Wednesday’s Favorite Find

Week #1: Anatomy 101: Understanding Your Sacroiliac Joint

You’ll learn:

• Women are more susceptible to SI joint issues than men are.
• Why we may want to consider not over stretching in our yoga classes….especially in twist.
• Why you may not want to keep your hips level in a twist.
• To see a visual of the SI joint and how it relates to twists, check out Mini Trainings week one. If you’re interested to read different experts’ opinions about twists, check out my blog.

Pam’s notes:

• SI ligaments (sacroiliac ligaments)are very strong and there is some conflicting opinions about whether the SI ligaments can become overstretched. Judith (Dr of P.T., long time yoga instructor, and author of the article) believes, as do many other body workers, that, over time, especially with high repetition, the ligaments can become overstretched.
• Ligaments are flexible, but not meant to be elastic. Meaning, once they lose their shape and become over stretched, we have to use that much more strength from our musculature to help hold the joint in place.
• The big take away for me is: twists are good for us. We need to move our spine in all directions. However, especially as we age (listen to the upcoming podcast in week four) deep twist are not necessary for most people.
• As always, try it out for yourself and see how it feels. It may feel better for you to anchor through your hips and keep them level…and that’s okay. However, this is something to consider and play with – especially if you know you have SI issues.

Week 2: Revolved Side Angle Pose

Pam’s notes:

• I love being able to see what muscles are working and stretching inside the body while in the actual pose. That’s exactly what I’m sharing this week!
• It is a quick video that not only shows the muscles, but also shares some good cueing tips and a way to use props in the pose that I haven’t seen before!
• Note: it does play a little fast, so you may want to pause it when necessary to be able to fully read what is shared.

Week 3: Looking at Yoga Poses Through the Lens of Yoga Neuromechanics With Robyn Capobianco 

You’ll learn:

• What forced closure is and why it’s important for our SI joint.
• How counter rotating the spine can help keep the SI joint safer for some in revolved side angle pose.
• Why you may want to consider not “pushing” yourself into a twist.
• Why we want the latissimus muscle and the gluteal muscles to work in revolved side angle.

Pam’s notes:

• Robyn Campobianco is interviewed on the Yogaland podcast. Robyn is a certified corrective exercise specialist and has her PhD in Neurophysiology. She hooks herself up to an EMG to measure what muscles are activating in certain yoga poses. Pretty cool! (Add a pic of her with electrodes on)
• If you don’t want to listen to the whole podcast, 23 minutes in is when she talks about the SI joint and twist- until about the 32 minute mark.
• Because we all have unique bodies, I always offer the cues as a suggestion.
• Did you miss week one’s blog about the SI joint or the visual of the spine in a twist? You can look above for Favorite Finds, or click here for Mini Trainings.