Your Hips Will Thank You For This.

Welcome to The Overwhelmed Yogi’s first Movement Monday. Each week I’ll offer a small, doable exercise or short sequence to feel better in the midst of busy days. I’ll send a brief practice for nervous system regulation on Tranquility Thursdays.

We’ll see how this new format goes in January — I’d love any feedback or suggestions.

Also: I was interviewed for the Substack Stress & Love about my experience as a sandwich generation caregiver (and the importance of movement for staying sane through it all). You can read the interview here.

If you have time for a single hip exercise, the one in this video is what I recommend. It is called a hip controlled articular rotation, or CAR. A healthy joint should be able to rotate in both directions, and doing hip and shoulder CARs regularly is a great way to prevent injury and stay mobile as we get older. (If you have time for a few exercises, this pairs well with the other joint rotations I posted last week.)

These hip rotations are harder than they look! Do lift the knee as high as you comfortably can, but don’t worry if it isn’t far. Breathe into any spots of tightness, and back off if you experience pain. The slower the motion the better. (I’m going a bit faster than I normally would in the video since online attention spans are short!)

CARs are not, of course, traditional yoga poses, but through the years I’ve drawn a lot from fitness to establish basic mobility as well as stability in my body, and I believe that any movement practiced mindfully with the breath qualifies as yoga.

Hold onto a wall or furniture if needed, but over time, if you can practice your balance, that’s great. Lessen the intensity by putting your foot down between each repetition, or ramp it up by holding the balance the entire time.

Try one to five reps per side. If you do this daily for a couple of weeks, I bet you’ll notice a difference in how you feel.