But too late it was, as Yoda would say. By the time I shifted my pelvis into the correct alignment, the damage had already been done. For the rest of the practice, I felt this aching sensation in that left SI area whenever I did twists on the second side (for instance, Pasasana on the second side). Backbends didn't seem to be affected; I still did my usual deep kapotasana and dropbacks without incident. And Supta Padangusthasana B (the one where you bring the leg out to the side) turned out to be heavenly: It felt really good and healing on the SI joint.
"Too late it is, young Skywalker!"
Hmm... would Yoda say there is a disturbance in the Force on Leap Year Day?
[Image taken from here]
What caused this to happen? The immediate explanation, of course, is that I wasn't paying enough attention in Mari B. Okay... but why wasn't I paying attention? To be honest, I was feeling rather tired and sluggish this morning (I ate a late dinner of white pasta with eggplant last night after my evening class... bad man!), but decided to go ahead and practice anyway. Hmm... maybe I should have taken the day off...
But I also have another nagging suspicion. Is there any astrological explanation out there which says that Leap Year Days are bad/inauspicious days? Yesterday, for instance, a bunch of crazy things happened where I was. First, there was a snow storm, and day classes were cancelled at the university where I teach. And then the barista who worked at the coffeeshop in my apartment complex fell and threw her back out (hmm... was that a premonition of things to come? Should have heeded it...). As a result of which, she was walking funny, as Guruji might say. Except not in a good way. I hope she heals soon.
And then, in a (supposedly) unrelated incident, somebody I know almost got arrested for petty theft yesterday. She had gone to the gas station to fill up her car. When she went in to the cashier to pay for the gas, she realized to her horror that she didn't have sufficient funds in her checking account! The cashier took her driver's license and took down the registration number of her car. I happened to be around when she came into the coffeeshop panicking and telling everybody what just happened, and I went with her to the gas station to help her pay for the gas and get her driver's license back. Was what the cashier did borderline illegal, or is it just me?
Anyway, sorry to bore you with all these details. But I'm just trying to show you how crazy the last 48 hours of my life have been. I don't believe much in astrology, but I can't help getting the sense that some kind of energy wackage is occurring in the universe--at least, in my corner of the universe--and that all of this wackiness has something to do with the fact that yesterday was Leap Year Day.
Does it? Or is it just me (and my little corner of the universe)?
Are you sure you are dealing with your SI Joint and not, say a disc-related issue? I say this as a person with many deteriorated discs who has been helped a lot by ashtanga and my patient, thoughtful, expert teacher. Not sure it matters really in terms of how you work through the injury but visualizing the location and nature of the problem accurately may help you get better and prevent recurrence. Not sure. Maybe get some additional advice/observation if it persists?
ReplyDeletesame anon here--I should say i have been both helped and challenged by ashtanga. It has taken me a real long time to be able to do certain asanas, and I have had to learn to understand and work with my back problems intelligently, but the daily practice certainly does help. Sometimes I am actually pain free. And I went for years without experiencing that.
ReplyDeleteHello Anon, thanks for your suggestions and feedback. I'm not hundred percent certain that it's a SI joint issue and not, say, a disc-related issue. But the symptoms I have experienced so far (as well as the postures that relieve the pain) seem consistent with SI joint issues. But thanks for the headsup, and for sharing your experience :-)
DeleteHi Nobel!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear your S.I. joint's out. Ouch... My left S.I. joint has gone out a number of times. The good news is there's an adjustment that can help put it back in. I'd never heard of this until I came to Halifax, but the last time it happened one of the teachers at the studio helped me. Lie down on your back. Bend your knees as though you're going to do urdhva dhanurasana, feet hip width apart. Then have someone stand between you. Squeeze that person's legs as hard as you can with your knees. They can help you a little bit. If you're lucky, you'll hear a little click and then everything will feel nearly miraculously better in a matter of seconds. The muscles around the joint will probably still feel tender for awhile, but I was amazed when this worked for me. Seth at the studio here says that this adjustment works about 70 percent of the time. I couldn't believe it. Usually my s.i. joint would stay out for weeks or months. Anyways, it's a little late here and my energy is wacking out. Hope this helps and have a great night! -Erica.
Thanks for the adjustment suggestion, Erica. I'll try that the next time I can get somebody to do this with me. I also know that sometimes doing Supta Virasana will also help me to get that elusive click: I tried that earlier this evening. No luck. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. I've also heard that SI joint issues vary greatly between individuals; some things work for some people, other things work for other people.
DeleteYou could also try squeezing a yoga block between your leg, if you have one of those handy. The trick doesn't always work for me either, but it's amazing when it does. Good luck. I'm sure you'll work it out. Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteThanks Erica. I actually tried squeezing a block between my legs this morning. I didn't get the click, but I did feel better after practice. I have found that paying attention to keeping the thighs rotated inwards during upward dog and backbends also helps a lot.
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