Many years ago, my mother fell and broke her hip. Or maybe her hip broke and she fell as a result. Sometimes it’s impossible to know which is the chicken and which is the egg. At any rate, the fall was almost the end of her.

Long story short, after a stint in the hospital, she was progressing well in rehab. A day before she was to go back home, she went into kidney failure. Apparently, the combination of multiple medications was too much. Her caregivers stopped her medication completely and she slowly recovered. But the incident made me understand why it’s often said that falls can be the beginning of the end for older people.

More than 800,000 people are hospitalized each year for injuries stemming from falls. One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or traumatic head injury. In fact, falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury. Here are some more stats on falls and their sometimes-catastrophic effects.

What is Balance and Why is it Important?

Put simply, balance is our ability to recognize our position relative to the objects around us, including the surface on which we’re standing or walking. A good sense of balance allows us to perform our daily tasks with a sense of stability and ease. For example, something as common as walking down the street and turning your head to talk to a friend requires a healthy sense of balance. Without balance, simple activities become not only challenging, but can even be dangerous.

As we age, some of the factors that contribute to good balance can begin to decrease. Eyesight can dim. Inner ear problems can disrupt the vestibular system. Neuropathy can decrease proprioception.

External causes such as slippery or uneven surfaces, intoxication or illness can cause falls. But they can also happen because of a lack of attention or underdeveloped proprioception. The good news is, yoga can help. Many asanas are specifically designed to improve balance. And the centering of our minds on our bodies sharpens mindfulness, so that we’re more apt to recognize subtler signs of imbalance in our bodies before we fall.

There are many yoga poses that support balance. All the standing poses—think Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Virabhadrasana I and II (Warrior I and II), etc.—can help strengthen our legs and cultivate balance. And of course, the one-legged standing poses such as Vrksasana (Tree Pose) are balancing poses.

It’s important to challenge our balance in different ways. While we often think of standing balance poses when we’re hoping to cultivate proprioception, balancing in different orientations is also important. That’s why I’ve several types of balancing poses in the examples below.

Most important is to remember that balancing, like all asana, is a practice, not a performance. Meet your body where it is. For example, if you need to stand close to a wall in a standing balance pose, please do so. Even with that little bit of extra support, you’re still developing the skill of balancing.

5 Balancing Poses

1. Foot Massage: Giving attention to our feet, massaging them, exercising our toes, etc., keeps them healthy and responsive to whatever surface we’re negotiating. Start your practice with these simple exercises. But you needn’t limit it to your on-the-mat practice. You can also practice these while you’re sitting around watching TV or anytime you have a spare moment. One longtime student of mine who had never been able to balance on one leg practiced these daily for about nine months and was able to balance for the first time in her life! At the time she was in her 70s.
2. Vrksasana (Tree Pose): There are, of course, lots of standing poses you can practice to hone your balance. Follow the instructions in this post. It’s helpful to remember that even when you’re feeling shaky in your balance poses, you’re still learning the skill of balancing. When you’re flailing around trying not to fall in Tree Pose, you’re actually developing proprioception. So don’t feel discouraged. Remember, this is a practice, not a performance!
3. Parsva Balasana (Bird Dog Pose): As I explained above, it’s important to challenge our balance in different ways. Bird Dog Pose is a core strengthener and a balance pose. Because it strengthens the core—front, back and internal—it stabilizes us to increase balance. But the act of “standing” on one knee and one arm also develops proprioception. In addition, balancing with your head in a position other than upright helps stimulate your vestibular system. Read these instructions to help you refine your practice.
4. Ubhaya Padangusthasana (Both Hands and Big Toes Pose): This pose offers an opportunity to balance in yet another way—on your rear. Practicing this asana in its most common form, with the arms and legs straight, can be challenging if your hamstrings and calves are on the tighter side. Feel free to bend your knees and hold onto the backs of your thighs instead of holding your feet. This post can give you some pointers on practicing safely.
5. Savasana (Corpse Pose): Years ago I attended an early morning class that was only an hour long. The teachers reasoned that with such a short class, they didn’t need to include Savasana. While I enjoyed their teaching in the other asanas, the Savasana-free class always made me feel scattered and ungrounded. In retrospect, I can see that this is a recipe for moving through the rest of the day without a sense of balance. Savasana is, in fact one of yoga’s best balancing poses. It balances your body-mind at a deeper level than simply balancing on one leg. Give yourself 10 minutes if your practice is an hour or less, and 15 minutes or more if it’s longer.

Of course there are many more balancing poses than the five examples I’ve given. Inversions are great, and as I wrote above, all the wide-stance standing poses are helpful. The most important factor is the attention you bring to your body as you practice. Keep your focus inside your body, on the sensations you feel. Remember that frantic, shallow breathing creates agitation—not a great recipe for balancing. Make sure your breathing is continuous, deep and calm.

Savasana (Relaxation Pose) is a welcome respite, the well-deserved dessert after your asana practice. It’s a time of rest and integration, the time when you get to lie still and absorb the benefits of your asana practice.

But for some people, it’s actually not so relaxing. I often see students lie down onto the floor, only to begin fidgeting, bending their knees, placing a roll under the lower spine, etc. That’s when I know they need support, not under their backs, but instead, under their lower legs. When I place support under their legs, back pain relief is almost always instantaneous.

Why Does Support Under the Legs Relieve Back Strain?

When your legs are stretched out on the floor, the hip flexors stretch. When shortened hip flexors stretch passively, as in Savasana, the low back is pulled into hyperextension. That’s where back discomfort comes from. Shortened hip flexors are quite common in our culture. Because of our pervasive cultural habit of marathon chair sitting, many people end up with shortened hip flexors. This is because sitting puts all our joints into a flexed position. Over time, the muscles shorten.

That’s one reason why asana practice is so important. There are lots of poses that counteract our habitually flexed joints. While we’re doing active practice, we expect to feel stretching sensation. It’s part of the process. So stretching sensation in the hip flexors, along with low back extension, just feels normal in most poses. It’s usually not until we lie passively in Savasana that we actually feel our chronic hip flexor tightness—in the low back.

Savasana is most effective when we’re able to relax completely. If we’re feeling fidgety and uncomfortable our nervous systems will continue to feel agitated. We won’t feel the quiet sense of ease that is the hallmark of a deep Savasana. The good news is that relief is easy to find.

Stonehenge: Back Pain Relief in Savasana—And More

There are lots of ways to support the legs in Savasana. In Hugger Mugger’s blog, you’ll find lots of articles detailing options for bolstering the legs. These options involve using Standard, Round, Junior and Pranayama yoga bolsters, and combinations of these. I learned Stonehenge many years ago at a Restorative Yoga teacher training with Judith Hanson Lasater. Several of my students find that Stonehenge is the most effective way to find back pain relief in Savasana, and they set themselves up this way in every class.

Stonehenge has some characteristics of a very mild inversion. The pose can be a good substitute for poses such as Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall) or even Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) for people for whom full inversions are contraindicated. This includes people with unregulated high blood pressure, detached retina, heavy menstrual flow or glaucoma. So instead of simply setting these people up in the standard go-to, Balasana (Child’s Pose), set them up in Stonehenge, which will give them some of the benefits of inverting without the risks.

How to Set Up Stonehenge

1. Gather your props: a yoga mat, two 4-inch yoga blocks and a Standard Yoga Bolster. Don’t use 3-inch yoga blocks for this pose. They are more likely to tip over than the wider 4-inch blocks.
2. Set your blocks up, in their tallest dimension, on the foot end of your mat. Set them up so that they’re about hips-width apart. This width is important because of the blocks are too close together, the weight of your legs may cause the bolster to sag down on either side, which could destabilize the blocks. The same is true if the blocks are too far apart; the bolster may sag down in the middle. So you want the blocks to be right below your legs for the best support.
3. Lay your bolster widthwise on top of your blocks, so that it’s oriented crosswise on your mat.
4. Lie down on your mat with your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the floor. Bend your knees in toward your chest and then place your calves on the bolster. You may need to adjust your hips toward or away from the bolster to find your most comfortable position.
5. Relax and enjoy.

Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) is a staple in my morning yoga classes. Years ago, several of my students made up unflattering names for it—Cow Pie, Mad Cow, etc.—because it was so challenging for them. Now those same Cow Face naysayers have turned into Cow Face converts. Some of them even give up a bit of their Savasana (Relaxation Pose) to do it if I don’t offer it in class. The Cow Face arm position is another story, however. It can be quite a challenge, but with a yoga strap, anyone can reap the benefits.

Gomukhasana is quite complex. It’s classified as a hip-opening pose, as it stretches all the glutes—maximus, medius and minimus—as well as the piriformis and the tensor fasciae latae. My students—the ones who like it—find it very grounding, making it helpful a helpful pose toward the end of a practice. (Note that the photo that accompanies this blog shows only the arm position, not the leg position. You can find a description of the leg position in the above “Gomukhasana” link.)

Cow Face Pose Isn’t Just About the Hips

Cow Face Pose also opens the shoulders. The classic arm position features one elbow pointing upward and the other hand wedged behind your shoulder blades. Said to look like one raised and one lowered ear on a cow’s head, it creates a strong triceps stretch in the upper arm and a strong biceps and deltoid stretch in the lower one.

While the leg and arm positions are traditionally practiced together, they can also be beneficial on their own if you’re interested in putting more attention into either your hips or shoulders.

Why Use a Yoga Strap?

Today’s blog will focus on the shoulders. The traditional position calls for connecting the hands of your upper and lower arms in the upper back. But many people’s shoulders just won’t allow this. There are many possible reasons for this, including the construction of the shoulder joints. Some people’s shoulders are formed for stability. They may not be able to reach their elbow straight up toward the sky because their humerus bones will “hit” the back of the scapula before the arm gets to vertical. This particular shoulder configuration is not a sign that you’re a “deficient” yogi! It is well within what’s considered to be normal range of motion.

Others will find that when their dominant arm is the lower one, that their hands can’t touch, even though they may connect when the dominant arm is the upper one. This may be due to increased strength and stability in the dominant arm’s biceps and deltoids, although there could be other reasons.

In any case, a yoga strap can help. It can bridge the gap between your hands, creating a connection. Connecting the hands is important for energizing the arms in Gomukhasana. Whether you connect the fingers or use a yoga strap to connect your hands, your Gomukhasana will be more dynamic if you can connect your hands.

How to Use a Yoga Strap in Gomukhasana

If your hands don’t connect in Gomukhasana, try this:

1. Extend your left arm out in front of you, turning your palm outward, internally rotating your shoulder. Swing your arm around behind your back. Bend your elbow and place the back of your hand on your low back. Now scoot your the back of your hand up your back any amount—anywhere from the lower ribcage to between the shoulder blades.
2. Hold a yoga strap in your right hand. Dangle it over your back. Turn your right palm to face inward, toward your head. Bend your elbow and find the yoga strap with your left hand. Walk your right and left hands toward each other. If you’d like to add some extra energy to your shoulder experience, “stretch” the strap, pulling upward with your right hand and downward with your left.
3. Stay for five to ten deep breaths. Let go and let your arms relax. Take five to ten deep breaths before practicing your other side.

If you’d like to see more uses for Yoga Straps, as well as how to use Hugger Mugger’s other premium props, please visit the Yoga Props Guide.

Several years ago, as part of a teacher training I was co-teaching, I demonstrated the problems with squaring your hips in wide-legged standing poses to the trainees. As it turned out, the demonstration was very effective—much to my chagrin. Almost on cue, when I came up out of the pose, I felt a stabbing pain in the right side of my sacroiliac (SI) joint. I limped over to a wall space, and taught for the next 15 minutes from Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall), my favorite SI joint reset pose. The pose did its job. When I returned to an upright position, my SI joint felt just fine.

SI joint issues are some of the most common injuries related to yoga practice. There are several reasons for this. First, there’s the anatomically nonsensical “square your hips” instruction in standing poses that so many of us have learned and practiced for years. Then there’s the emphasis on “hip opening” in so many yoga classes. Of course, it’s a good idea to maintain hip joint flexibility, but practicing extreme hip-opening poses without balancing it with hip-strengthening poses can destabilize the SI joint. This can make it prone to injury.

What Is SI Joint Dysfunction?

The SI joint is a joint of “mobile stability.” This means that the joint needs to be stable in order to move force efficiently between the legs and the upper body. The joint needs only a tiny amount of mobility—1 to 3 mm—to make walking more easeful. When we force the pelvis into unnatural positions (re: squaring the hips in standing poses when one hip is flexed and the other is extended), over time, the joint destabilizes. Extreme hip opening also destabilizes the joint because the strong ligaments that hold the joint together become overstretched. Once they’re overstretched, they do not return to their original length. This makes it more difficult for the joint to stay aligned.

There are several ways the SI joint can misalign, causing that stabbing pain I experienced. Here’s a list:

• Anterior rotation of the ilium
• Posterior rotation of the ilium
• Flare (gapping) internally/externally of the ilium
• Rotation of the sacral body
• Superior or inferior slip of the ilium

All these issues grow out of conditions of instability, and most of them are due asymmetry in the joint. Legs-Up-the-Wall is an effective SI joint reset because it encourages the joint to return to symmetry.

How to Practice Viparita Karani for SI Joint Reset

1. Gather your props: Yoga Mat, Yoga Sandbag. You can practice this pose without the Yoga Sandbag, but in my experience, the extra weight is really helpful. If you have chronic or even occasional SI joint issues, a sandbag is a great investment.
2. Set your Yoga Mat up perpendicular to a wall. Have your sandbag close by. You might want to have a folded Yoga Blanket handy in case you’d like to place it under your head and neck for support.
3. Lie down on your mat and extend your legs up the wall, setting up as close to the wall as possible. It’s important that your SI joint be flat against the floor, with your spine in a neutral position. This means that your lumbar spine should be curving slightly away from the floor—not pressing down into the floor. If your lower spine is rounded, scoot away from the wall until your lumbar spine is no longer pressing into the floor.
4. Bend your knees, sliding your feet down the wall. Place the sandbag onto the soles of your feet. Then extend your legs back up the wall. Alternatively, if you have a friend or yoga teacher close by, ask them to place the sandbag atop the soles of your feet. Make sure the weight on your feet is even from left to right.
5. Relax here for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. When you’re ready to leave the pose, slide your feet down the wall. Remove the sandbag and set it aside. Gently draw your knees in toward your chest for a few breaths. Then roll onto your side and return to a seated pose. Take a few breaths in a seated pose, feeling into the hips and SI joint, noticing any changes.

Who doesn’t love a good spinal twist? For most people, rotating the spine feels refreshing.  With the exception of twisting to the right to look behind us while we back our cars up or change lanes, we don’t rotate our spines a lot in our daily lives. That could be why twisting feels so good. But twisting in yoga can be perilous for the SI joint if we don’t practice with both care and knowledge. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of not squaring the hips in standing poses. The same holds true for twisting.

Many years ago, I learned from a multitude of yoga teachers that keeping the hips squared in a seated twist helps rotate the lumbar spine. That would make sense if the lumbar spine was capable of rotating. The fact is, the facet joints come together in such a way that the lumbar spine is only capable of about 1 to 3 degrees of rotation. That’s about 2 to 4 millimeters. So when we try to force the lumbar spine to rotate, we can instead end up rotating the sacrum. This can lead to SI joint dysfunction.

How to Keep the SI Joint Safe in Seated Twists

If you are having symptoms of SI joint dysfunction, your best bet is to avoid twisting, at least until you start to feel better. But if your SI joint is feeling okay, try this tip for keeping the joint stable and healthy. The following example explains how to keep your SI joint safe in Parvrtta Sukhasana (Rotated Easy Seated Pose).

1. Sit in Sukhasana (Easy Pose) on a folded yoga blanket so that your hips are higher than your ankles.
2. Rotate your torso to the right. As you rotate, you will likely feel the right side of your pelvis wanting to scoot back as well. Instead of resisting this, let the right side of the pelvis scoot back. This keeps the twist in the thoracic spine, which is the part of the spine that is designed to twist.

Practicing simple twists in this way can help you avoid SI joint problems in the future. This adjustment can be applied to all seated twists.

It’s important to avoid twists where you’re levering with your arm when your SI joint is out of place or if your SI joint is prone to dysfunction. So you should practice any seated twist where you’re placing your elbow on the outside of an upright, bent knee with care. Instead of placing your elbow on the outside of your knee, simply hold the knee with your hand.

The tech age has brought with it several well-known maladies. I wrote about Text Neck and Text Claw way back in 2015. But I found out only recently about yet another physical byproduct of too much desk sitting with a rather dramatic name: Dead Butt Syndrome.

By now, you’ve probably heard the phrase “sitting is the new smoking.” Research has shown that sitting for long hours in front of a computer can cause a range of adverse health effects, and can even shorten our lives. Here’s what the Mayo Clinic has to say:

“Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and unhealthy cholesterol levels — that make up metabolic syndrome. Too much sitting overall and prolonged periods of sitting also seem to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.”

While the Mayo Clinic didn’t mention Dead Butt Syndrome, we can add that to the list.

What Causes Dead Butt Syndrome?

Dead Butt Syndrome, more delicately called “Gluteal Amnesia,” occurs when we habitually sit for long periods. Jobs that require lots of computer time, or simply living a sedentary lifestyle and eschewing exercise can be culprits.

When we sit for long periods, over time, our hip flexors shorten. This causes an anterior tilt in the pelvis that keep the glutes from being able to contract fully. Not only can this cause the glutes to go dormant, but it can also cause problems in the low back and legs.

Our glutes, including gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, work together to keep us upright. They’re key in propelling us forward when we walk or run. The glutes stabilize the pelvis and keep it aligned. These powerful muscles are the primary hip extenders. They, along with other muscles of the posterior chain, allow us to walk, climb stairs, pick things up off the floor (and rise back up to standing), carry heavy objects and stand on one leg. In a word, strong glutes are vital to everyday functioning.

How Do You Know if Your Glutes Have Gone Dormant?

Here are a few of the indications that you might be experiencing Dead Butt Syndrome:

• Tight hip flexors can cause difficulty in standing upright. This could result in low back pain and poor posture in general. If you find that your torso leans forward a bit, this could be the result of tight hip flexors.
• Dead Butt Syndrome can cause poor balance. When our glutes can’t contract, our whole bodies lose stability. If we’re chronically bent forward because of inactive glutes and tight hip flexors, our skeletons can’t align properly, which can throw our balance off.
• Inactive glutes might cause you to feel weakness in your lower body during exercise such as yoga, hiking, walking, running or bicycling. You might feel as if your glutes don’t engage when you try to contract them during yoga or other exercise.
• Over time, you may begin to experience knee or foot pain because of the misalignment of your skeleton.
• You may be more prone to issues such as patellofemoral syndrome, iliotibial (IT) band syndrome, piriformis syndrome and herniated discs.

How Can Yoga Help Reawaken Your Glutes?

The good news is that Dead Butt Syndrome does not have to be our permanent state. With targeted exercise, we can reactivate our glutes, often within a few months. There are lots of yoga poses that strengthen the glutes and/or stretch the hip flexors. In addition to strengthening, stretching the glutes to facilitate blood flow is also a good idea.

While the poses below are not the only ones that can help wake up your glutes, they’re all easily accessible to yoga practitioners of all body types and experience levels. Once you’ve practiced these for a while, see if you can come up with more poses that activate your glutes.

6 Yoga Poses for Dead Butt Syndrome

Parsva Balasana (Bird Dog Pose with Variation)

Parsva Balasana stabilizes the core (front and back), promotes balance and activates the glutes. This post describes the basic version of the pose.

If you’d like to juice it up a bit, loop a resistance band around the insteps of both feet. Stretch your right leg back, then return to hands and knees, keeping both hands on the floor, and keeping your torso stable. Repeat this action 10 to 15 times, then switch to the left leg. You’ll want to start with a light band and progress to the next level of resistance band when the exercise starts to feel too easy.

Anjaneyasana (Crescent Lunge Pose)

In order to be able to contract the glutes completely, the hip flexors must be able to lengthen. Lunge poses stretch the quadriceps and hip flexors. There are other poses that can help you stretch your hip flexors, such as Supta Ardha Virasana (Reclining Half Hero’s Pose). But Crescent Lunge is easier on the knees, since your back knee is not hyperflexed in the pose. While you’re in the pose, engage the glutes of your back leg. Take 5 to 10 deep breaths on each side.

Virabhadrasana I & II (Warrior I & II Poses)

Warrior I & II are similar to Crescent Lunge in that they stretch the hip flexors. They also give you the opportunity to actively engage the glutes of your back leg. I find this glute action to be particularly helpful in Virabhadrasana II.

Salabhasana (Locust Pose)

Baby Backbends are some of the most powerful poses for strengthening the back body, including the glutes. When you practice Locust Pose and its variations, the muscles in your back body are the sole drivers of the action. In poses such as Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose), the support of your arms takes some of the work out of the back. But in the Salabhasana, your back muscles, including the glutes, are doing all the work. The variations where you lift your legs are the most powerful glute activators.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)

Bridge Pose, like Locust Pose and many other backbends, activates the back body muscles. You can increase the butt-busting benefits by practicing with a 10-pound Yoga Sandbag placed across your hip joints. You can either stay in the pose for 5 to 10 deep breaths, or do 10 to 15 repetitions, moving relatively slowly in and out of the pose.

Supta Ardha Padmasana (Reclining Half Lotus Pose)

After practicing engaging the glutes, it’s important to stretch them out as well. This will help increase blood flow to the muscles. Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) is one of the most effective poses for stretching the hip rotators and extenders. But Cow Face Pose can be tricky for some people’s knees. Reclining Half Lotus Pose is a more accessible option. You can always practice both poses, of course. But practice Reclining Half Lotus Pose first, to prepare your hips for Gomukhasana.

Wrapping It Up

The poses above are some of the most effective poses I know to counteract Dead Butt Syndrome, but there are plenty more in the yoga canon. Also, the poses listed above don’t include any twists or lateral bends. Be sure to sprinkle some of these movements into your practice so that you address all the different ways your spine can move out of its neutral position.

Then, just as important, take time to practice Savasana (Corpse Pose) after you practice. This will help you integrate the work you’ve done.

The last few weeks, I’ve shared posts on this blog about the sacroiliac (SI) joint, a part of human—particularly female—anatomy that tends toward injury in yoga practice. This post introduces the joint, and this one explains how to work with one of the problematic alignment cues that can contribute to SI joint dysfunction.

Today’s post will address one of yoga’s most persistent, and potentially damaging, alignment cues: squaring the hips. I first heard this instruction in the 1980s, in numerous Iyengar-based classes and workshops. Back then, squaring the hips in asymmetrical standing poses such as Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) was thought to be healthy alignment.

But the fact is, it’s unlikely that anyone’s hip joints are designed to do this. When you try to square the hips in asymmetrical standing poses, something has to give. That “something” could be the knee and/or the hip joint of the front leg. And then there’s the SI joint. When you try to square the hips in standing poses, one side of the SI joint jams together and the other stretches open. This puts asymmetrical force on the joint that can destabilize it over time. (Remember that for the SI joint to function properly, it has to be stable.)

How Not to Square the Hips in Standing Poses

Because every person’s hip joints are different, there’s no one-size-fits-all cue for the perfect pelvic angle. In the same way that untucking the tailbone looks different for different people, the rotation of the pelvis will look different for different people. So you have to develop internal cues.

Warrior II is the pose where I discovered the importance of rotating my pelvis. For many years I hated the pose because my front leg would quickly get fatigued and become shaky and unstable. This is because all my weight was dumping onto the front leg. While on a 30-day silent meditation retreat in the ’90s, I began experimenting with my pelvic position while in Warrior II. When I allowed my pelvis to rotate inward, suddenly my back leg clicked in and began to give support. Then my front leg no longer had to do all the work. I found that I could hang out in Warrior II for minutes at a time and not feel tired. It was a revelation. From then on, I’ve practiced all standing poses this way. Not only has it made my standing poses much stronger, but it has also helped alleviate chronic SI joint pain.

An SI Joint-Friendly (Warrior II)

Here’s how I instruct finding the optimal pelvic rotation. I’ll use Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II Pose) as an example.

1. Stand on a nonskid yoga mat with your feet wide apart—2 to 3 feet—and parallel. Place your hands on your pelvic rim.
2. Turn your entire right leg—your foot, shin, knee and thigh—outward 90 degrees, so that your foot is pointing toward the end of your mat.
3. Turn your entire left leg—your foot, shin, knee and thigh—inward about 30 degrees. Feel how your back foot is grounding.
4. Actively try to ground your back foot. Now slowly rotate the left side of your pelvis inward, until you feel the back foot rooting more firmly into your mat. This is likely to be your optimal pelvic rotation.
5. Another inner reference that works for some people is to rotate the pelvis until they feel both heels aligning with their respective ischial tuberosities (sit bones).
6. Extend your arms outward from your shoulders so that they are parallel to the floor.
7. Now ground your back foot as you bend your front knee, tracking it out over your front foot. If your pelvis is in its optimal rotation, you will feel your weight evenly distributed between the right and left feet. If your pelvis is not in its optimal rotation, you will likely feel most of your weight on your front foot. Feel free to explore your pelvic rotation while you’re in Warrior II to find the rotation that allows your feet to easily support your weight evenly.
8. Take 5 to 10 deep breaths in the pose.
9. Ground your left foot and push with your right to straighten your knee. Turn your feet to parallel and rest for a few breaths.
10. Move to the other side.

If you’re interested in learning more about your hips and SI joint, check out my most recent book, Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain.

I recently wrote a post on the widespread problem of sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction among yoga practitioners. In the post, I outlined several of the causes I’ve observed over more than 40 years of teaching and practicing yoga asana. In today’s post, we’ll explore how to prevent the first of these causes of SI joint problems.

There could well be more reasons why SI joint dysfunction is common among yoga practitioners that I haven’t yet encountered. (I welcome your thoughts if you’ve experienced SI joint pain from a movement other than the ones I list below.) And there are certainly other things we do in our daily lives that may cause problems. For example, actions such as improper lifting, shoveling snow and traumatic injuries can destabilize the joint. But there are specific actions we practice regularly in yoga that can cause SI joint dysfunction.

Here are the ones I’ve identified so far:

• Tucking the tailbone
• Squaring the hips in asymmetrical standing poses such as Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) and the Warrior poses, and in twists
• Too much focus on hip opening

Healthy SI Joint Practice

Untucking the Tailbone: The hip system is made up of three joints—the hip joints, the SI joint and the pubic symphysis. The position of each of these joints affects the integrity of the others. (The pubic symphysis is immobile except during birth, so I’m going to focus on the other two here.)

For the sacrum to seat securely in the ilium, it should sit at approximately a 30-degree angle so that the top tilts forward. This means that the pelvic rim needs to tilt forward with the tailbone pointing back. When the sacrum is seated in the joint, the SI joint can perform its main function of transferring force from the legs to the upper body and vice versa. When we tuck the tailbone, we lose that connection. In addition, over time, tucking the tailbone can destabilize the joint as the ligaments that hold the joint together are overstretched.

The sacral/pelvic position has important implications for the SI joint and for the hip joints, as well as the spine and the knees. When we tuck the tailbone, the heads of the femurs push up against the anterior rims of the hip sockets. This can wear down the cartilage and labrum of the hip joints over time. In addition, when we tuck the tailbone and push the thighbones forward, the knees hyperextend. Finally, tucking the tailbone straightens out the lumbar curve.

How to Determine Your SI Joint Position

The most reliable way to know whether your pelvis, and therefore your SI joint, is in a neutral position is to develop an inner reference for what proper positioning feels like. An outside observer, such as a yoga teacher, can’t necessarily judge your position simply by looking at it. This is because the shape of individual sacrum bones is highly variable. Sacrum bones can be wide or narrow, triangular or relatively straight sided, and the profile of the bone may be curved or straight. So for example, someone with a curvy sacrum may look as if she is tilting the sacrum forward but may, in fact, be tucking the tailbone. Here’s an exploration to try:

1. Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) with your feet hips-width apart.
2. Place your fingertips at the top of your thighs, at the hip crease.
3. Tuck your tailbone and palpate the tissue at the hip crease. Note how this tissue feels. It will likely feel taut and hard.
4. Begin to draw the heads of the thighbones back, guiding them gently with your fingertips. You will likely feel as if you’re sticking your butt out.
5. Now palpate the tissue. If your pelvis is in a neutral position, you will feel a bit of end spring in the tissues at the hip crease. If you tilt too far forward, the tissues will feel slack. So when the tissues feel not too tight, or not too loose, you’re probably in the ballpark.

Wag Your Tail for Happy Hips

Another way of determining your sacral position is to check to see if you can “wag your tail,” moving your buttocks side to side.

1. First, stand in Tadasana and tuck your tailbone. Try to wag your tail. Your pelvis will likely stay stationery and your upper body will move side to side.
2. Then tilt your pelvic rim forward to the point where the tissues in the hip crease feel springy but not slack. Now try to wag your tail. If you can wag your pelvis from side to side, your pelvis is likely in neutral and your sacrum can sit securely in the joint.

Stay tuned for the next in my SI joint series, where I’ll discuss why not to square your hips in asymmetrical standing poses.

If you’re interested in more detailed info about the hips and SI joints, read my most recent book: Hip-Healthy Asana: A Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain. The book includes an effective method for teachers to test pelvic position with their students.

Have you ever felt a pinching sensation in your pelvis, a few inches below your waist? If so, you’re not alone. From my experience, and that of a couple internationally touring teachers I know, pain in the sacroiliac, a.k.a. SI joint is one of the most common complaints of yoga practitioners of all experience levels.

The SI joint is the meeting place between the sacrum and the ilium. The sacrum is a triangular-shaped bone that extends off the lumbar spine and ends in the coccyx (tailbone). In other words, it’s the lowest portion of your spine. The two sides pelvic bones make up the ilia. Where the sacrum and ilia meet in the ilia is the SI joint.

The SI Joint: Mobile Stability

Donna Farhi calls the SI joint a joint of “mobile stability.” What this means is that while it does have some mobility—about 1 to 3 millimeters of movement capability—its primary function is stability. The SI joint is the hub for the transmission of force from the lower to the upper body and the upper to the lower body. In order for force to move through the joint smoothly, the joint must be in integrity. This means that the sacrum must be firmly seated in the ilium for maximum stability.

3 Yoga Practices that May Contribute to SI Joint Dysfunction

What can cause the SI joint to lose integrity? Here are a few things I’ve learned over the decades of teaching yoga, and experiencing my own chronic SI joint pain:

Tucking the Tailbone

The sacrum seats firmly into the ilium when it is tilted forward at approximately a 30-degree angle. When we tuck the tailbone, the sacrum moves into a more vertical position, which causes the sacrum to lose its firm contact.

Squaring the Hips

The outdated, but persistent, instruction to square the hips in asymmetrical standing poses such as Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) or the Warrior poses is one of yoga’s most potent SI joint destabilizers. No one’s hips are designed to do this. When you try to square the hips in asymmetrical standing poses, something has to give—the knees, the hip joints and/or the SI joint. Variations in the placement, depth and orientation of individual hip sockets makes this instruction even more fraught, particularly if you or your students have hip joints that do not externally rotate easily.

Too Much Focus on Hip Opening

Modern yoga seems to fetishize hip hypermobility. If you think about it, the hips—which include the hip joints, SI joints and pubic symphysis—need to be stable above all. They are supporting the weight of our bodies as we move through our lives. Too much flexibility destabilizes the joints by over stretching the ligaments.

Ligaments do not have the blood supply and therefore, the “memory” that muscle tissue has. In other words, when we over stretch ligaments, they do not recover their original length; they stay overstretched. Then the muscles have to kick in to do the job of stabilizing the joint, which actually causes them to tighten. Here’s one piece of advice that could help everyone preserve their SI joints: Disabuse yourself of the idea that putting your ankle behind your head is a good thing. There’s no reason ever to do this. This pose destabilizes the hip joints and the SI joints and can wear down the cartilage in your hip joints. Even if it feels fine while you’re doing it, don’t!

So, in this post, I’ve outlined some yoga practices that might contribute to SI joint dysfunction. In coming posts, I’ll offer some ways to practice asana to help alleviate the pain from SI joint dysfunction and ways to prevent further injury.

Many years ago, my mother fell and broke her hip. Or maybe her hip broke and she fell as a result. Sometimes it’s impossible to know which is the chicken and which is the egg. At any rate, the fall was almost the end of her.

Long story short, after a stint in the hospital, she was progressing well in rehab. A day before she was to go back home, she went into kidney failure. Apparently, the combination of multiple medications was too much. Her caregivers stopped her medication completely and she slowly recovered. But the incident made me understand why it’s often said that falls can be the beginning of the end for older people.

More than 800,000 people are hospitalized each year for injuries stemming from falls. One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or traumatic head injury. In fact, falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury. Here are some more stats on falls and their sometimes-catastrophic effects.

What is Balance and Why is it Important?

Put simply, balance is our ability to recognize our position relative to the objects around us, including the surface on which we’re standing or walking. A good sense of balance allows us to perform our daily tasks with a sense of stability and ease. For example, something as common as walking down the street and turning your head to talk to a friend requires a healthy sense of balance. Without balance, simple activities become not only challenging, but can even be dangerous.

As we age, some of the factors that contribute to good balance can begin to decrease. Eyesight can dim. Inner ear problems can disrupt the vestibular system. Neuropathy can decrease proprioception.

External causes such as slippery or uneven surfaces, intoxication or illness can cause falls. But they can also happen because of a lack of attention or underdeveloped proprioception. The good news is, yoga can help. Many asanas are specifically designed to improve balance. And the centering of our minds on our bodies sharpens mindfulness, so that we’re more apt to recognize subtler signs of imbalance in our bodies before we fall.

There are many yoga poses that support balance. All the standing poses—think Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Virabhadrasana I and II (Warrior I and II), etc.—can help strengthen our legs and cultivate balance. And of course, the one-legged standing poses such as Vrksasana (Tree Pose) are balancing poses.

It’s important to challenge our balance in different ways. While we often think of standing balance poses when we’re hoping to cultivate proprioception, balancing in different orientations is also important. That’s why I’ve several types of balancing poses in the examples below.

Most important is to remember that balancing, like all asana, is a practice, not a performance. Meet your body where it is. For example, if you need to stand close to a wall in a standing balance pose, please do so. Even with that little bit of extra support, you’re still developing the skill of balancing.

5 Balancing Poses

1. Foot Massage: Giving attention to our feet, massaging them, exercising our toes, etc., keeps them healthy and responsive to whatever surface we’re negotiating. Start your practice with these simple exercises. But you needn’t limit it to your on-the-mat practice. You can also practice these while you’re sitting around watching TV or anytime you have a spare moment. One longtime student of mine who had never been able to balance on one leg practiced these daily for about nine months and was able to balance for the first time in her life! At the time she was in her 70s.
2. Vrksasana (Tree Pose): There are, of course, lots of standing poses you can practice to hone your balance. Follow the instructions in this post. It’s helpful to remember that even when you’re feeling shaky in your balance poses, you’re still learning the skill of balancing. When you’re flailing around trying not to fall in Tree Pose, you’re actually developing proprioception. So don’t feel discouraged. Remember, this is a practice, not a performance!
3. Parsva Balasana (Bird Dog Pose): As I explained above, it’s important to challenge our balance in different ways. Bird Dog Pose is a core strengthener and a balance pose. Because it strengthens the core—front, back and internal—it stabilizes us to increase balance. But the act of “standing” on one knee and one arm also develops proprioception. In addition, balancing with your head in a position other than upright helps stimulate your vestibular system. Read these instructions to help you refine your practice.
4. Ubhaya Padangusthasana (Both Hands and Big Toes Pose): This pose offers an opportunity to balance in yet another way—on your rear. Practicing this asana in its most common form, with the arms and legs straight, can be challenging if your hamstrings and calves are on the tighter side. Feel free to bend your knees and hold onto the backs of your thighs instead of holding your feet. This post can give you some pointers on practicing safely.
5. Savasana (Corpse Pose): Years ago I attended an early morning class that was only an hour long. The teachers reasoned that with such a short class, they didn’t need to include Savasana. While I enjoyed their teaching in the other asanas, the Savasana-free class always made me feel scattered and ungrounded. In retrospect, I can see that this is a recipe for moving through the rest of the day without a sense of balance. Savasana is, in fact one of yoga’s best balancing poses. It balances your body-mind at a deeper level than simply balancing on one leg. Give yourself 10 minutes if your practice is an hour or less, and 15 minutes or more if it’s longer.

Of course there are many more balancing poses than the five examples I’ve given. Inversions are great, and as I wrote above, all the wide-stance standing poses are helpful. The most important factor is the attention you bring to your body as you practice. Keep your focus inside your body, on the sensations you feel. Remember that frantic, shallow breathing creates agitation—not a great recipe for balancing. Make sure your breathing is continuous, deep and calm.