A yoga teacher with chronic sacroiliac joint problems reached out to ask this great question about screening the sacroiliac joint.
Question:
When you have rotation in the sacroiliac joint, what poses can you do?
Answer:
There are many ways to answer this question, but none of them will be accurate unless you have a thorough physical examination of the sacroiliac joint, which includes the pelvic girdle. The reason why is – there are 8 different ways the sacroiliac joint can rotate (see below).
BUT, the easier answer to this question is to learn to screen your own sacroiliac joint in yoga postures.
The two links below will provide you with most all the information you need to get started on treating the sacroiliac joint more kindly in asana practice. They provide more than a book chapter’s worth of information on the sacroiliac joint.
Part I – Protecting the Sacroiliac Joint in Yoga
Part II – Protecting the Sacroiliac Joint in Yoga (Two Bonus Gifts: Free 40 Page E-Book Download & Free SIJ Quick Start Reference Guide)
Kickstart your Way to a Happy Sacroiliac Joint with Locust Pose & Forward Seated Bend
I want to give you a “down and dirty” way to screen your own sacroiliac joint. And, what to do to protect it and make the muscles around it happier and stronger. So the Pose of the Week is TWO POSTURES: Locust Pose and Forward Seated Bend! It’s a two-for-one! The quick reason for this is there are 2 main directions of dysfunction in the sacroiliac joint:
- Flexion Based Disorders
- Extension Based Disorders
Pretty simple huh? But the rest of sacroiliac joint mechanics are FAR from simple. After 25 years of studying the sacroiliac joint, I still feel like I have a LOT to learn! After watching the video below, I REALLY encourage you to read and DOWNLOAD my FREE E-BOOK and Quick Start Reference Guide below.
Part I – Protecting the Sacroiliac Joint in Yoga
Part II – Protecting the Sacroiliac Joint in Yoga (Two Bonus Gifts: Free 40 Page E-Book Download & Free SIJ Quick Start Reference Guide)
TIP: Don’t let those 2 posts scare you. They may be full on information but just take little bits at a time, and at any time you have questions, simply post them in the comments or even better, reach out to me below:
DO in Locust Pose & Forward Seated Bend for the Sacroiliac Joint
✅ Do give the spine priority by putting the pelvis in spinal neutral BEFORE entering into the pose. That’s the most COMMON error is starting out in pain and then expecting the pose to make the pain go away. If pain gets worse in a pose, it’s likely that something about your alignment was not quite right before entering into the pose. You can’t build a house on twisted or crooked foundation.
This means have someone look at these two poses BEFORE you go into them, so they can evaluate the position of the sacroiliac joint. If it is already rotated AND you are in pain, then we need to STOP, THINK, THEN DO. This means I assess the joint, find spinal neutral, work on changing how the person fires their core muscles by learning the Locks System first, which helps optimize length/tension relationship and loading through the sacroiliac joint (and the entire pelvic girdle and core). See the Locks Video below to practice this first.
✅ Avoid Triplanar postures like Triangle Pose, which are more complex if you have sacroiliac rotation (and especially torsion). You need to work simple single-plane postures first, like Locust and Forward Seated Bend. Read my blog on Triangle Pose. Once you master these poses, then move to Triangle Pose in the MTY Method.
✅ Master TATD breath first to fully support all asana/postures. This will teach you how to transfer load from the upper to lower body and vice versa, and it will minimize stress on the spine, sacroiliac joint, and the pelvic girdle.
✅ Exhale into the pose and move more slowly and with less range of motion than usual. Hold each pose for several breaths, making sure you are using enough of your Locks to support the pose but not create rigidity. The point of these two poses are to screen for and help gently align sacroiliac joint so it has minimal rotation (and therefore you have less pain).
✅ Let pain be your teacher. No pose should ever cause sacroiliac joint pain. If they do, I can assure you that someone taught you how to do the pose in a way that does NOT fit your body. This isn’t your fault. But the problem is correctable!
DO NOTS in Locus Pose & Forward Seated Bend for the Sacroiliac Joint
❎ Do not move quickly into the pose or you’ll miss the RED FLAGS for screening and alignment.
❎ Do not chest breathe. Poses should be supported by TATD breath unless they are being done in a restorative way for relaxation purposes only. But for anyone with pre-existing sacroiliac joint, TATD breath will optimize posture support and load transfer. The expansion of the belly during inhalation shifts to the back and sides of the rib cage in TATD breath. Whereas in simple A-D (abdominal) breath, expansion solely takes place in the belly area during the inhalation.
❎ Do not bother twisting in poses until the sacroiliac joint rotation is resolved; UNLESS it is a pose like Threading the Needle, which unweights the spine and sacroiliac joint. This pose can often be pain free in someone with sacroiliac joint dysfunction, whereas upright twisting causes pain.
❎ Just because you think you have a rotated sacroiliac joint doesn’t mean you have dysfunction. No one will have a symmetrical pelvis or sacroiliac joint. That means you can be pain free and have a rotated sacroiliac joint. In this case, no problem – don’t fix what isn’t broken. The only reason I will consider a sacroiliac joint dysfunctional is when it causes pain, OR if the rotation on one side is creating FALSE HIP IMPINGEMENT. This must be ruled out in someone with hip pain.
So the take-home message is simple: don’t ever let a healthcare provider create fear of movement by telling you that you have sacroiliac joint dysfunction when you don’t have pain. True sacroiliac joint dysfunction exists only in the presence of pain. And the people at highest risk for actual sacroiliac joint dysfunction are women who are hypermobile, pregnant, or have a history of joint instability.
Screening the Sacroiliac Joint
Some final tips for safe performance if you suspect you or a student or patient may have sacroiliac joint dysfunction:
???? Don’t use the Sloppy Stabilizers aka “Beach Muscles” to support your pose – MOST of the problems in asana/posture practice come from not building the foundation of the pose correctly. In other words, the pose ends up being supported by accessory muscles, aka beach muscles, the superficial muscles that look great on the beach but provide very little core stability. SLOPPY STABILIZERS often include the psoas, paraspinals, rectus abdominis, external obliques, and sometimes even the gluteus maximus, especially when the sacroiliac joint is involved.
???? Alignment is LESS about how a pose looks and MORE about how it fits your pelvic girdle and what muscles are (or aren’t) supporting it. If you are reading this pose as a teacher or someone who loves yoga but yoga has created pain for you, then please make sure you are working with someone who has advanced training and knowledge in neuromuscular re-education.
???? Don’t let the SNARKY PSOAS drive the bus. See the video to learn what I mean.
???? Don’t LOAF THE RECTUS abdominis (RA) muscle. When you do this in either pose, the paraspinals aren’t far behind, along with the psoas mentioned above. The SURE FIRE sign someone is making their sacroiliac joint pain WORSE with asana is when these muscles fire early and often (RA, GMAX, paraspinals, and psoas); and the deeper ones shut down and go to lunch early (meaning they don’t fire well or at all).
The Locks and Scaffolding Video are SNEAK PEEKS from the Premium MTY Video Library. If you’d like to have exclusive, lifetime access to all MTY Videos in one location, click here.
Note: Assessment and evaluation of the hip joint should be done by a licensed healthcare provider, preferably a physical therapist or orthopaedist.
PS Here are 3 more ways I can help you!
1. Free Phone Consult – Not sure if your yoga practice is on target? I offer free phone consults on a weekly basis to see how I can best help.
2. Take courses with me at Living Well Institute and Yoga U Online!
3. Take advantage of the Free Medical Therapeutic Yoga Basic Video Library.
DISCLAIMER: YOU CAN DO ANY YOGA POSE however you feel is best for you. However, these poses are for protection and preservation, as well as maximizing, pelvic girdle function (hip, SIJ, low back, pelvic floor). This and any other videos I instruct do not constitute physical therapy or a patient-provider relationship. User assumes risk in performing this or any video. Please get the approval of your healthcare provider before doing this or any instructional movement video.