and down. Let your forehead rest on the mat.
Yogi Tip: Keep this pose active by actively drawing your inner thighs towards your midline and pulling your chest forward rather than the crown of your head.
Modification: put a block or pillow under your seat for support. Your knees can be closer together for less sensation in the hip flexors.
2: Downward Facing Dog - Hip Circles
From downward facing, lift one leg up and back behind you. Bend your knee and gently spin your hips towards the side of your lifted leg. Feel a stretch down the front of your lifted leg in your hip flexors and quadricep.
Yogi Tip: Move your knee in a circular motion as if you’re drawing circles on the wall for increased hip mobility and gentle opening.
3: Low Lunge
Step one foot to the front of your mat in between your hands. Shift onto the ball of your back foot, and keep your front knee stacked right over your ankle. Graze your fingertips on the ground, but keep the weight out of your hands.
Yogi Tip: When focusing on the hip opening properties of low lunge, draw your inner thighs towards one another and pull your hips forward to feel greater extension through the frontline of your back leg. You can even lift your chest slightly and gaze forward to feel the stretch move down the frontline of your left leg!
Modification: Place blocks under your hands to make the ground more accessible.
4: Crescent Moon
From low lunge, drop your back knee onto the ground and reach your arms overhead. Keep your front knee stacked over your ankle and gently pull your hips forward.
Yogi Tip: Draw your hips and belly into your midline to avoid dumping into your hip. Practice daily to combat long periods of sitting. The gentle extension through your back leg makes this one of the best yoga poses for hip opening.
Modification: For a deeper stretch, walk your front foot slightly more forward. For less sensation, walk your front foot slightly back, but keep your torso upright and your knee stacked over your ankle.
5: Crescent Moon with Backbend
From your crescent moon, cactus your arms out to the sides, press your hips gently forward, and lean your chest back. Draw your shoulder blades together and hug your belly up and in.
Yogi Tip: Even a gentle backbend here can give you great extension in your hips! Keep your chin tucked in slightly to strengthen the muscles in your backline and avoid dumping.
6: Crescent Lunge
Lift your back knee off the ground and extend your arms skyward. Traction your feet towards one another (even though your legs are apart) to strengthen your inner thighs and front glute.
Modification: Stay in a crescent moon with your back knee grounded. You can add on a backbend here as well!
7: Runner’s Lunge
From a low lunge, walk your front foot slightly out towards the corresponding hand. Drop your back knee down, and make sure your front knee does not come forward past your toes.
You should feel a deep stretch along the front side of your back leg, the hip flexor of your front leg, and your front outer hip.
Yogi Tip: You can either hug your knee into your body or roll to the outside edge of your foot for a slight external rotation.
Modification: Drop to your elbows or take blocks under your hands/forearms.
8: Twisted Runner’s Lunge (Quad stretch)
Practice daily because: yoga poses for hip opening should also target supportive muscles like quads!
In your runner’s lunge, bend your back knee. Reach your opposite hand for your back foot, draw your hips forward, and gently pull your heel towards your glute. You should feel a deep opening through your hip flexors and back quad.
Yogi tip: it can help to have extra padding under your back knee. Fold a towel for extra cushioning and more comfort.
Modification: Wrap a strap or towel around your back foot if you can’t reach it with your hand. You can also place a block under your front hand for more lift in your chest.
9: Lizard Pose
From a runner’s lunge, drop down onto your forearms and lift your back knee up off the earth.
Yogi Tip: For many of us, this is a very deep pose! You should always be able to breathe easily in deep stretching poses, and only go as far as feels good.
Modification: Stay on your palms, take blocks underneath your forearms, or place a block underneath your back thigh.
10: Half Pigeon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
Practice daily because: targeting so many muscles in the hips, pelvis, and spine, this is one of the best yoga poses for hip opening.
Starting with a three-legged dog, draw your knee towards your wrist and drape your shin on the ground. Allow your back leg to drop to the earth, and peek behind you to make sure your back leg is straight. If you feel comfortable, drop down onto your forearms or chest.
Yogi tip: Protecting your knee is the key here! If you have very open hips, your front shin will be close to parallel with the front of your mat. If your hips are a little tighter, your front foot may need to be closer to your back thigh.
Modification: Place a block underneath the glute of your front leg if it does not naturally rest on the ground. If you feel any discomfort in your knee, take supine figure four on your back instead. Both are equally great stretches for flexible hips, but supine figure four takes the pressure out of your knee joint!
11: King Pigeon
Best for advanced yogis: some stretches for flexible hips require a certain amount of flexibility to find proper alignment. If your hips are very tight, modify!
From half pigeon, bend your back knee. Use your hand (on the same side as your back leg) to reach around for your back foot.
Yogi tip: Traditionally, king pigeon is an overhead grip, but it can be simplified as a simple quad stretch. Do what feels good in your body!
Modification: Use a strap or towel to help yourself reach your back foot if it’s hard to find the grip.
12: Humble Warrior
Find Warrior One pose, with one foot at the front of your mat and one foot at the back of your mat. Drop your back heel down at about 45 degrees, and walk your front foot slightly out so that you have a wider stance, allowing your hips to face forward. Add a chest expansion grip behind your lower back by interlacing your fingers. Slowly lean your chest forward, so that your shoulder comes towards your corresponding front thigh.
Yogi tip: In humble warrior, your hips will want to press over to the side. To feel the stretch in your outer hip, re-square your hips by rotating your back hip forward your front hip back.
Modification: Shorten your stance by walking your front foot slightly back if your back foot does not reach the floor. For less sensation, allow your fingertips to come to the ground for support.
13: Flamingo Pose
From a humble warrior, bring your fingertips to the ground on the inside of your front foot. Keep your hips where they are, but walk your hands and upper body about 45 degrees to the side.
Yogi tip: Use your hands for leverage to traction your spine forward and deepen the stretch.
Modification: Take a block underneath your hands for less intensity in your hip flexors.
14: Horse Pose
Great for beginners: this low-impact pose is gentle, but can be made deeper the lower you go.
Stand with your legs out wide, with your toes pointing slightly out. Bend your knees and sit your hips back. Draw your palms together over your heart.
Yogi tip: Adding movement to horse pose makes it a great exercise for flexible hips! Sway your hips side to side, flow between horse pose and star pose, or use your hands to gentle encourage your knees to press open.
15: Wide legged forward fold
Stand with your legs in a wide stance. Slowly bend at your hips, keeping your spine straight by leading with your chest. Bring your hands to the ground and shift your weight into your toes. Relax the backline of your body.
Yogi Tip: Bend your knees as much as you need to in this pose! Bending your knees allows your spine to lengthen.
16: Side Lunge (Skandasana)
From a wide legged forward fold, drop your hips towards your right foot, allowing your right heel to lift if needed. Flex your left toes back towards your face, keeping your left leg extended long. You can keep your fingertips on the earth for stability, or press your palms together over your heart. Repeat on both sides.
Yogi tip: Use your elbow to gently press your bent knee further open.
17: Butterfly
Have a seat on the ground. Bring the soles of your feet together and allow your knees to fall out to the sides.
Yogi tip: if you keep your heels close to your sit bone, this pose will stretch your groin and inner thighs. If you push your heels about a foot away from your body, the stretch will move into your outer hips. Try both stretches for flexible hips!
Modification: Sit on a block for less intensity in your hip flexors.
18: Single leg butterfly
From butterfly pose, extend one leg out to the side and bring your opposite foot to the inside of your thigh. Keep a micro-bend in your extended leg and gently fold forward.
Yogi tip: There are so many great variations of this pose that make it a great yoga pose for hip opening. Try adding a side bend towards your extended leg or lifting your hips off the ground into Stargazer’s pose.
19: Wide Angle Seated Forward Fold
Sit on the ground with your legs extended out to the side in a wide stance. Keep a micro-bend in your knees, flex your toes back, and gently fold forward.
Modification: Add a block or towel underneath your knees for less sensation in your hamstrings and more length in your spine.
20: Frog Pose
From a table top, slide your knees out wider. Flex your feet and bring the inner soles of your feet to the earth. Slowly lower close to the ground for a deep groin stretch. Drop down onto your forearms for more intensity based on your initial flexibility.
Yogi tip: When coming out of this pose, press up to your palms one hand at a time or simply slide your body forward. One exit might feel more gentle than the other, but take both slow!
Modification: Take a block underneath your pelvis for more support and to avoid overstretching.
21: Cow Face Pose
Have a seat on the ground with your legs bend in front of you. Bend one leg in a crossed-leg position, and step the other leg over your bent knee. Stack your knees on top of each other and draw your heels towards your hips. If you feel comfortable, lean your body forwards for a deeper stretch.
Yogi tip: if your knees don’t stack directly on top of each other, that’s okay! Protect your knees by listening to your body - there is no need to push here.
22: Wild thing
From three-legged dog, slowly bend your lifted leg into a scorpion dog, allowing your hips to open towards the side of the room. With control, bring your toes towards the ground and lift your corresponding arm off the ground. Press your hips up towards the sky for a gentle hip extension.
Yogi tip: to come out, lead with your lifted arm to reach for downward-dog position. As long as you stay light in your toes, your legs will follow!
Modification: Stay in scorpion dog.
23: Standing figure four
Stand in one-leg mountain pose. Start to bend your standing leg and bring the heel of your lifted leg onto your opposite thigh. Keep your hands at your heart center, or use them to gently guide your knee open. Keep your foot flexed to protect your knee.
Modification: Try on seated figure four, or find balance by holding a wall or chair.
24: Supine Figure Four
Lay flat on your back with your knees bent. Bring your right ankle to your opposite thigh and allow your right knee to fall gently forward. You can stay here if you feel a stretch, or reach around for the back of your left knee and draw both knees into your chest. Repeat on both sides.
Yogi tip: This should be a relaxing pose, so make sure your head and neck are fully grounded the whole time!
25: Bridge pose
Lay flat on your back with your knees bent. Keeping your feet at hips-width distance, lift your hips up away from the ground. Feel a hip flexor stretch along the frontline of your body.
Yogi tip: Knit your ribs in to avoid splaying out your ribcage.
Modification: Try on a supported bridge for a more relaxing version of the pose.
26: Supported Bridge Pose
In bridge pose, add a block beneath your sacrum, the flat part of your lower back.
Yogi tip: your block should be relatively low on your back. You shouldn’t feel the corner of the block pressing into your spine. The place where the block feels the most comfortable is where it should be. Make sure to try on different block heights to find your perfect match!
27: Knee to Chest
Lay flat on your back with your knees extended out long in front of you. Draw one knee into your chest to feel the stretch in your hip flexors.
Yogi tip: Hug your knee out to the side of your body for a bonus variation of the stretch.
28: Fixed Firm Pose
Have a seat on your heels with your knees together. Gently widen your feet out to the sides of your hips so that you can sit your tailbone on the ground. You can stay here, or reach for your feet behind you and start to bend your elbows back. For the full expression of the pose, lower one elbow at a time to lean your torso back until your head and upper back make contact with the floor. Then, interlace your arms overhead.
Yogi tip: Whether you can make your way down to your back or feel a lot of sensation in a seated pose depends largely on your anatomy. Take it slow and pay attention to how the pose feels. You should feel a stretch through your quads and, if you lean back, your front hip flexors.
29: Garland Pose - Malasana
Start with your feet hips-width apart or slightly wider. Bend at your hips to bring your fingertips to the ground, then bend your knees to drop your hips down to your heels. Lengthen your spine skyward. You can keep your fingertips on the ground or bring your hands together at heart center.
Modification: Place a block underneath your sit bone for added support.
30: Happy Baby - Ananda Balasana
Lay flat on your back and draw your knees into your chest. Reach your hands for the soles of your feet and kick your feet into your hands, letting your knees open as if you could stamp your footprint on the sky.
Modification: Reach for the back of your knees or for your big toes instead of for the soles of your feet.
There you have it - the best stretches for flexible hips! If you’re struggling with tight hips, try adding hip opening stretches into your routine. In just ten minutes a day, you can notice a difference in your hip mobility, lower back pain, and flexibility in your body.
Which yoga poses for hip opening are your favorites? Which would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below!
