YOGA TWISTS A CAUTIONARY TALE:
Yoga instructors, myself included, love twists. As a physical therapist I know twists, also known as trunk rotation, are important and foundational for functional movement. However too much and done the wrong way that rotation can aggravate or create low back and SIJ (sacroiliac joint) pain and dysfunction. When you find that sweet spot between too much and not enough and twists can be a beautiful part of most anyone’s practice.
Why Does Pain and Injury Occur?
No surprise, but lot of yoga asana was created for men, and male and female pelvises are not created equally. A women’s pelvis is designed to carry and birth a baby. A women’s pelvis is wider, less even, with less curve, and the ligaments are designed to be less stable so baby heads can make it through the birth canal. These differences, make women more prone to SIJ stress, strains, and injury then men.
Top 4 Poses that Require Caution
Seated Twist
Supine Twist
Chair Twist
Lunge Twists
How to Help Protect Yourself from Injury
Find Length in your Spine First: your spine should grow taller with your twist, so think about the crown of the head spiraling towards the sky as you rotate. If you find yourself collapsing on your twist you are probably taking it too far.
Follow Your Breath: following your exhale and gently activate your core; this activation over passive movement allows you to twist safely, protecting your pelvis and spine from going too far. Additionally, staying true to a full deep breath helps ensure you are not straining. If you find yourself with a shallow breath or even holding your breath you have probably overdone your twist.
Don’t Over Do It: Not including your neck, your spine only has about 30* of twisting range of motion in each direction, anything more than that is coming from someplace else. Some twists encourage you to lead with your hips for extra mobility, but avoid pulling or overusing your arms for more leverage and be mindful if you have a history of SIJ pain.
Meet Yourself Where You Are. Everybody is different, and what feels good to me might feel bad to you and that has to do with everyone’s individual anatomy and practice. Also, what might have been easy and comfortable one day may not be the next, so stay in the present moment.
Twists are Not All Bad
In yoga twists are thought to be digestion and cleansing because you are essentially “wringing out” your abdominal cavity putting more pressure on organs to squeeze everything, for just a few moments, allowing fresh circulation when you unwind.
Rotation is the foundation of functional mature movement; without it we would have horrible balance and all walk around like robots.
Dear Pregnant & Post-Partum Mama’s
Pregnant Mama’s: remember a little twist can go a long way, your ligaments are loose (including in the spine and pelvis) don’t over-lengthen what is already on slack, and as you progress in trimesters you are going to have less twisting available because of that growing peanut is holding space.
Post-Partum Mama’s: your ligaments are still full of extra relaxin, for up to a year, making previously stable joints less stable and you have more available movement now that your little person has arrived, so be careful and listen to this new and temporary version of your body.
Good news for this cautionary tale, like most things in life, twists are good in moderation and with mindful intention. So, twist away…safely.
With Luck, Love & Light! Xo Rachel