Dear Neesha,
Have you ever experienced displacement and pain of the SI-joint from yoga practice? How do you advise modifying my practice to prevent injury and pain associated with this pelvic joint injury? Thank you, Timi

Hi Timi,

I have direct experience with the misplacement and pain of the SI joint.  For me, it happened before I learned about actively stabilizing before actively elongating in any and every pose.  The healing took a while because the ligaments had been stretched. They take time to regain tone as they are not designed to be stretched.  With the ligaments saggy, the SI joint can move around too much, causing pain.

For healing, it took a lot of muscle energy, keeping my thighs back as well as a strong action of the tailbone down, as all yoga poses require all the time.  Also, I was working with teachers who knew how to adjust the SI joint, which would relieve the pain because the adjustments bring the SI joint in to good alignment.

The pain comes from the excess movement of the joint.  Once stretched it takes time for ligaments to spring back.  Once you learn to stabilize, it will start to heal.  I recommend finding a good teacher who can make sure that you are using your muscles appropriately to not allow the ligaments to continue to be stressed.  A teacher can also help you see if your hips are in good alignment and help you learn how to not “hang out in your joints” which has probably created this hip instability.  The main focus for you is backing out of deep poses and finding a deeper meaning of muscle energy.  Always keep the muscles working as you go into poses, maintain that energy during and as you exit a pose.  It sounds like all of the instability in your hips both SI and groins is from a lack of stability as well as letting your thigh bones come forward which overstretches the ligaments of the groin, as well as creating agitation in your groins because the hip flexor muscles are not in optimal alignment.

Try Yoga Today classes on Muscle Energy and Inner Spiral to learn or refine the techniques that will expedite your healing and BLESSINGS on your journey!

This youtube video teaches muscular energy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKxQCL8fD6M&feature=relmfu

This one addresses it a little bit too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3xNlarOno4&feature=relmfu

Namaste,

Neesha

Dear Sarah,

Can you please recommend some books on Kundalini yoga?

Thank You,

Fanny, Oslo, Norway

Dear Fanny,

I would suggest starting with Gurmukh Khaur Khalsa’s The Eight Human Talents. This is an easy to read account of the author’s personal story and how her Kundalini practice has positively affected her life, and it’s also a great educational study on the main Chakras.

I also recommend reading Shakti Parwa Khalsa’s Kundalini Yoga, as an excellent manual or “how to” guide for practitioners of all levels.

If you are ready to dive into some practice, here are a few of my favorite Kundalini classes on Yoga Today:

Stress Reducing Rapid Kundalini

Wind Down

Flip the Switch – Turn on Your Energy with Kundalini

Happy practicing!!

Namaste,

Sarah Kline