Low lunge pose has long been recommended for tight hip flexors. These are the muscles on the top of the thigh that tighten up from prolonged sitting. But overstretching in this pose can lead to hip and low back instability and pain. It is important to know the body’s limits.
Sitting well is not complicated. It requires common sense and some intuition. When you sit well, your back feels good because your vertebrae have adequate space and circulation. Your breath is slow because your diaphragm elevates and depresses without restriction. Your neck and head feel level and without tension. You are able to concentrate because your eyes are not straining.
The human body is amazing. If one muscle or joint is not working optimally, the body can compensate by using a different area. You can get by for quite a while without a problem. Then, seemingly out of the blue, your shoulder hurts. You didn’t even do anything! And then your back starts to hurt. And then you notice, your knee feels a little strange. What is happening? You are falling apart!
Actually, this is your body telling you that you need to stop and reassess. Painful movement means that something is not moving correctly. You must work on correcting this pattern or it will inevitably lead to something else hurting.
Yoga can be used to improve our flexibility, but if we are not practicing carefully, it may cause a hypermobility (the loss of control at a joint). This is what can lead to injury.
In order to bring our bodies into better balance, we need to emphasize stability with our practice. Over the next few posts, I will be mentioning some of the most common hypermobilities seen in yoga class and how to prevent them. If we can activate the small stabilizing muscles close to each joint, we can improve strength and minimize joint wear and tear.
Hello! My name is Daisy. I am a physical therapist, yoga teacher, and mother of two. Why am I starting this blog? Aren’t there enough yoga blogs out there?
Well, my intention for this blog is to help you individualize your yoga practice. Instead of showing you how to achieve different yoga poses, I will show you how to use yoga to make your body more balanced.