Howdy folks,
 
You probably often hear people like me talk the need to develop body awareness, without ever saying how to go about it.  It's not a mystical process, it's just a matter of knowing what's there and visualizing it.  Over time your brain starts associating sensations with that mental picture, and tah-dah!, your awareness becomes more subtle.  So I figured today I would give you a quick picture of your hips to give you an idea of what I mean.
 
Start with the bones: there's just the thigh bone, the bowl of the pelvis, and the spine coming down through the pelvis.  The thigh bone has a big knob sticking off the top that inserts into the bowl of the pelvis.
 
Almost all the muscles running up your thigh attach somewhere on your pelvis.  All the butt muscles (the big ones on top, and there are a bunch of little ones underneath) connect between that thigh bone knob, the pelvis, and the spine.  And then there is one big muscle that lines the inside of your pelvis and runs in a thick cord up the inside of your spine.  The abdominal muscles cover the gap in the front of the pelvis, attaching all along it, and then, tucked in the middle like the filling of a Twinkie, are the visceral organs.  (Note to Carolinians: when I refer to the "visceral organs", I'm talkin' 'bout the "innards".  That's just what they call 'em up here.  God knows why.)
 
Now, my favorite thing to visualize is this: our bones have no direct attachment to each other.  This is contrary to what we normally see if we look at a skeleton.  If it weren't for the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.) reaching across joints to hold them together, the bones would fall in a big heap.  (On the other hand, if they are too stiff, they compress the joints, causing pain.)  So if you are doing a runner's stretch, or a pigeon pose in yoga, you can visualize that thigh bone knob sticking up into the pelvis, and try to wiggle it around.  Imagine separating it from the pelvis or making circles with it.  You will find muscles coming to life that you didn't know you had, and just the smallest motion will begin to warm and soften those tissues wrapped around the joint.  Or try to separate your lower vertebrae like you are pulling two ends of a rope, but with your abdominal and pelvic muscles.  Over time, as all these muscles wake up, your awareness will develop; the signals to your brain will become more specific and sophisticated.  Instead of just feeling aching pain in your lower back, you will also feel the tightness of the iliopsoas (the one inner-lining the pelvis), or the gluts, and have a better sense of how you can fix it.              
 
Hope y'all are having a good summer.
cam
 
PS- Here's a few of pictures:
http://www.innerbody.com/image/skelfov.html
http://www.bioscience.org/atlases/tumpath/anatomy.htm
http://www.innerbody.com/image/musc08.html
 
 
Cameron Aiken
www.cameronaiken.com