A short story: she didn't realise she was doing it.

Hello beautiful friends,

Recently I created a post on Instagram saying that life isn't a series of grand gestures. It's the small things that matter.

This is a story about the small things.

I know a yoga teacher who is extremely dedicated to her practice. Every day for over three decades she has risen, stepped onto her yoga mat and performed a ninety minute yoga practice.

You can imagine how strong, supple and athletic she is.

At around age sixty however, she began to develop pain in one of her hip joints. She naturally started asking the question why and being the yogi she was, she turned up her awareness of her physical body and how she moved in daily life.

What she discovered after six decades of living is that in standing, she repeatedly shifted her body weight more onto that leg than the other leg.

All the yoga she did I believe, ensured that she maintained equal and plentiful strength and flexibility in both her hips, which meant that she was unaware of any issue developing.

All that yoga however, did not stop the build up of wear and tear in the hip joint that she continually placed under additional load. But additional loading on joints is not the only cause of pain and degeneration.

Standing in imbalanced ways places your joints in positions that aren't healthy.

And aren't natural.

One-Legged Standing

Standing on one leg goes something like this...

Weight is shunted over the the standing leg;

The standing knee is locked and the other knee is bent;

The pelvis shunts over to the standing leg side and drops on the opposite side;

In the 'one-legged stance' these situations then arise in the standing leg, pelvis and lumbar spine:

1. The foot is pronated;

2. The knee is locked into extension;

3. The hip moves into adduction and internal rotation;

4. The pelvis moves into side-flexion;

5. The lumbar spine concavity may increase.

A pronated foot can be the precursor to Plantar Fasciitis and calf strains.

A locked knee causes your large postural muscle of the thigh – the Quadriceps – to switch off plus you grind away your menisci and strain your ligaments, none of which do your joint any favours.

The adducted and internally rotated hip means that you create stress on the cartilage lining the hip joint – the labrum – and create tightness through the anterior ligaments, hip flexors and adductor muscles. It also destabilises the hip joint, diminishing the effective action of the deep hip rotators. Bursitis is also associated with this hip position.

The side-flexed pelvis can cause havoc with the Sacro-iliac joints AND with the lower back.

Grand Gestures vs Small Habits

This yogis ninety minute daily yoga practice is like the "Grand Gesture". It's a significant contribution to her wellbeing and function. But the regular little habits that we all do in our every day life are the small things that add up over time. As I say in my book, Karana Posture...

"Sixteen hours of unconscious, imbalanced posture each day defeats one hour of conscious movement at Yoga, Pilates or the gym."

Over time, the small things start to impact on you more and more, often outweighing your positive practices, but the good news is that when you start to improve your daily habits your good practices will help you to transform and heal faster.

What might you be doing in your daily life to contribute to your chronic pain???

You can significantly influence your health for the better every moment of the day by cultivating the art of standing in postural alignment and creating postural balance in your body.

See me soon for your posture check and to commence your Karana Posture journey.

Bookings available online (contact me for Zoom link) or in person.

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Yours in freedom and JOY,