Upcoming New Class:

Yoga, Mindfulness & Weight Loss

This is a course that will interest people who have had unsuccessful attempts at dieting in the past and want to try a new approach.

For more information click on the following link:

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Sukhasana –Easy pose?

If you look around the room when the class is seated in Sukhasana (easy cross-legged pose) you will notice a lot of anatomical differences. Some will sit with their knees well above their hips, while others will have their thighs and knees almost parallel to the floor. Have a closer look at someone whose knees are high. Chances are their chest is collapsed; their shoulders are rolled forward; their neck and chin are protruded; and their lumbar curve is flat, or even worse, rounded. If you could read their minds you would probably hear something along the lines of “And you call this easy pose – yeah right!”

But Sukhasana does not have to be arduous. There are a few simple things you can do to make it more enjoyable. But first let’s have a look at why it is difficult for some individuals. When the knees are higher than the hips, the tendency is for the pelvis to tilt backwards, drawing the sit bones, which are situated at the base of the pelvis, towards the feet. If this happens in someone who also has tight hamstring muscles, the effects are more exaggerated because the tight hamstrings also drag the sit bones toward the heels, making the posterior pelvic tilt more pronounced. If that same person has additional tightness in their external hip rotator muscles, this can contribute further to the posterior tilt. Too much external rotation of the hips (think Charlie Chaplin legs) causes the front of the pelvis to lift, the tail bone to tuck under and the back rim of the pelvis to drop, flattening out the lumbar curve. Another area of tightness that can potentially lead to a posterior pelvic tilt is overly toned abdominal muscles.

But it is not just overly tight muscles that are the culprit. Posterior tilt of the pelvis is usually accompanied by spinal flexion which shows up as rounded shoulders, collapsed chest and compression of the belly, all easily seen in the above photo. It is possible that the slumped posture could also be due to weak extensor muscles in the spine that are not strong enough to keep the back erect.

You might at this point be asking yourself what the big deal is with a pelvis that tips backwards. The concern is the pressure that is put on the spinal discs and nerves. What is more worrying is when someone with a pelvis that is tipping backwards and putting pressure onto the spine, then tries to move into a forward bend. This only increases the pressure further. A forward bend should come from rotation of the pelvis over the femurs (thigh bones) not from hinging at the lower back with the pelvis stationary.

So as you can see, some tight muscles need to loosen up and some loose muscles have to strengthen in order to resolve the problem of the posterior tilt. That doesn’t happen overnight, but a well rounded yoga practice will slowly and consistently address all of the contributing problems. In the short term, the best thing to do is to get the pelvis back to a neutral and safe position. This is done by elevating the hips with a block or blankets. When the hips are parallel or higher than the knees, good alignment will fall into place.

(Pierce, M.D. & Pierce, M.G. (1996). Yoga for your life. Portland, Oregon:Rudra Press p72)