Hamstrings Holding You Back?

The Hamstrings are a group of three muscles: bicep femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus- located on the backside of the thigh. They attach at the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones)- except the short head of the bicep femoris which attaches to the femur (thigh bone), the bellies of the muscles extend down the thigh and their tendons cross over the posterior (back) side of the knee and attach to the leg bones (tibia and fibula).  As a group, the main job of the hamstrings is to flex the knee, rotate the knee, and extend the hip. When the hamstrings are tight, low back pain, knee issues, and tightness in the hip can occur. 

Flexibility in our hamstrings enables us to advance forward in asana practice and in life. The back body acts as our personal guard. It’s where we hold tension from grief, fear, and issues from the past. Issues from the past are especially relevant to the hamstrings since they are the main muscle group in the back of the body we use to extend forward. Paschimottanasana and Parsvottanasana are examples of asanas where tight hamstrings keep us from extending forward.  Once the hamstrings are open we can begin to approach poses like full Hanumanasana, Kurmasna, and Visvamitrasana. In life, it’s often fear of what is to come or what has already happened that keeps us from moving forward. Openness in the hamstrings helps us to let go of those feelings and extend further toward our full potential.

To release tension in the hamstrings, try poses like: Marichyasana 1, Malasana, Paschimottanasana, Parsvottanasana, Trikonasana, Virabhadrasana 2, Janu Sirsasana A, Prasarita Padottanasana, Supta Padangusthasana, Ardha Matsyendrasana and various lunges.