Qigong for Hip Pain

Try this Qigong for Hip Pain routine by White Tiger Qigong Senior Instructor Matthew Jessner. 

Qigong for hip pain is one of the most popular qigong that people search for. Why is the hip an important bone structure in the body? and why is it so crucial to have good hip mobility and overall health?

The Hips connect the Upper and Lower Body

The hip is a very important bone structure in the body. The hip connects the upper body and the lower body which allows for movement to be possible. Several muscles that are found in the hip allow for these movements to occur.  These muscles allow the flow of movement from the upper body to the lower body. The hip flexor is a muscle group that is found in the hips. These are the group of muscles that is responsible for the connective movements of the upper and the lower body. 

The Girdle Vessel or Dai Mai

In the hip area, there is also a band of energy channel called the Dai Mai or Girdle Vessel. The Dai Mai is the only energy channel in the body that runs horizontally. The function of the Dai Mai is to hold together all the other energy vessels in the body. The Dai Mai’s is also responsible to move qi up and down the body.

If the Dai Mai is not strong the energy cannot flow freely in the upper and lower part of the body. This may cause certain illnesses as this may cause stagnation and blockages in the body.  It is also known to store emotions and traumas in the body, as well as our ancestral input. Strengthening the Dai Mai is important to know and incorporate in qigong for hip pain, as this channel functions in the area of the hips and has a direct effect on hip strength and overall hip health. 

What Causes Hip Pain?

The main reason for hip pain is when the fluid in the hip that helps maintain healthy movement in the hip joint and prevents friction is at low levels. This fluid is called the synovial fluid. When the synovial fluid is at low levels, this causes friction between the bones. This causes pain, inflammation, arthritis, and many more bone problems. 

What causes the synovial fluid to go to too low levels? One is, of course, aging. When the body gets older, the body also reduces its ability to produce synovial fluid in the body.

Another reason that helps lower the amount of synovial fluid in the body is doing too much heavy bodywork. This includes sports like weight lifting, dancing, running, and many more. 

If too much body work causes the synovial fluid to decrease. Lack of movement also decreases the amount of synovial fluid in the body. When the body does not move too much the body also does not give enough signal to the synovium to produce enough synovial fluid. 

How Can We Use Qigong for Hip Pain

Qigong uses a balanced way of movement to help produce synovial fluid in the healthiest way possible. Qigong balances movement and stillness so that the amount of production of synovial fluid would be enough for healthy hip strength. 

The stances we use in qigong help strengthen the hip. Through these stances, we energize the hip flexor and the psoas muscle. Switching from one stance to the other requires gentle movement and rotation in the hips. This helps produce synovial fluid as these movements serve as a pump that gently nourishes the joints and cartilages in the hips. When there is enough synovial fluid in the hips the movement becomes smoother and thus, avoids friction that causes disintegration of the hip strength. 

Proper body awareness is also important for these movements to be optimal. Proper hip movement means gentle movement, shifting your weight slowly and precisely ,and being aware of proper body alignments. 

What Can be Considered as a Healthy Hip Strength? 

Flexibility

Flexibility is one component that can define a healthy hip strength. When your hips are flexible, it means the joints and the muscles in the hips can move and extend through a certain range of motion without pain or breaking. Flexibility is the range of motion in which the tissues are able to extend. 

Flexibility varies from person to person. It is important to identify what is flexibility and skeletability. Flexibility means that the extension relies on the muscle group. Skeletability means the extension relies on the bone structure. Being flexible doesn’t mean how far you go or how far you can reach. It means how far your specific body structure can go and reach. People’s bodies are all different and the degree of extension one body can go is not all the same. This is because of skeletability. So if someone can split, and that is his/her farthest degree of expansion, another person might not be able to do it because of different bone structures or skeletability. 

To identify flexibility and skeletablity, it is through where you feel the extension or stretch. If you feel the pain when extending in the opposite side of the muscle group you're stretching it might mean it is a skeletability issue. You. might want to stop right there. If the pain you feel while extending is in the same direction of the muscle group you are stretching then it is about flexibility, and it has a bigger chance that it can still widen through correct practice. 

Knowing this will help you to have a practice like qigong for hip pain, with more caution. This will help you lessen injuries as you train for hip flexibility and any flexibility needed in your training.

Range of Motion 

When you have a good range of motion in the hips it also associates with good hip strength. Range of motions means the capability of a joint to allow movement. It is the full distance of a joint to go through its complete range of movement. 

There are 2 types of Range of Motions, active and passive. Active range of motion is the range the joints can reach through the contraction and relaxation of the muscles responsible for that movement. Passive range of motion is the range the joints can reach with the help of an external force (e.g. instructor/coach). 

This is important to know when doing qigong for hip pain. Qigong uses active range of motion. It engages the body, while still relaxing through the movement. This is best to help strengthen the hip.

Muscular Stability

Having muscular stability is also another component that can define good hip strength. Having muscular stability means the muscles ability to support the body. This includes having proper posture and alignment. This is important to train for and remember when doing qigong for hip pain as this lessens the risk of injury. 

Qigong for Hip Pain

Here are some qigong for hip pain exercises. 

Girdle Vessel (Dai Mai) Rotation

Girdle Vessel Rotation from the Meridian Qigong is very subtle yet, it is a powerful qigong that strengthens the Dai Mai. Its slow and gentle spiralling out and  spiralling  of the hips. generates energy to help the energy flow in the energy channel surrounding the hips. 

Tiger Qigong

The Tiger Qigong from the 5 Element Qigong is a strong powerful qigong. This is done in a horse stance. The active movement of this qigong helps strengthen the hips by the engagement of the hips through the entire movement of the exercise. 

Leopard Qigong

Leopard Qigong, also from the 5 Element Qigong is a good qigong for hip pain exercises. The Leopard QIgong has a gentle shifting of stances from bow stance to horse stance. The peak of the Leopard QIgong is also held in a deep horse stance. Allowing the body to incorporate breath, as we hold the breath. with a deep hip strengthening stance. 

Dragon Ball

The Dragon ball from the 8 Trigram Organ Qigong has a gentle hip movement. This allows the body to generate the fluid needed to allow smoother joint movement. 

Using the Breath to Release Negative Emotions

Doing qigong breathwork techniques is also very important for good hip strength and health. In the mere sight, it may seem like breath does not have any connection from the hips. However, the diaphragm which is the muscle responsible for breathing actually connects to the hips through the psoas. If our breath is not good, the hip health may suffer. If our hips are not strong our breath may also suffer. 

Aside from this, using qigong breathwork techniques also allows us to release negative emotions. As we have mentioned earlier, the Dai Mai, which runs around the hip area, is the energy channel in which negative emotions and traumas are stored. Releasing negative energy through qigong breathwork can release tension in the hips. 

Using Qigong for Hip Pain

Qigong for hip pain techniques are very broad as the hip is not only the major bone structure that holds the upper and lower body together. It is also surrounded by one of the most important energy vessels in the body. This is why hip health is given big importance in different practices such as qigong, yoga, calisthenics and other active practices. Using qigong for hip pain will give a balanced exercise and will help in optimum overall hip strength and health.