I can understand the need for almost all the yoga postures and the muscles they work, but I don't understand what it means to "open" the hips and why this is a good thing.
I saw a video demonstration of a man going into padmassana, and it looked kind of freaky to see the way he flattened his leg, and I'm a fairly flexible guy.
It looks almost like it could do some harm, and it reminds me of when my boys were young and they had GI Joe action figures. The arms and legs could move and were in sockets in the body, held in place by tiny rubber bands. But sometimes those rubber bands would wear out and stretch, and there would be a dangling leg, and that's what I fear hip opening would do.
Can someone shed some light on this for me please?