I don’t know about you but I LOVE good hip and heart opener (it’s what I focus most of my classes on!). Today’s practice is all about playful somatic exercises that help you release tension in your heart and hips. This session blends mindful movement, gentle exploration, and lighthearted curiosity to support your emotional release and mental flexibility. You’ll be guided to feel into your body, soften judgment, and rediscover the fun and freedom that somatic healing offers…because healing doesn’t have to be so serious!
Somatic Exercises for Heart & Hips
Come ready to smile, wiggle, and experiment (that’s the important piece of this practice). You are safe here to explore what feels good for you. Try it out with me! 👇🏻
Constructive Rest
Begin by lying on your back in constructive rest: feet wide, knees knocking together. Place your hands wherever feels best, on your torso, hips, or by your sides. Let yourself drop into the mat, feeling fully supported. With each breath, press your back body into the ground, inviting relaxation and presence.
Hip & Leg Exploration
Draw your right knee toward your chest and start circling it gently, exploring small, big, or no-handed movements. Guide your right foot to rest inside the left thigh like a lying-down tree pose, then play with little bounces or side-to-side rocks with your right bent leg. Start to invite in small kicks and then extend the leg and make big or small circles, staying curious about what your right hip loves.
Repeat this process on your left leg.
Kundalini Elbow Throws
Come to a comfortable seat and begin moving through a kundalini-inspired elbow flow: inhale to throw your elbows back, exhale to cross them in front, inhale to draw them back again, then exhale to throw your arms behind you. Move quickly or slowly, adding sound or extra force if it feels good. Let yourself smile, laugh, and embrace the playful energy you’re creating.
Single Legged Cat Cow & Puppy
From tabletop, extend your right leg out to the side, toes pointing forward. Flow through a few rounds of cat-cow, then walk your hands forward and melt into puppy pose, your heart drawing towards the ground. Explore rocking, shifting weight, or flexing the right foot, feeling into what opens and releases the hip.
Eagle Arms with Hip Movement
Come back upright, bend your right knee so the sole of your foot is on the ground. Reach your arms overhead. Cross right arm under left for eagle arms or give yourself a hug. Circle the elbows and then add lunging movements into the right knee. Start moving in whatever direction you’d like by creating circular torso motions. Let alignment go and move with curiosity instead.
Repeat the last two somatic exercises on your left side.
Arm Circles & Bowing in Thunderbolt
Sit back on your heels, on or off a block. Interlace your hands and press your palms to the sky, drawing big, flowing circles with your arms and spine.
Reverse direction, then interlace your hands behind your back, pressing knuckles down and opening the chest. Flow forward and up a few times, bowing deeply in surrender and lifting with strength.
Finish in a comfortable seat and notice how your energy has shifted around you, specifically your heart and hips.
What’s next?
- Continue your somatic practice by subscribing on YouTube for free videos under 20 minutes.