And no, it doesn't mean the beach-ready, hot pants wearing type of yoga butt we are all told we are aspiring to, but rather, as she puts it:
SI inflammation/instability often confused with sciatica
Yup, that's what I got. That's what a whole bunch of yoga practitioners I know have, too. Let me tell you how I think it all started with me...
I did a lot of Ashtanga. A Lot. Every day, primary series, with all vinyasas, for several years. Then I started to get hurt - sore wrists, sore hamstrings, sore knees, sore lower back, sore neck. It got to the point where I would dread getting on my mat in the morning. But, you know, yoga makes you feel better, right? So the more yoga I do the better I will feel, right?
Hmm. The end result seems to be that I have overstretched some ligaments deep in my hips, so my whole pelvic area is not as stable as it should be. (Yes, I have talked about this at length before, I know!)
A word of warning: if your hip structure doesn't want to do supta kurmasana, or any of those other pretzel poses, don't. Otherwise you will end up like me...
That's why I went looking for a kinder way to practice and teach yoga, and, thank goodness, I found it. But the legacy of my silly, joint-compromising past lives on.
Visiting the chiropractor has helped a lot. In fact I am thinking of recommending him for canonization. But. He wants me to do asymmetrical strengthening with more attention to the weaker side - and the first time I did that, I dislocated again and had to go trotting back for another adjustment.
So I am sticking to really simple stuff - the fab sacrum sequence from Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow - he has a dvd of this out now too!
I toss in a few other poses, almost all symmetrical, no one leg forward one leg back stuff, and definitely definitely no pigeon. That pose, much as I love it, is lethal to my current condition.
In fact, I am finding that the poses which feel 'right' are strength builders, mostly with my back at least a little supported - like locust (and variations), boat (and variations), bridge, gentle versions of urdvha prasarita padasana, and of course, the not cat-cow, chakravakasana.
On the recommendation of my mom-in-law, who is a naturopath, I am also taking the supplement MSM which is hopefully going to help with healing.
It appears that my yoga butt is just going to take time to heal. And patience. And we all know how well-endowed I am with patience. Maybe I should get some hot pants to tide me over?
