Hi Aja - welcome to the kula.
Let me answer your second question first, by referring you to a thread on scoliosis. Check out this
conversation and see if it answers your questions. It is a discussion with a yoga teacher who has scoliosis.
For your first question about the relationship between the hips and the subtle anatomy, I am assuming you are asking about the energy body. There is a yogic saying, "we all have issues in our tissues." This refers to emotions that are stored in our tissues, such as anger, which is often stored in our hips. Have you ever notices that when you do certain hip openers, such as the Dragons or Shoelace, that after a while, you begin to feel mildly pissed off? Those are some of the issues that reside in our tissues.
The Daoists noticed that our meridian lines feed certain organs and these organs are the home of certain emotions. (Check this out in YinSights: read the
chapters on energy.) In our yoga practice we stimulate these meridian lines via the postures. When we work the hips we can stimulate the Gall Bladder meridian (which runs along the outer hip) and the Liver and Kidney Meridians (which run through the inner groins). Again, you can see these lines in
YinSights.
Yoga will do one of two things to our bodies energetically: it will turn on the flow of energy and it will remove the blockages to the flow. When you work your hips, you do this as well and thus turn on the flow of chi (aka prana) to the Liver, Kidneys and Gall Bladder.
Hope this helps!
Bernie