Reader Question: What poses help the SI joint?

"What type of yoga positions would you recommend for someone who jams the SI joint? What are the symptoms?"

Irritation of the sacroiliac or SI joint can present in a variety of different ways. Often there is pain across the bony, flat part of our lower spine, sometimes into the buttock or wrapping
around into the groin. It might be experience as a pinch or as an ache. Sometimes the pain can travel down the outside of the leg to the knee, but not past the knee. Aggravating activities
often include standing, walking, or sitting for extended periods of time. In yoga, twists and wide legged groin openers can sometimes be aggravating. Visit with a health professional familiar with yoga to determine the exact source of your discomfort and also to receive advice tailored to your body.

With an irritation of the SI joint you have to find the middle ground in postures. Often postures that can aid in relieving discomfort, can aggravate the condition of done too vigorously. It is important for you to become aware of your root lock / mula bandha / pelvic floor muscles. These are the muscles that control the flow of urine (help you stop and start). These muscles (particularly in women) help stabilized the SI joint. Bring your attention to your pelvic floor, and using your bathroom muscles, gently lift and contract. Then relax. Repeat this a few times, then trying holding the contraction while breathing normally. You may find it difficult to access these
muscles as they often get 'switched off' in people with SI joint pain.

Another important area to become aware of is your transverse abdominus / lower belly. This muscle acts like a girdle for the lower spine, stabilizing and supporting. Lying on your back with your knees bent feet flat on the floor, bring your hands so that the fingers are gently resting on the lower belly, below the belly button. Imagine drawing your belly button in and up, you should feel your lower abdomen contract. Repeat this a few times then try sustaining the contraction with the breath flowing. You can use both of these muscles throughout your practice to support
your core.

It is also important to ensure that all the muscles that attach into the pelvis and SI joint are long and open. This is where the middle path comes in. Sometimes being a little too enthusiastic can result in a tweak of the SI. Poses that open the Quadratus Lumborum ( a triangle shaped muscle attaching from your mid spine to pelvis), glutes and piriformis (buttock), hamstrings, and hip flexors are particularly helpful.

Here are a few I like if the SI is not currently out of alignment:

Janu Sirsasana / Hurdler's Stretch: Sit with one leg extended one knee bent foot into groin. Inhale, lengthening the spine, draw in the lower belly and draw up with the pelvic floor, then
exhale hinge at the hips towards the extended leg, letting the hands rest on the shin, ankle or foot. Keep the spine long and do not round.

Parvritta Janu Sirsasana / Revolved: With the same legs, turn your torso to face the bent knee leg, lets say your left leg. Slide your right hand along the inside of your extended right leg. Keeping your left hip and sitting bone moving towards the earth raise your left hand overhead and towards the toes of the extended leg.

Thread the needle: Lying on your back with knees bent, cross your right ankle onto your left thigh above your knee. Use your hands or a strap to pull the left leg towards you (under the
thigh). Imagine gently sending the sitting bones towards the earth.

Crescent Lunge variation: Lunge forward with your right foot so that your knee is stacked over top of your ankle. Keep the left knee on the floor. Contract the pelvic floor muscles and gently tuck your pelvis until you feel an opening in the front of the left hip and the lower belly engages slightly. Raise your left arm overhead then over to the right side to access higher up into your hip flexors (in the area of your abdomen).

If your SI is feeling out of alignment, gentle slow, cat-cows can help mobilize the pelvis. Begin on your hands and knees, hands under shoulders, knees under hips. Without bending your arms, on an inhale begin to stick out your tail allowing the lower belly to drop towards the floor, opening the chest and looking up. On an exhale uncurl the tail, round the spine and let the head hang. Repeat slowly, paying special attention to the tail end.

The Twists and Turns of our Yoga Practice - Part II

The second part of my recent article on myyogaonline.com
Special Considerations for Standing Twists

In standing twists, such as the revolved poses, we often add an element of flexion at the waist. When we are moving purely from our hips joints, and maintaining the natural front to back curve in our lower spine, twists are a healthy and satisfying pose. Problems begin to develop if we start to also flex or round in our lower spine. This might be due to tightness in our low back, our hips, or a compensation for stiffness further up the spine – and this predisposes us to injury.

The most likely position for your disc to herniate - or bulge out pressing on a nerve - is in flexion combined with rotation. As the spine flexes forward, the disc moves backward, and as we move backwards, the disc moves forward. So when we put the disc in a position where it is moved to the back of the vertebrae, then increase the pressure by adding rotation – we leave it vulnerable to injury.

If you know you are at risk for a disc herniation – such as suffering a previous injury to your discs – stick to seated twists, or significantly decrease the amount you twist in your lumbar spine and focus on your thoracic spine. All of us can be mindful of sticking to flexing at our waists, and avoiding rounding into our lower spine.
Special Considerations for Seated Twists

Depending on the flexibility of our hamstrings and lumbar spine, when we come to the floor we may find our pelvis tipping backwards, resulting in flexion into our lumbar spines. An easy way to check this is to find the top of your pelvis - your iliac crests - with your hands. Sitting with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, place your hands at your waist and press in slightly, so that your thumbs are towards your back, your fingers wrapping towards your front, with the space between your thumb and first finger is fitting into your waist. Move your hands down until they come to rest on a ridge – this is your iliac crest. Play with tilting your pelvis back and forth by tucking and sticking out your tail, and notice how your hands move. When you tuck your tail under, your fingers start to point upwards, stick out your tail and your fingers point downwards. The pelvis is in neutral if the hands are making an arc on the crest, fingers arcing down at the front, and thumb arcing down at the back.
In addition you can observe how the lumbar spine adapts with these motions – rounding and removing the lumbar curve with a tuck of the tail, and increasing the low back curve as we stick out the tail. Now extend your legs out and notice what happens to your pelvis. If it starts to tip backwards (fingers up) then you would benefit from taking some height under your sitting bones by sitting on the edge of a folded blanket or foam block. Take enough height that your pelvis moves towards neutral.
Just as in standing twists, in seated twists we want to eliminate the addition of flexion into the lumbar spine so as to protect our discs and receive the full benefit of twists.

Enjoy the curves
Twists can take us deeper into our practice by lengthening and strengthening our spines in ways that allow us to venture further into other poses. When we become aware of our antomy we can practice safely and with confidence to receive all the benefits that twist hold.

The Twist and Turns of our Yoga Practice - Part I

From my upcoming article on myyogaonline.com - Part I
Keeping the spine long in twisting postures

Twisting postures are an enjoyable, challenging, and some might say vital part of our yoga practice. Poses like marichyansa /Marichi’s pose, revolved poses like parvritta trikonasana /revoloved triangle and parvritta parsvokonasana /revolved extended side angle pose allow us to move and lengthen our spines to improve our spinal and pelvic flexibility, as well as our strength. Traditionally twists are thought to be detoxifying, literally wringing out the organs of digestion and detoxification.

To better understand the benefits and considerations surrounding twists, let’s take a closer look at the spine. The spinal column is formed by 24 mobile vertebrae, and the nine fused and immobile remnant vertebrae of the sacrum and coccyx. Each mobile vertebra is separated by a shock absorbing, jelly filled disc. The vertebrae move and glide in relation to each other according to the angle of the joints between each vertebra, known as facet joints. There are four facet joints per vertebrae – two joints on the left and right part of the top of the vertebrae, and two joints on the left and right part of the bottom of the vertebrae. The angle of the joints dictates how much motion can occur in each part of the spine.

The spine is divided into the seven cervical vertebrae of the neck, the twelve thoracic vertebrae of the mid back, and the five lumbar vertebrae of the low back. The neck is the most mobile section of the spine with generous movement in flexion, extension, and rotation. The angle of the facet joints change as we move into the thoracic spine where flexion and extension are limited (also due to the attachment of the rib cage) and rotation is free. In the lumbar spine the angle of the joints change once again, flexion and extension is freely available but rotation is limited. These restrictions in movement are literally created by bone meeting bone and preventing further motion. Of course there is muscle and connective tissue that covers the vertebrae, and if certain muscles are tight or shortened, this can further prevent motion in certain ranges.

In twists, we can create more space by preserving the height of the discs between each vertebra. When we slouch, or the discs begin to degenerate, the disc ‘squishes’ and looses its height. This further restricts our motion by allowing the ‘bone on bone’ effect to occur sooner. This is particularly relevant in the lumbar spine, which is already limited in its rotational range. When entering a twist, inhale and lengthen from the tail to the head, imagining your healthy, pink discs springing back to their fullest height. Once you’ve created the room, exhale and twist, recognizing that the majority of your motion will be occurring firstly in your neck and second your mid back. With every inhale create a little more space, and with every exhale softly move into the space as you twist a little further.

To be continued.....

Reader Question - Wrist Pain

I recently received the following email:
"Robin, what a lovely website you have!
Here is my question. When I practice regularlly, I tend to get soreness in my wrists. It's as if I need to find a class which is spent entirely in the sitting position! I did trip in the dark the other day and gently fell on my hand/wrist so that is contributing.
Thanks from Rhode Island."
------
And my response:

Hi *****

Thanks for your email.

Wrists are a tough one. We use them alot in our daily life, and we just weren't built to walk on your hands.

Firstly, if you've had an injury to your wrist (your fall) you need to allow it to rest before you go back to your full practice. Be sure to rule out anything serious by a visit to a health practitioner if it doesn't seem to be getting better. Don't forget that you can still do all the standing poses, but just eliminate the vinyasa portion.

Here are some things I have found to be helpful if we are experiencing wrist pain. What do you do during your day? Are you using a computer alot, or using your hands for your work? It is important to stretch out the wrist flexor and extensor muscles. Simply extend your arm with palm up and use your opposite hand to gently pull your fingers down towards the floor (flexor stretch). Then flip your palm to facing down and bring your fingers down towards the floor (extensor stretch). Hold for at least 30 seconds, and stretch a few times a day.

If you feel discomfort in downward facing dog, make sure you are rooting to the floor through the mounds of all of your fingers (where your finger meets your palm) and your thumb. From there, press into the palms, allowing the arms to 'float' up towards the sky, lengthening into the side body so that you can distribute weight into your feet, allowing your hips to move up and back. You can also try modifying your downdog by making it shorter (feet and hands closer together). It is possible your wrists are bearing the burden of tight shoulders.

If you feel discomfort in chaturanga (lowering from plank), make sure you are using the strong and powerful muscles of the shoulders. Come into plank, setting up your wrists shoulder width apart under the shoulders. Again root into the mounds of your fingers. Look at your elbows - are they hyperextending/bending the opposite way? Keep a slight microbend in the elbows. Allow your heart to move towards the floor without changing your arms. Feel how this brings your shoulder blades onto your back body. Next look at the front of your shoulders. We want the tops of the shoulders to be in line with our neck (not tipping down or forward). Tip the shoulders up/back. Feel how this increases the feeling of the shoulderblade on the back body. Keep this feeling of shoulder blade engagement and lower to elbows bent at 90 degrees - not lower! If you lower further, you are asking your wrists to deeply extend.

If you feel discomfort in upward facing dog, be sure that your wrists are stacked underneath or slightly in front of your shoulders, again avoiding that excessive extension at the wrist. If you seem to be coming into upward dog with that misalignment, make your plank longer before lowering into chaturanga, or before coming into upward dog send your heels back in chaturanga so that you are not as far forward over your hands.

Hope this helps!

Turning the World Safely Upside Down Part II

The Safe Practice of Headstand and Shoulderstand Continued....

Not a Neck Stand

Another common inversion is sarvangasana or shoulder stand. Shoulderstand can be a great chest opener, a way to relieve swelling in the legs and is traditionally credited with stimulating the thyroid gland and abdominal organs.

Shoulderstand requires us to place the neck into a deep flexion. It is important that we support the cervical spine by allowing weight to rest on the fleshy part of our upper shoulders and back. We can improve this by rolling our shoulders under slightly to begin the pose, so that we are open across the collar bones and help maintain the lordotic curve of the neck. To take some of the weight off of the neck and upper shoulders we can practice ardha sarvangasana or half shoulderstand. In this version, we do not bring the feet all the way up to vertical but allow the weight of the body to be well supported by the hands on the lower spine, with the body and legs at approximately a 45 degree angle. It is important never to move the head around in the pose to avoid awkwardly weighting the neck.

Shoulderstand is an advanced posture and should only be practiced under the supervision of an experienced teacher. Individuals with high blood pressure or ocular disorders should consult a health care practitioner familiar with yoga before proceeding.

The Joy of Limitation
Once we understand the anatomy and mechanics of our bodies, we are better able to practice yoga with respect for our limitations. Knowing what we are capable of, and what our potential weaknesses are, allows us to challenge ourselves in other ways and opens doors in our practice we may never have thought to open. Enjoy the view from down there.

Turning the World Safely Upside Down Part I

The Safe Practice of Headstand and Shoulderstand

Inversions can be a joyful, empowering, perspective altering experience. They require us to do things with our body that we might not have experienced since childhood. What makes inversions so exciting – the fact we are using our arms and heads in ways we don’t normally – can also make them high risk, leaving us susceptible to injury. Our necks in particular can bear the brunt of injuries in certain inversions.

To understand how to practice inversions safely, let’s first discuss the anatomy of the neck.

Free Range

The neck, or cervical spine, is formed by seven vertebrae that stack on top of each other. The vertebrae form joints with the one above and below, and move by gliding on the joints. The neck has a forward curve known as lordosis. During development, the curve of the neck is formed when we started to lift our heads as infants.

The vertebrae are separated by a disc, which acts as a shock absorber and a pivot point for motion. The exception to this is there is no disc between the first and second vertebrae, which are shaped completely different than the other vertebrae of the spine. The second vertebra - also known as the axis vertebra - has a peg-like protrusion that fits into a hole in the first vertebra - also known as the atlas vertebra.

The cervical spine has a vast range of motion capable of rotation, flexion, extension, and side bending. It has the most motion of all the sections of the spine. This mobility means that stability is sacrificed. As the vertebrae move in relation to each other, gliding on the joints, the discs also move. As the cervical spine flexes forward, the discs move backward, and as the spine moves backward in extension the disc moves forward. The disc is full of a jelly like substance known as the nucleus pulposis and if the outer fibers of the disc tear, the internal substance can be squished out resulting in what’s known as a disc herniation.

Top as Bottom

When we use our head as our foundation, instead of our feet, we need to recruit stability for an unstable surface. The architecture of our head and neck is such that it is made to float and move, not to bear weight. We need to support our neck and head when we go into poses like sirsasana, or headstand.

Headstand can help us change our perspective, conquer the fear of inverting, and traditionally is thought to stimulate the pineal and pituitary glands, and tone the abdominal organs. There are many variations of headstand (tripod with head and palms on the floor; supported with head and forearms on the floor; and variations of head on the floor with finger tips out and arms extended).

The safest version of headstand is salamba sirsasana or supported headstand against a wall. Using the forearms on the mat allows us to recruit the strong muscles of the shoulder girdle to create space for the neck. It also allows us to distribute our weight between the head and forearms.

Using a wall helps to avoid awkwardly falling out of the posture. The most common way to injure our discs is when our neck is forced into flexion. This causes the disc to move backward, and if the fibres of the disc tear the nucleus pulposis center can herniate out, causing irritation to the nearby nerves that exit the spine. These nerves supply the muscles and skin of the arms and hands, and if injured can result in months of painful recovery. Unsupported headstand unfortunately leaves us vulnerable to this type of injury.

Headstand is an advanced posture and should only be practiced under the supervision of an experienced teacher. Individuals with high blood pressure or ocular disorders should consult a health care practitioner familiar with yoga before proceeding.

To be continued......

More Research for Yoga to Prevent Low Back Pain

Effect of short-term intensive yoga program on pain, functional disability and spinal flexibility in chronic low back pain: a randomized control study.

J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Jul;14(6):637-44

This randomised controlled study compared an intensive 7 day intervention of either a) yoga asana (postures), pranayama (breathing), and philosophy OR b) physical exercise under supervision of a physiatrist, and lectures on lifestyle change, for people with chronic low back pain.

The researchers were interested in pain scores and spinal flexibility. There was a significant reduction in pain scores in the yoga group as compared to the exercise group, and increased spinal flexibility in the yoga group in flexion, extension, and side bending as compared to the exercise group.

Yay for yoga! Yet another study that shows yoga can be an effective part of treatment for low back pain.

Asana Anatomy: Upward Facing Dog Part II

Continuation of our discussion on Upward Facing Dog from myyogaonline....

Benefits & Considerations
A common posture in our culture is to close through our chest, shortening our pectoralis muscles, weakening the muscles between the shoulder blades (rhomboids) and weakening our postural muscles (erector spinae). In addition, our hip flexor muscles (psoas, rectus femoris or quadriceps) become short and weak due to the sitting we do. Upward dog reverses these motions. It causes us to open across the chest and into the hip flexors and asks our erector spinae, rhomboids, and core musculature to awaken.

A common complaint in upward dog is a pinching sensation in the lower spine. This is where the core can have a protective and stabilizing effect. Contracting the muscles of the pelvic floor acts as force closure, which is the muscular force that allows the sacroiliac joints to fit together compactly. The partner to this is form closure, which is the way our joint fits together like a puzzle piece. Contracting the transverses abdominus or udiyanna bandha, acts as a back brace for our lower spine. The muscle wraps around our midsection like a girdle, blending in with the fascia of the low back. Ensure your core is engaged if you are experiencing pinching. Physically using a block between your thighs can increase the engagement of the adductor muscles of the groin, which can allow you to lengthen out of your lower spine. Try re-entering the pose thinking about length through the spine starting from the crown of the head first, and then imagine moving into a back bend. Certain students with low back pain are aggravated by extension of the spine. If you, or a student of yours, have this type of back pain, substitute a smaller back bend such as cobra, baby cobra, or sphinx pose, until you no longer feel the painful sensation.

Another common complaint in this asana is wrist pain. Often this can be due to the position of the wrists in relation to the shoulder joints. If the shoulders are moving past the wrist joints, you are forcing the wrists into a deep extension. The front of the shoulders should be stacked over the wrist joints, and maybe even slightly behind the wrists. Be sure to spread the weight evenly into the palms and to distribute the weight away from the carpal bones of the wrist.

Puppy Love
Upward facing dog is lovely back bend and heart opener that allows us to open areas of our bodies that are often closed during our days. Embracing ease, and softening into the pose, allows us to experience the benefits demonstrated by our animal models.

Asana Anatomy - Upward Facing Dog Part I

My post for myyogaonline
Asana Anatomy – Upward Facing Dog

Our animal friends are a wonderful study in the fluidity of yoga. It is no coincidence that when a dog wakes from a nap, he can be seen moving slowly through upward dog and downward dog and casually walk away satisfied. The family pet makes urdhva mukha svanasana, or upward facing dog, look simple, and we can embody this ease when we too practice the pose.

Let’s dissect this asana.

Working from the ground up
In most cases we move into upward dog as part of a vinyasa sequence, coming from chaturanga, but for ease we will start from the floor. Lying on our stomach, uncurl the toes and allow the tops of the feet to come in contact with the floor. Spread the toes and feel all five toenails in contact with the floor. This subtle engagement triggers an active lengthening into the tibialis anterior muscles of the shin, and up into the adductor muscles of the inner groin, and hip flexor group at the front of the thighs. Place your hands, fingers spread wide, close into your rib cage, below the nipple line.

Next comes the most magnificent part of upward dog, preparing for the heart opening benefits of the back bend. Although our entire spine will be coming into extension – from our cervical to our lumbar spines – the majority of the back bend comes from our thoracic spines. Due to the relationship between the shoulder blades and the thoracic spine, it is important to co-ordinate the efforts between these two areas of our anatomy. Roll the shoulders open, so that the pectoralis muscles of the chest become stretched, and the rhomboid muscles between the shoulder blades and the spine become active, gently moving the shoulder blades towards each other. Now soften.

Bring your attention to your lower spine and gluteus muscles of the buttocks. Naturally, as we move into extension, the erector spinae muscles running up and down the spine will contract, and the gluteus maximus of our buttock will contract as the hip begins to extend. Ensure before we start these actions that you are not gripping or clenching. Engage the stability of the core by lifting the muscles of the pelvic floor to support the sacroiliac joint and tuck the belly button in and up towards the spine to engage the transverses abdominus to support the lumbar spine.

Open to Possibility
Upper Body
Keeping open across the collarbones, press into the palms evenly, finding balance between pronation (inward rotation) and supination (outward rotation) at the wrist. Squeeze the elbows towards the ribs as you begin to straighten at the elbows, actively outwardly rotating the upper arms to turn the eyes of the elbow, the crease, forward. Begin to reach out through the crown of the head, creating space between the vertebrae of the neck. With a long neck, send the throat back, gently engaging the deep neck flexor muscles, which support the cervical spine. With your drishti or gaze down the nose, begin to turn the face up, keeping the action of the deep neck flexor muscles.

Core
Now expand through the inner body, growing long through the side body, lengthening the oblique muscles of the core and the intercostals muscles between the ribs. Imagine the space between each rib growing. Check in with your front ribs. The action of uddiyana bandha, belly button in and up, should also bring the lower ribs in. Keep the pelvic floor muscles gently engaged.

Lower Body
As the hips and thighs begin to lift up off the mat, keep the adductor muscles of the groin active, like they are holding a ball of energy, pressing towards each other. Lengthen through the tailbone – without tucking - to create space in the lower lumbar spine. As the lumbar spine moves into extension, the sacrum at the base of our spine naturally nutates or tips forward. Trying to tuck the tailbone will only increase any tension in the lower lumbar area. The feet continue to press firmly and evenly into the mat. Now only the palms and the tops of the feet should be in contact with the floor.

To be continued.....

The Importance of Bandhas: Jalandhara Bandha / Throat Lock

Bandhas, or energy locks, are used in yoga to control the flow of prana(energy) in our body. In Jalandhara Bandha, throat lock, the deep flexor muscles of the neck are also engaged.

At the front of our neck, closest to the spine, lie two very important muscles: longus coli, and longus capitus. In people with whiplash or neck pain, it has been found that these muscles are under active and weak. These muscles have a stabilizing role in the cervical spine and help maintain the curve of the neck. Research has shown that strengthening these muscles can significantly decrease neck pain in sufferers.

To activate the deep neck flexors, and jalandhara bandha, lie on your back with a small towel rolled and placed in the curve of your neck. Slowly begin to make a double chin, pressing the curve of your neck back into the towel. You want to keep the big Sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCM) of the superficial neck relaxed. You should feel a deep contraction of your neck muscles near the throat. Hold for 10 seconds, and repeat.

Maha Bandha
An excellent asana, or posture, to practice all the bandhas is Dandasana or staff pose. When all the bandhas are active at once, it is known as Maha Bandha, or Big Lock. Sitting on the floor with both legs extended, feet flexed, engage mula bandha (see below) lifting the muscles of the pelvic floor. With a long side body, engage uddiyana bandha (see below) by tucking the lower belly in and up. Next, lengthen the back of the neck and subtly tuck the chin, engaging jalandhara bandha.

Breath normally with your drishti, or gaze, at the big toes, and enjoy a strong and stable spine.

The Importance of Bandhas: Uddiyana Bandha / Abdominal Lock

Bandhas in yoga are traditionally used to stop the prana, or energy, within our body from escaping. These ancient practices also correspond to stabilizing muscles of the spine.

In uddiyana bandha, abdominal lock, the transversus abdominis muscle is becoming active. This muscle acts as a girdle for the lumbar spine, wrapping around the lower torso in a thick band at the front, and attaching into the stabilizing connective tissue of the lower back. In the style of uddiyana bandha used when practicing poses, yogis draw the belly button in and up, flattening the lower abdomen.

In one study of individuals who suffered their first episode of low back pain, training in the use of transversus abdominis significantly reduced the recurrence of low back discomfort. In other studies, the transversus abdominis was dysfunctional in those individuals with low back pain. Training in the use of uddiyana bandha can be very important in preventing and recovering from low back pain.

To find uddiyana bandha, lie on your back with knees bent, hands gently resting at your pelvic bones (Anterior superior iliac spine) so that your fingers can feel your lower belly. Draw your belly button in towards the spine and slightly up, so that your lower belly flattens. Try to keep your larger abdominal muscle (rectus abdominis) relaxed. Breath normally while keeping your lower belly contracted.

Next you can take your bandha into your practice, moving naturally while keeping a slight contraction in the lower belly. Your low back will thank you for it.

The importance of Bandhas: Mula Bandha / Root Lock

Mula Bandha

A common practice in yoga is the use of bandhas, or energy locks. This practice is traditionally used to contain the flow of prana or energy in the body. In mula bandha, root lock, yogis bring attention to the pelvic floor, gently lifting and activating the muscles deep within the pelvis (levator ani, which includes pubococygeus and illiococygeus, and cocygeus). This same action works as a stabilizing mechanism for the sacroiliac joints of the pelvis at the base of the spine. This is particularly the case in women.

Using mula bhanda is especially important when we move into twists, forward bends, or poses where we have an assymetry in our pelvis. This action will prevent any shearing force to be transferred to our vulnerable Sacroiliac joints.

Finding You Root

To activate mula bandha, the muscles of the pelvic floor that bring stability to the lower back, find a comfortable position sitting in a chair or on the floor. Begin by establishing slow, steady, deep breaths. Bring your attention to the muscles you would use to stop the flow of urine. Gently contract these muscles, feeling a lift deep within your pelvis. Contract and relax, repeating this action a few times. Now maintaining this gentle contraction, take slow deep breaths in and out.

Asana Anatomy: Downward Facing Dog Part II

The following is a continuation of an article I wrote for my yogaonline.com

In a previous post, we discussed the foundation of downward dog, actions of the upper body and the core. Let's continue, looking at the actions of the lower body.

Lower Body
As the hips move up and back, imagine an inward spiral of the groin muscles. Keeping that inward rotation, gently tuck the tailbone under, aiding the engagement of the transversus abdominus. The adductor muscles of the inner thighs move towards each other, as if holding a block between the thighs. Lengthen from the attachment of the hamstrings at the sitting bone, all the way through the gastroc and soleus muscles of the calves. There is a co-ordinated opposite action here of active lengthening through the calves, countered by the active dorsi flexion of the foot by the tibialis anterior on the front of the shin.

Benefits & Considerations
Downward dog requires a lot of openness through the chest and shoulders. If you are unable to raise your arms to at least the level of your face, you should consider one of the variations below.

· Childs pose / Balasana: Sitting back on your heels, stretch your arms out in front of you. Use the same action of the arms as above, but childs pose allows you to control the influence of gravity without over extending at the shoulders
· Modified Downward dog at the wall: Stand in front of the wall with your hands on the wall, shoulder width, slightly below shoulder height. Keeping your feet hip distance, slowly back away from the wall, using the same principles of alignment as above but slowly moving into an open chest and shoulder girdle.

If you are unable to correct a pinching sensation in the front of your shoulder, it is possible you may have impingement in your shoulder joint and should consult a health practitioner familiar with yoga.
Conversely, because downward dog requires this level of openness through the shoulders it can be a great shoulder and chest opener. It is important that we do not sag into the anatomy however. We must keep the active actions in the shoulders, then once aligned, open to the pose. Downward dog can also be a source of relief for people with mid-back or lower back pain. The muscles that attach from the skull to the pelvis, the erector spinae group, are lengthened actively. In addition, with the arms overhead in this position, the lattisimus dorsi muscles, attaching from the ribs and fascia of the lower spine into to the arms, are lengthened.

Now Breathe
Downward dog is foundational pose that brings us back to our centre. It can act as our home base, where we check in with our alignment in a very active and functional way. There are few poses more powerful than a well-aligned downward dog that is fueled by a steady flow of breath.

Asana Anatomy - Downward Facing Dog Part I

The following is part of an I article I wrote for myyogaonline.com

If you’ve ever taken an Ashtanga or vinyasa flow class, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Doward Dog, is no stranger to you. Downward dog is a fundamental yoga asana, but a surprisingly complex one. As my teacher recently joked, “If I hear one more instructor say the phrase - ‘ Downward facing dog is a resting pose’- I’ll shoot them!” Nothing is more daunting to a student on their 5th or 6th or 7th downward dog to learn that they are supposed to be resting in this complicated pose. Learning about the anatomy of the pose can help us find a little more ease in the mystery that is downward dog.

Let’s dissect this asana.

Setting the foundation
At the palms, our fingers are spread wide, distributing the weight evenly from the thumb side to the pinky finger side. This minimizes tension and discomfort in the wrists. There should be an ever so slight bend in the elbow, created by the biceps, avoiding hyperextension at the elbows. Imagine the eyes of your elbows (the crease) gently turning forward without changing the hands. This requires the pronator muscle of the forearm to engage the internal rotation of the lower arms, as the rotator cuff muscles (teres major and infraspinatus) turn the elbow eyes forward with outward rotation of the upper arms. At the feet, our toes are spread wide, feet hip width apart. We should feel an equal amount of weight between the hands and the feet. For many students this means pressing firmly into the palms and allowing the hips to move up and back so that the heels can gracefully meet the floor. Be aware of any tendency to stay up on the balls of the feet, as this can aggravate the plantar fascia of the feet, resulting in an injury known as plantar fasciitis.

Strength in Stillness

Upper Body
As the upper arms roll out, the shoulder blades must be gliding onto the back. We want to avoid winging, or poking out of the lower pole of the shoulder blade. To engage the serratus anterior muscle eccentrically (active lengthening) that controls this gliding, we need to grow broad across the collarbone. Imagine the heart floating downward, opening the chest, and introducing the shoulder blades to each other by bringing the blades down and together on our backs, activating our triangle shaped trapezius muscle.

Core
Now expand through the inner body, growing long through the side body, lengthening the oblique muscles of the core and the intercostals muscles between the ribs. Imagine the space between each rib growing. Check in with your front ribs. The action of uddiyana bandha, tucking in and up of the belly button, flattens the lower belly engaging transversus abdominus, but should also bring the lower ribs in.

To be continued........

Yogi Shoulder

You can feel the heat building in the room, and the steady flow of breath around you. You look down at your fingers spread wide on the yoga mat, part way through your sun salutation, hesitating before you lower to the ground. You’re dreading that ‘pinchy’ feeling in your shoulder that’s been nagging you for weeks.

Welcome to ‘Yogi Shoulder’.
Usually known as ‘Swimmers Shoulder’, or technically ‘Impingement Syndrome,’ shoulder impingement is a common occurrence in yoga practitioners, particularly those who have a vinyasa type asana practice with lots of chaturangas and sun salutations.

Off the Cuff

The structures that are actually being impinged or pinched are the muscles of the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is made up of four very important muscles that control the position of the arm bone in the socket: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. These muscles move the arm from inward rotation to outward rotation or lift the arm overhead. The rotator cuff muscles wrap from the shoulder blade onto the arm bone. It is the portion of the muscles that wrap onto the top of the arm bone that often get irritated or impinged under the tip of the shoulder blade known as the acromium. You can feel this part of your anatomy yourself by walking your fingers firmly along your clavicle or collarbone starting at your sternum. When you come to a divot, just as you reach the round portion of you shoulder, you have reached the joint made between your acromium and the clavicle known as the AC joint. Often yogis will feel a deep ache or pinching near this area, sometimes radiating into the arm. If you drop your fingers just below the joint and press outwards, you should feel the ball portion of your arm bone. Move your arm forward and back, inward and outward and you can feel the way the arm bone moves in its socket.

Balance Please

Like all areas of the body, and all areas of our life for that matter, problems in the shoulder start when there is a lack of balance. Often the stabilizing muscles of the shoulder blade become weak, allowing the shoulder blade to wing out, disrupting the natural movements of the rotator cuff muscles. One key muscle to shoulder stabilization is the serratus anterior muscle, which attaches from our side ribs to the shoulder blade. To increase the strength and activation of this muscle you can add a “plank plus” exercise to your asanas. From plank, or all fours, without bending your elbows, allow your heart to move towards the floor, sending your arm bones into their sockets. Keeping your elbows straight, your mid back motionless, press into the palms so that your arm bones move towards the floor and your body moves away from the floor. This pushing action activates the serratus anterior as the shoulder blade slides around the ribs. Repeat this subtle motion up to ten times.

Another common imbalance that can contribute to impingement in the shoulder is the shortening and tightening of the pectoralis muscles of the chest. Many of us spend our days working on computers, or at the very least doing some sort of activity in front of us. This can often close down the space at the front of the shoulders, resulting in rounded shoulders. Ensuring that chest openers are a regular part of your asana practice can help increase the space at the front of your shoulders. Try taking a chest opener attitude into all of your asanas: shoulder blades moving towards each other, open through the collar bone, and send your throat straight back.

These two imbalances are the most common contributors to ‘yogi shoulder’ but it is important to seek attention from a health professional if you do not seem to be getting any relief.

Our shoulders are a complex part of our anatomy and an integral part of our yoga practice. Honoring any strange or painful sensations we feel, and seeking out the cause, is an important part of staying on the mat for years to come.

Asana Anatomy - Chaturanga Part 2

The following continues my recent article from myyogaonline.com.

Anatomy in Motion
Building on what we've learned in Part 1, let's begin in plank. Starting from this place of stability and alignment, we can now safely flow into chaturanga.

Upper Body
The most complex movements in Chaturanga come from our upper body. In order for us to lower, a number of actions must occur. Firstly, we must balance the action of inward and outward rotation at the shoulder joint. The outward rotation of teres major and infraspinatus muscles of the rotator cuff counteract the inward pull of the pectoralis muscles, and lattisimus dorsi on the back. By nature of the fact that our palms are on the mat, the pronator muscles of the forearm are activating an inward rotation at the wrist. To maintain neutral rotation at our shoulder joint, our elbows must hug to our sides to engage the triceps, whose natural action is pure flexion and extension at the elbows. It is important that we keep the engagement of the scapular support muscles that we started with in plank pose. This means that we keep an open heart moving forward, broad across the collarbones, and our shoulder tips never drop below our elbows. The subscapularis muscle of the rotator cuff (on the underside of the shoulder blade) is working over time to prevent the arm bone from moving forward out of the shoulder joint.

Core
We maintain the contraction of the transversus abdominus throughout chaturanga, which keeps our body parallel to the floor and avoids any lower back discomfort. Imagine your side body growing long as your heart shines forward and your heels press firmly back.

Lower Body
The action of pressing back through the heels maintains length through the legs and deep hip flexor muscle, the psoas, which has attachments in the spine and the legs. The legs support our upper body so that chaturanga becomes a full body pose, not just an arm balance.

Benefits & Considerations
Chaturanga is an excellent pose to build awareness of the muscles that support and stabilize our shoulder blades. It is important to be mindful as we enter the pose, setting up the action of the shoulder blades pressing together. If we do allow the shoulders to tip forward, this can result in injury to our sensitive rotator cuff muscles.
Chaturanga is also an excellent core exercise. If you find that as your practice goes on it is difficult to maintain your body parallel to the floor, it is better to drop to your knees but stay aligned from your knees to the crown of your head. If you are finding wrist discomfort, ensure that you are distributing weight throughout the palm, not just on the inner portion which may be overcome by the pronation (inward rotation) in your forearms. Wrist pain can also be a sign that you have not accessed the power in your shoulder muscles. Of course sometimes aches and pains may signal a larger injury so it is important to consult with a health professional that understands yoga.

Now Flow
Chaturanga Dandasana gives us a feeling of power, accessing our inner strength as well as building our outer strength. It enables us to flow gracefully through our sun salutations and between poses, and when done with mindful alignment can be a satisfying and fulfilling asana.

Asana Anatomy - Chaturanga Part 1

The following is from my recent article on www.myyogaonline.com.

You’re finishing up your yoga class, you can almost feel sivasana coming, then the teacher instructs you to perform one last vinyasa. As you step back to plank pose, and begin to lower down into chaturanga or four legged staff pose, your shoulders dip forward from fatigue and your core refuses to co-operate as your belly sags to the floor. Chaturanga is an important, and even enjoyable, part of sun salutations and vinyasa flows. Keeping the integrity of the pose from the start to the end of our yoga practice is important to avoid injury and receive the many benefits chaturanga has to offer.

Let’s dissect this asana.

Preparation
Starting from plank pose, or high push up, our wrists are stacked under our shoulders and our body is parallel to the floor with our toes on the mat.

Upper Body
In plank pose the pectoralis muscles of the chest are keeping us in a push-up position. To avoid sagging into the wrist joints, a common complaint in this pose, we need to recruit the larger muscles of our shoulders for support. Imagine your heart moving closer to the floor, and without bending the elbows allow the shoulder blades to glide closer to each other. This actively engages our rhomboid muscles between the shoulder blades and the spine, and the middle portion of our diamond shaped trapezius muscle.

Core
In plank pose, to avoid sagging into the low back or popping up with our hips, our core muscles must be engaged. Use a gentle contraction of uddiyana bandha, sucking the belly button up and in, flattening the lower belly. This action corresponds to engaging the transversus abdominus, which provides stability to the lower spine. A slight tuck under of the tailbone can aid this action. To distribute the work away from our core and upper body, press back through the heels, sending weight into the legs.

Lower Body
With our heels pressing back like we are pressing into a wall, we are activating the muscles that dorsi flex our ankles, namely tibialis anterior on the front of the shin. Our hamstrings lengthened by the action of the extended knee initiated by our quadriceps muscles in the front of the thighs. To keep our alignment, our thighs are pressing towards each other but not touching, like we are holding a block with the adductor muscles of the groin.

To be continued......

Book Review: Yoga as Medicine

Yoga as Medicine ~ The yogic prescription for health and healing, by Timothy McCall.

From the medical editor of the well known magazine Yoga Journal, comes an extensive collection of the research on yoga to treat disease and increase healing. Dr. McCall reviews the research on a variety of conditions including arthritis, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, high blood pressure, MS, and irritable bowel syndrome among others. The book begins by introducing the reader to the basic tenets of yoga and yoga therapy and introducing the different styles of yoga. An advanced practitioner might find this a little simplified, but is undoubtedly necessary when someone who is new to yoga stumbles open the book. The majority of the book concentrates on specific conditions. For each chapter Dr.McCall gives an overview of the condition, how yoga fits into the picture, and consults a well respected teacher on their approach to the condition. Teachers such as Judith Lasater, John Friend, Gary Kraftsow, and Rodney Yee were consulted. This final section of the chapter includes well photographed, easy to follow pictures that the Yoga Journal is known for. The reader is given a series of asanas they can add to their routine to work with or prevent their condition. What I found to be of benefit is that the author not only references scientific research from North American and European journals, but also the more difficult articles to find from Indian journals. The notes at the back of the book reference every scientific study he cites, in the event that the reader might want to learn more from the source.

Undoubtedly this book was years in the making and the work paid off. This contemporary collection of yoga therapy research is an invaluable resource to anyone who uses yoga in a therapeutic way.

The Four Basic Keys to Keeping You on the Mat

We all came to yoga for very positive reasons, to calm the mind, improve the physical body, or to heal an injury. Yoga is very good at helping us achieve all of these things. In fact science is now recognizing the use of yoga to treat conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, high blood pressure and low back pain. But despite our best intentions, sometimes injuries just happen. This article will teach you how to prevent injuries in your yoga practice.

Injuries happen for 3 major reasons: we go past our body’s physiological limits, we succumb to a repetitive strain injury, or our body’s asymmetries get the best of us. We can prevent injury with four key points:

1. Honour our old injuries. Tell your teacher about your injury and respect the limitations your injuries present. Talk to your chiropractor or health professional about what motions to avoid. An injury is an excellent time to practice the yogic tenet of ahimsa or non-violence towards our own bodies by not pushing ourselves too far.

2. Warm up and cool down. Start with slow flowing movements to build heat in the body before progressing to more challenging postures. If necessary come to class 5 minutes early to get in your own warm up. Allow time for a proper sivasana, the final relaxation pose, to slow down the heart rate and decrease the body temperature.

3. Cross train our yoga. Try a different style of yoga every now and then. Not only is it mentally stimulating, but it also challenges our body to move in different patterns. This helps to prevent injuries caused by repeating the same motions over and over.

4. Take our yoga off the mat. We all have habitual activities that undermine our body’s natural balance from left to right or front to back. Try carrying your bag on the opposite side, or talking on the phone with your opposite ear. Our bodies need symmetry to function properly so pay extra attention to areas in your body where this is out of balance.

What if an injury does happen? Stop your practice, take a breath, and tell your teacher. Use aparigraha, non-attachment to finishing the pose or the class. Put ice on the injury as soon as possible to decrease inflammation and consult a health professional who understands yoga injuries to get a diagnosis and appropriate treatment We all hope to have a smooth and successful yoga practice.

Injuries can happen, but if we use mindfulness and follow these four key injury prevention strategies, we can greatly decrease the chance of injury.

Let's make it a revolution!

Yoga Savvy - the blog - is here.

The purpose of this blog is to give you the tools to stay safe, practice with alignment, and above all, feel great in your yoga practice. I will highlight the latest scientific research in the yoga world, great books on yoga anatomy and yoga therapy, and share my insights on injury avoidance and prevention, as well as alignment based on our anatomy.


It's smarter yoga - why would we practice any other way.