Yoga for a Healthy Lower Back (17 page)

Illustration 11. The Svadhisthana and Manipura Chakras

Nadis: Rivers of Inner Energy

I mentioned earlier that the psoas muscles are like channels of muscular support that run the length of your middle and lower body. Yogic philosophy teaches that you also have channels, or rivers, of energy, called
nadis
in Sanskrit, which run throughout your body. The network of nadis is a complex three-dimensional web that carries prana to every part of your body. According to yogic texts, there are at least 72,000 of these rivers of energy flowing through your body.
⁴
The three largest nadis are called, in Sanskrit,
Ida, Pingala,
and
Sushumna,
and each is part of the energetic story of your sacrum (
illustration 12
).

Let's start with the Sushumna, which is considered to be the major channel of subtle energy in the body. It begins at the Muladhara (root) chakra and runs up through your spine all the way to the Sahasrara chakra at the crown of your head

In yogic mythology, you may remember from chapter 2, the source of the body's subtle energy is called Kundalini, which means “coiled one.” Kundalini is often depicted in the form of a serpent-like goddess, who sleeps coiled up in her resting place in the Muladhara chakra. One of the goals of yoga practice is to awaken the power of Kundalini energy. This energy, once activated, courses through all of the chakras, and as it passes through each one, it energizes that area of the body, clearing a path for subtle energy to flow upward through the Sushumna into the crown chakra, where we ultimately realize our unity with the cosmos and experience self-realization.

The flow of Kundalini-fueled prana through a nadi like the Sushumna can be palpable to a yoga practitioner. If you've practiced yoga and felt that the poses and breathing exercises have awakened something deep inside you, leaving yoiu feeling energized, balanced, and self-reflective, you may have purified and cleansed your nadis and allowed fresh energy to flow freely through them.

When you lie down to rest in deep relaxation at the end of a yoga class, you may become aware of a cyclical flow of energy through the Sushumna. This flow starts at your sacrum, moves up your spine into your head, and then goes back down to your sacrum, repeating itself over and over. The flow is continuous, like the ever-present motion of ocean waves or a rhythmic pulse. Being aware of the flow of prana through the Sushumna is a peaceful, joyful experience. It is a feeling that all the parts of yourself have come together in a feeling of unity and are intimately and inextricably connected to the rhythms of the natural world.

The other two major nadis surround the Sushumna and complement
each other. The Ida is called the “lunar” channel because it is associated with passivity, reflectivity, and cooling. It corresponds to the left side of the body and the right side of the brain. The Pingala is called the “solar” channel because it is associated with the qualities of action, movement, and heat. It corresponds to the right side of the body and the left side of the brain. Both Ida and Pingala start at the Muladhara chakra and wind their way up the Sushumna, crossing at each chakra.

Can you guess where these two nadis make their first crossing? At the sacral plexus, the Svadhisthana chakra! When they meet, Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna join and awaken the powerful energies of your sacrum that help you feel vital, alive, energized, and present. When they meet again at the Manipura chakra, behind your navel, the fiery power of your personal sun is energized, illuminating your path.

Your sacrum is an amazing convergence of physical and energetic forces in your body. Close your eyes and take a moment to visualize the weblike physical structure of the ligaments that hold your sacral joints in place, and how it is juxtaposed with the smooth, serpentine flow of subtle energy through Ida and Pingala as those nadis make their way up and around the Sushumna.

These elements are all part of your sacral “orchestra.” When they are in tune with one another, there is communication and coordination among them and you feel ease and harmony in your sacrum. When the energy is blocked or imbalanced, whether physically or energetically, the members of the orchestra can't hear one another; they can't find the right rhythm for their instruments. Imbalances and blockages can manifest as feelings such as “Whose body is this, anyway, because it sure doesn't feel like mine?” at best, moving into discomfort and debilitating pain at worst. The earlier you can notice signs of disconnect in your sacrum, the better you'll be able to ensure your sacral orchestra stays smooth and melodious. With your yoga practice, you will learn how to help it to become a symphony of movement and fluidity.

Illustration 12. The Three Major
Nadis

U
NITING
E
AST AND
W
EST: THE
H
OLISTIC
V
IEW

Every sacrum is different, and given the complexity we've described so far in this chapter, you can imagine a number of ways that your sacrum can ache, pull, clench, stab, and generally bother you. Before you begin your yoga practice to create sacral balance, let's go over three of the most common issues that may be afflicting your sacrum.

This section might seem like it's simply more information about the physical body—the Western perspective—but really, I see the details below as an invitation to put East and West together and enable you to fully listen to what your sacrum is trying to tell you. Remember that, holistically speaking, your energetic body can't thrive and your nadis can't flow when your physical body is injured or compromised, and you can't help your physical body heal unless you are accurately informed and deeply connected with its specific challenges.

Sacral Sprain

When pain spreads more or less evenly across the back of your hips along the sacral band, it may be due to what is called a sacral sprain. A sacral sprain can be due to strain in the muscles around the hips or injury to the sacral ligaments. It can start as a feeling of mild discomfort or a dull ache; if not attended to, it will worsen over time. It can cause the musculature of the hips and lower back to tighten up and sometimes go into spasm. Because there are so many nerve endings in the sacrum that are sensitive to how your weight is distributed through your sacrum, even a mild sacral sprain can be quite painful. If you have a sacral sprain, sitting may be the most stressful position for your sacrum and lower back. Movement in either forward-bending or back-bending directions can seem almost impossible, while twisting and side-bending movements may be less affected.
⁵

Referred or Radiating Sacral Pain

Another pain pattern due to sacral ligament injuries is when pain radiates down one side of the back hip toward the knee, or radiates through both sides of the hips. This pain can take many forms; it can be sharp and acute, or it can be a nagging, chronic, low-level achiness.

A challenge of working with referred and radiating sacral pain is that the pain patterns can be complex and more difficult to diagnose than straightforward pain across the sacral band. In one body, forward bending may exacerbate an injury, while in another body the same movement may help alleviate pain. If you have referred or radiating sacral pain, it's important to track which movements affect your pain, and how. If you listen to your body, you will be able to discern when the sensations you feel are good and healthy—the kind that help to tone and strengthen the musculature—because your body will feel better after you do those poses. Tuning in to how your body lets you move (and what it doesn't like) may help you trace the sources of your radiating and referred pain.

Sacral Joint Pain

Focused pain in one or both of your sacral joints may be due to rotation and torsion in the position of your hip or sacral bones or compression (downward force) of your sacral bone into the sacral joints. Repeating the
pelvic self-assessment
can help you determine whether skeletal imbalances might be the culprit in your sacral joint pain. Like sacral sprains, sacral joint imbalances can start out as minor shifts in the alignment of your hips and sacrum, and they can grow worse over time. Conversely, sometimes an extreme movement or sudden jolt to your hips pushes the joints over the edge, resulting in acute pain. More commonly, sacral joint issues are due to chronic imbalance: One sacral joint can be overstretched and the other can be compressed; one side can shift or tilt backward while the other side shifts forward.

Pain due to an imbalance in the sacral joints can feel quite different from that of a sacral sprain. It is often specific to one side or the other. Yoga poses in which the hips are externally rotated (turned outward), such as Triangle Pose or Seated Bound Angle Pose, can irritate sacral joint pain. Forward-bending or back-bending movements might feel fairly comfortable, but twisting and side-bending movements can exacerbate pain in an achy joint.

These three sacral maladies—sacral sprain, referred/radiating pain, and sacral joint pain—are not mutually exclusive. In fact, whatever the cause of your sacral discomfort is, the musculature in the general area may become imbalanced and weak, and your sacral joints can become unstable. Your body will let you know that it needs help bringing your sacrum back into balance.

Of course, your sacral issues may not fall into any of the three categories I mentioned above. There are, however, some simple ways you can make a more educated guess on whether your sacral joints are overstretched, inflexible, or imbalanced. As you develop your personal yoga practice, you can experiment with different categories of movements to discover which poses help soothe your sacrum. Generally speaking:

•  Backbends can help strengthen the muscles that support the hips and the sacral joints. They are helpful in “drawing things together” when ligaments have become overstretched or imbalanced.

•  Forward bends can help release muscular tightness in the back hips and the sacral band.

•  Twists lengthen the myofascia around the hips and the lower back.

•  Tractioning, or drawing the spine away from the hips, helps release compression in the sacral joints.

You can see that, depending on your sacrum's condition, backbends, forward bends, or both can be particularly challenging and uncomfortable. Because they figure so prominently into the big picture of yoga, I'll focus on each so you learn how to practice them safely and comfortably while you help your sacrum heal.

Backbends and Your Sacrum

Backbends are excellent for balancing your sacral joints, strengthening the back of your hips and lower back, and lengthening your psoas major muscle, all of which are crucial for sacral health. Backbends are perfect for when your sacral joints feel pulled, twisted, or overstretched. They complement the poses that work on abdominal core strength by balancing the strength of the front and back bodies, creating muscular balance through and through.

It's important, when you are about to attempt a backbend pose, to remember that a tight muscle isn't necessarily strong; strong muscles are able to do their job of supporting your body, yet they are flexible at the same time in order to allow for a comfortable range of motion. A tight muscle, on
the other hand, even though it feels taut, can be weak and vulnerable to injury. Strong yet flexible muscles are what help your spine come into an evenly curved backbend from the top of your sacral joints all the way up to the nape of the neck. Therefore, because backbends can contribute to compression in the lower back, caution is advised when the lower back musculature is tight or in spasm.

When practicing any of the backbends in this book, always come into the pose slowly, and proceed mindfully. Feel and listen to your sacrum while you move into, stay in, and come out of each pose. Initially a backbend will feel best for an overstretched rather than a tight or gripped lower back. Eventually, with time and practice, any lower back will feel good in, and benefit from, backbends.

Remember, you don't need to do an extreme backbend in order to get the benefits. In fact, if you are trying to heal a sacral injury, smaller movements feel better, and may even be more therapeutic because they reshape your musculature incrementally, a little at a time, giving your body time to adjust to and maintain its new, balanced alignment. When your sacrum gives you the “thumbs up” signal that it feels happy and comfortable, start to increase the arch in your back and move more deeply into the poses. When you practice the backbend sequence in this chapter, be sure to take breaks between poses so any tension in your lower back releases.
Practice Cat/Cow Cycle
or
Free-Your-Sacrum Pose
.

Forward Bends and Your Sacrum

The idea of lengthening and releasing your sacral joints in a forward bend sounds delicious, but if you've ever had a tight or destabilized feeling in your sacrum, you know how challenging it can be to find comfort while bending forward. It is important to learn how to come into a forward bend properly by bending at your hip joints rather than rounding forward from your back. Forward bends should be practiced with caution when your sacral joints are overstretched and imbalanced.