Putting the ass in yoga class

Pardon me for being frank or rude (but I call it being open and honest). After a particular long day of yoga on Sunday, I have never felt my glutes as much as I do now, well, to be fair it is more around my hips, and these hips don't lie! With all the warriors and lunges, pigeons and horse stances, the posterior on any yogi gets quite a bit of attention (both in and outside of class-- and hence the title of this post). I've always known that I have tight hips (full pigeon or cow face pose always being out of reach), but never more so than yesterday and today. The hips seem to be the central axis of most yoga sequences (well, we all knew yoga classes were hip-py...). I found myself wondering why there weren't poses that really pop into those hips and offer a counterbalance to the elongated form. So in an effort for release, I've invented two poses: skiier's pose (where I pretended to be swishing down the slopes, leaning out into each hip with legs parallel & together) and an adapted hero's pose (where I place my hips between my heels so that moving from side to side gets right into the muscular hips). Feeling such a stretch after a rigorous class may just be part of the process of shifting my practice, my consciousness fully aware of parts of my body and trying to streamline the flow. These hips are just being honest, y'know?