One cue that I always ignore in yoga

If you have ever entered a high lunge in the yoga class, you have probably heard a teacher to “straighten your hind leg.” It sounds simple enough. But when I look at myself in the mirror after I have stretched my hindleg, I notice that my body looks nothing like what the teacher says about “stacking your shoulders over your hips” and “your tail leg to the mat”.

Instead, I look like a banana. Tilt my hips forward and my stomach sticks out and round forward and I have this huge bend along my back body. It is very clear to me that my hips are not now under my shoulders! And my bone focuses on the ceiling because my back is bent so much.

If your body is something like mine, which means that you also experience a front pelvic view, you probably notice something similar. My body will not necessarily feel bad if I maintain a few breaths, but some people immediately feel pain when they try to rectify the hindleg in this position and not to understand why. I literally cannot make the shape of the pose if my hindleg is straight.

That is because I experience Lordosis, a pronounced curvature of the lower back that ensures that my hips tilt overly forward. When I try to straighten my hindleg, I only worse that front pelvic tilt, that creates tension and sometimes pain in my lower back.

And if you cannot find the coordination that the teacher who or your body Cue does not respond as other students are or experience your pain, it is easy to feel that something is wrong with you. But you don’t do anything wrong and you should ever hurt. The traditional yoga lines for High Lunge simply does not work for some of us.

So I always ignore that sign. Instead, I take as much turn in my back knee as I have to keep my hips more under my shoulders and to relieve some discomfort. And you can do the same.

This tendency to tilt can appear in other poses, although I have encouraged to have a straight hind leg in Hoge Lunge, is particularly problematic. So I no longer listen to that cue.

Although ignoring what the teacher says, the immediate problem helps, the front pelvis tilt can also influence the rest of your yoga practice and your life. It helps to learn how you can be aware when it pops up and understand ways to involve your body that can adjust your posture. I explain that in the subsequent practice Specially designed for front pelvis tilt.