Anatomy and Asana:
I love Anatomy Ezine
Principles of anatomy for your yoga practice.
Easy to understand. Simple to apply.
By Susi Hately Aldous, Founder
Functional Synergy and Anatomy and Asana
feeling the flow of body, mind and soul
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The Pelvic Floor and Back Pain
This isn't the first time I have written about the pelvic floor. For all it supports, stabilizes, accentuates, and encourages, I am deeply grateful for the pelvic floor. A powerful and peaceful place, we must help it remain strong yet open, supple yet firm.
The pelvic floor connects to so much in our bodies. Basically it supports and stabilizes the pelvis, cultivating pelvic stability and happy sacroiliac joints; it assists the hip rotators in supporting the head of the femur in the acetabulum; and it connects with the hip adductors and co-contracts with the transversus abdominis and multifidi to cultivate deep core stability. It works closely with the respiratory diaphragm to facilitate full-body breathing, and when connecting consciously with honed awareness, it has even been connected with the big toes and heels to encourage and cultivate mula bandha.
Each of these connections is vitally important for the health of the back. Knowing how to feel for and then engage the pelvic floor is part of the puzzle in successfully overcoming an episode of back pain. But, wait . . . there is more. . . .
There is also a kinesthetic sense, a sense of spatial awareness, and a depth of vitality that resides in this relatively small diamond shape of myofascia. And it can all be lost if it is held too tightly or too rigidly - as if the sweet nectar is all but squeezed out, leaving frailty, brittleness, and very little fluidity.
Ahh, there is so much magic in this area . . . magic, vitality, ease, power . . . all necessary for a fluid sense of back strength and stability.
Let's look deeper.
When someone has had even one episode of back pain, the transversus abdominis turns off. In order to recuperate, this someone needs to re-teach the transversus abdominis how to fire and engage. Following this logic, in order for the transversus abdominis to re-learn how to work, it must work in unison with the pelvic floor.
Oftentimes when people are re-learning how to engage the transversus abdominis, they pull their navels to the spine, or they flatten the lower back as they pull their bellies in, or they pelvic tuck or tilt in what they think is abdominal engagement. The problem is that these actions can put immense pressure on the bladder, causing increased pressure around the spinal discs (which, if disc issues are present, can create pain) and creating an inadequate environment for pelvic floor engagement. As a result, instead of the pelvic floor being engaged, the hamstrings can become engaged and the gluteal muscles can become overly toned, which can create all sorts of funkiness including hamstring cramping and back spasming.
So what to do?
First: awareness of the pelvic floor is the place to start. Begin by just becoming aware of the pelvic floor. Bring your mind's eye to the muscles and orifices of the pelvic floor between the pubic bone, sitting bones, and coccyx. You may even feel a sense of subtle energy swirling or building as your attention rests here.
Second: breathe. As you breathe, can you feel the pelvic floor movement working with the respiratory diaphragm? Can you feel each orifice? Can you feel the natural spreading and release as you breathe?
For this month, I am going to leave you here. Next month we'll get into other pelvic floor awareness exercises as they relate to the back. In the meantime, continue to cultivate your awareness in this area.
However . . . if right you are keen for more, and you can't wait until next month, you can listen to a recent teleclass - Is Core Training Leading to Injuries? To purchase this recording, visit the Functional Synergy e-store.
Wishing you strength, stillness, support, and suppleness.
Happy exploring,
Susi
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