So today I'd like to share a technique with you that I've used in many intensives and
classes where I've discovered that several individuals in the group are unable to lie
comfortable on their backs with weight on the pelvis.
Now regardless of the method or the style of yoga you teach, there are a multitude of
practices that require that you be able to lie on your back with weight on the pelvis.
So whether you're releasing the spine, whether you're doing hamstring openings or core strengthening
work or simply passive restorative postures, people have got to be able to get comfortable
lying on their backs.
Now sometimes because of variation in anatomy, for some individuals it's absolutely impossible
to get comfortable on an even surface and here's why.
If you have a sacrum that has a normal curvature through it and in a moment you're going to
see a slide, there's obviously not going to be very much weight on a sacrum that has
a normal curvature to it, but for some people the sacrum has a very pronounced curvature
and you can imagine how that might feel pressing against the floor.
And I've had quite a few individuals that you can literally see a pronounced ridge down
the center of the sacrum and sometimes a displaced tailbone as well that creates intense discomfort
when they're lying down on their backs.
So here's a very simple solution.
You can use a simple bath towel and fold it in half and then fold it in half again.
Fold the sides of the towel in leaving a corridor of about hands width apart and essentially
when you lie down you're going to put the two sides of the pelvis on the lifts in the
towel so that the sacrum can float with less and less pressure against the floor.
Now for some individuals that won't be enough height and I always have quite a big selection
of different towels and sizes and shapes of blankets available to modify for each individual.
So I'm using a beach towel here and I'll do a double fold and a double fold in and you
can see that's quite a lift but for some people that is going to feel absolutely fantastic.
I don't need a lift for myself that's quite that big so I'll put that to the side and
there we place it on our mat and if I'm doing works too tight I can experiment with exactly
where that goes under the pelvis.
This by the way can be really nice for people who have AQSI joints as well and some people
like to have a little bit more to their lower back others like to have it just supporting
the top of the pelvis all the way down to the base of the buttocks.
Now if you do straighten your legs to do relaxation you can see now that my pelvis is slightly
higher than my feet it's important than to have a bolster underneath the knees.
For any of the practices in the new book that I co-authored with Leila Stewart Pathways to
a Centered Body or in the Yogi Yu online tutorials Anatomy of a Centered Body almost
all of the practices in the book or the online tutorials can be modified using a towel.
So even if you don't have an anomaly in the shape of your synchro you might try this just
so you can feel whether it improves your feeling of comfort through your sacroiliac joint
and through your lower back.
