it's all in the hips

TikTok Is Using Hip Stretching To Heal Its Collective Trauma

But can pigeon pose actually made real change? 
Graphic of a woman stretching infant of a phone and pink background
Channing Smith // Allure

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Trigger warning: this story contains references to sexual assault. 

"Everyday I'm stretching my hips to connect with my inner child by uncovering memories from when I was little," TikTok user @cleptobismol writes over a video of herself doing a child's pose. The video, which has over 52,000 likes and nearly 500 comments, is just one of hundreds showcasing stetches that supposedly release suppressed emotions, specifically stored trauma. "Don't do this pose unless you're prepared to cry tbh," @thedailyvictorian writes alongside a video of her doing a frog pose with over 87,000 likes. "Idk who needs to hear this but…RELEASE THAT TRAUMA BELOVED," @hvshiddengems writes in one of her videos. "Don't keep it stored in your hips."

And the people making these videos have found an audience of others on their own mental health journeys: "I've been doing stretches to release trauma lately and uncovered some memories the other night," one commenter writes on @cleptobismol's post. "I woke up from having flashbacks in my sleep," another user comments, "I did this last night, not knowing it releases trauma. As soon as my head hit my arms the tears started flowing… so intense but worth it."

Anyone who's taken a yoga class is probably familiar with this type of talk; instructors will often acknowledge that your pigeon pose at the end of class could bring up uncomfortable emotions. But is that feeling really trauma flooding to the surface, or just your hop flexors resisting physical release? We spoke to a handful of experts from psychiatrists to physical therapists to holistic healers to get a better understanding how the body holds emotions, the emotion and mental benefits of stretching, and whether these TikTok users are on to something or not. 


Meet the experts:
  • James S. Gordon MD, a psychiatrist and founder and CEO of Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington DC. A clinical professor at Georgetown Medical School, he's also the author of “Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing.”
  • Nina Lee, PT, DPT, an Arizona-based physical therapist who specializes in the pelvic floor.
  • Debbie Kung, DAOM, LAc, a board-certified doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncturist based in New York City and Austin, Texas.
  • Safa Boga, MA, RCST, BSc (Hons), PGdip, PGCert Couns, London-based master healer specializing in trauma-informed somatic healing and founder of Kimiya Healing.
  • Jennifer Dragonette, PsyD, Newport California-based clinical services instructor at Newport Healthcare

Does your body actually store trauma in your muscles?

The tangible link between mental and physical health is no new concept. We’ve all heard how exercising not only helps us physically feel stronger, but mentally, it can reduce anxiety and depression. Specifically, when it comes to trauma, our body physically processes it using the sympathetic nervous system — a.k.a. fight or flight.

“We know [trauma] affects every cell of our body, because when we're traumatized, we have basic biological reactions, the fight or flight and the freeze response," psychiatrist and founder of Center for Mind-Body Medicine James S Gordon MD explains. The body's fight, flight, or freeze response is a natural stress response and reaction to a perceived threat. According to Harvard Health Publishing, the area of the brain called the amygdala processes emotions and when it experiences a stressful event, it signals this to the hypothalamus. This part of the brain then uses the nervous system to communicate with the rest of the body that it needs to use energy to fight or flee.

"With fight or flight, for example, even if the threat is psychological, rather than physiological, we have the same kind of response that animals with backbones have when a predator approaches." Dr. Gordon says. This includes an increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, and contractions in big muscles in the body. This could manifest anywhere from the back to the shoulder to the hips.

"When one experiences trauma, their sympathetic nervous system is engaged. This tells your muscles to tense up," Arizona-based physical therapist who specializes in the pelvic floor Nina Lee explains. "If trauma is not dealt with, storing tension in your pelvic floor and hips can be a chronic occurrence."

California-based clinical services instructor at Newport Healthcare Jennifer Dragonette, PsyD, explains that a lot of emotions are linked with physical sensations. This could be tension in the jaw when you're stressed, tension in the lower belly when you're anxious, or you may be lethargically hunched over when you're feeling sad or depressed. "When we prevent ourselves from fully experiencing our emotions or from moving all the way through challenging emotions, we can accumulate the buildup of these emotions throughout our body," Dr. Dragonette says. 

For those who follow a more Eastern philosophy of the body and medicine, there's also the belief that emotions are connected through energy within the body. "In Chinese medicine, we believe that emotions are energy," board-certified doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncturist Debbie Kung explains. "That if they are not expressed properly at the time that we experience it can be repressed or suppressed in the body."

She explains that emotions have been shown to store themselves within the fascial system, which she defines as a thin layer of collagen that covers organs and encompasses muscles. It acts as a bodyguard, gives organs their shape, and even has its own blood system.

“Anytime we're stressed out, or as we age, the fascial tissue, which is usually soft and supple and floats above the muscle layer, becomes hard and stiff, thin and brittle," she says. “It sticks in the muscle so it doesn't allow the muscle to move.” This is why your body may feel tight if you’re processing certain emotions. "It's because it's full of this emotion that our body's trying to express," says Dr. Kung. 

Do the hips store more trauma than other parts of the body?

As previously stated, all large muscles can be affected by trauma and store emotions, but this can manifest differently for everyone. “We're all individuals, so the trauma may be [physically disruptive] in some people, either because it was an area of abuse or because of the vulnerabilities that you brought into the world, in another part of the body," says Dr. Gordon. This could be the hips, knees, back, or neck — all of which are common areas to store or feel the effects of emotions like stress and trauma.

The reason a large portion of the internet feels the biggest release from hip stretches could be because the hips act as the central connection point of one's entire body.

"Your pelvis and hips are the center point for your limbs and trunk to work off of," Lee explains, noting that major muscles and tendons attach and cross the pelvis area. "In a fight or flight situation, your muscles respond by tensing up. If you think of your pelvis as the center point for your body to work off of when trying to get away from trauma, and your body's response to trauma includes making your muscles tense, it makes sense that your hips tend to store a lot of tension."

As Safa Boga, a London-based master healer specializing in trauma-informed somatic healing and founder of Kimiya Healing, further notes, the hips are the widest part of the body and designed to bear physical weight. "In this act of bearing they also bear our emotional burdens. You can think of the hips and pelvis as the center of gravity for the body, everything wants to anchor there," she says. "The problem comes when there is chronic trauma and tension and unprocessed emotion because the same area that bears our weight also bears our pain."

There's also the possibility that the trauma a person has experienced was sexual trauma, which studies have shown can lead to issues with the survivor's pelvic floor.

"Research has now found a direct link between PTSD and pelvic floor dysfunction, and this is pronounced in cases of sexual trauma or childhood sexual and physical abuse," Boga points out. "A lot of the time, there's no solid memory of the abuse so it can be hard to heal if you don't know what’s happened to you. However, the body holds the story and also the keys to healing."

Dr. Gordon also points to the connection between sexual trauma and the hips, noting that muscles in the body are likely to tense up as a protective mechanism during an assault: "If the trauma is sexual, there is contraction around the hips to protect the genitals, regardless of the gender of the person who’s been assaulted or abused. That's why we may be more likely to see it in the hips than in other joints in the body."

Can stretching be used as a mental health tool?

When it comes to healing, there is no one-size-fits all solution — but moving the body isn't a bad place to start. "We're designed to move," Dr. Kung says. "We're designed to have energy and emotions move through us, not hold onto them."

Dr. Gordon has been using physical movements such as shaking and dancing as a part of the healing process for decades now at the Center of Mind-Body Medicine. "When we stretch, we can potentially open up those parts of the body and reawaken trauma," Dr. Gordon says. "It's very important if you're working with psychological trauma to use tools and techniques that help the body to open up."

But there's more to it than just using movement as a form of healing. For instance, Dr. Gordon expresses the importance of finding someone to help you work through your healing process. "At the Center for Mind-Body Medicine we train people to use a number of self-care techniques to teach to their clients, patients, or students," he says. "The focus also has to be on the person who is there for you when you've been traumatized. [They have to be] really relaxed and present with you, and not try to force you to do anything or not try to interpret what's going on. But they are just giving you a chance to make the discoveries for yourself and being there to help you do that."

All that is to say: stretching alone won't heal deep-seated trauma of any kind. Instead, it should be viewed as a supplementary tool to be used alongside other mental health practices like seeking therapy and community support. 

"Methods such as acupuncture, osteopathy, tai chi, and yoga can support the nervous system and muscles or joints, so when it comes to releasing tension and relaxing in order to activate the parasympathetic nervous system they can help," Boga explains. "However, when it comes to treating complex or acute trauma and PTSD, we do need to go much deeper." 

If the idea of stretching to release trauma is appealing to you, you might be looking for a more holistic approach to healing — and you wouldn’t be the only one.

Dragonette notes that complementary medicine that requires physical movement such as yoga or meditation have been rising in popularity. "Particularly as the general level of trauma in the population has increased, many people are noticing that traditional psychotherapy and/or medications alone do not seem to be getting at the physical manifestations of their pain and discomfort. Using body-based practices including movement, EMDR, acupuncture, massage, yoga, and experiential therapies can be an effective complement for many people – particularly when they do notice physical tightness, pain, or discomfort in the presence of anxiety, stress, trauma, or certain emotions." Dr. Gordon says he agrees.

"I think there is more recognition of the trauma and the stress that is there in all of us and more willingness to open ourselves to other possibilities [beyond traditional medical practices]."


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