5/8/2017 Ashtanga Mysore Practice Journal

Oh No...I have Lateral Pelvic Tilt!!!

I had to take it easy today. My lower back was in pain (L1, L2). It hurt in spinal flexion (forward bend) as well as extension (back bend). I had no idea what happened. For that reason, I only practiced the Primary Series this morning and skipped the Second Series (mostly back bend).
 
Besides dealing with the back pain, I also tried to "correct" my lateral pelvic tilt. I noticed my left hip was higher than the right in Prasarita Padottanasana last Friday. I remembered the chiropractor told me once that I was lopsided (right leg was shorter than left), which must be related to the pelvic tilt. In addition, the Chinese Doctor mentioned my pelvis was tilted last year, which was the cause of my left lower back pain. Over the past 6 months, I thought the problem was fixed (because my back pain went away), but I was too optimistic. It started to hurt again and this time was both sides, not just the left. Time to take a closer look  of my pelvis in the practice.

This picture was taken by my friend last Friday during my practice. I was surprised to see how my right hip was lower than the right.

 I mentioned on the 5/1 Practice Journal that my body was not symmetrical. It was more noticeable in some asanas than others. For stronger / better side, I tried to back off from my maximum range of motion in the pose to match the weaker side instead of pushing the weaker side to catch up. Playing catch-up would never succeed because the strong side would continue getting better. Of course, the weak side would improve too, but there was always a gap to between the two sides. I knew my Adho Mukha Svanasana was also crooked. I leaned toward the right side more than the left. I had to press the left hand down to the ground more than I normally did to bring myself to a neutral position. Virabhadrasana I and Trikonasana were the other two poses that I could feel the difference between sides too.  I didn’t have a chance to discuss the problem with my teacher today, but I will do so next time. I want her to spot me in Prasarita Padottanasana to check whether my pelvis is leveled. This is at least a start to correct the lateral pelvic tilt.
​
I was googling for exercises to correct lateral pelvic tilt. I will start incorporating those movements in my daily routine. My biggest problem is from sitting in front of the desk for ~8 hours a day in a horrible posture. I really have to correct my bad habit and to improve overall body alignment.