Practice in Providence/lower back

[Guest guest]

I have lower back achiness (not during the

posture, but for the rest of the day after practice) if I

strain too hard in my forward bends (two legged ones

like padangusthasana and paschimottanasana) or,

especially, in kurmasana. My hamstrings too seem to be pretty

flexible overall, but I'm learning from the pain in the

aforementioned postures that part of them is not. Check to see

if your forward bends are really originating at your

hips. Mine do, but only just barely. My pelvis tips

forward a bit but then stops, so in the strong forward

bends my lower back is stretched around it in

compensation. I now go very easy on myself in these postures,

and have a newfound appreciation for all of the one

legged forward bends (especially janu sirsasanas) and

their ability to connect with the uppermost part of my

hamstrings. It's hard to believe I've been ignorant

of/avoiding that part of my body for the past six years of

yoga!

[Guest guest]

hi vit t 12<br><br>one way to work this forward

bend and limiting its effect on the lower back is in

the prone position where the pelvis is stabelized

(help this spelling) : supta padangustasana. (you may

already know this - stop me anytime)<br><br>Lying flat on

the back, press the back hipbones firmly into the

floor but maintain the natural curve of the lower back.

The pelvis is now in neutral - where it remains. Keep

the strait leg (let's say the left leg) active. Make

a mental note to notice how the hips are evenly

aligned and maintain that as the right leg lifts up into

padangustasana ( a stiffer person may use a belt around the

right foot and hold the ends in both hands with

shoulders relaxed). This action will access the hamstring -

keep drawing the right hip downward to stay even with

the left (someone could do this for you as an

adjustment) as the right leg moves up and closer toward

you.<br><br>It is more typical in female types to overstretch

the lower back. Do strengthening excercises to

counteract this tendency such as Navasana with modifications

to maintain excellent(!) alignment (see davis

swenson's "the practice manual" book: p 99 example B or

C).<br><br>The good news is because of this tendency toward

flexibility, albeit in the wrong places sometimes, one will

tend to get flexible more quickly in the right places

too, when pinpointing the actions specifically to get

to those places (and therefore<br>bypassing the

'wrong' places such as the sacrum area in forward

bending).<br>In regular forward bends, lifting into the chest and

maintaining an elongated spine (you could clasp your hands

behind your back to demonstrate this to yourself)will

keep the forward bend out of the lower back.<br><br>It

can only get better. I also have experience with this

struggle, including carrying angle in elbows and

hyperextending knees.In a way we have to work much harder, don't

you think?