I recently discovered a great animation that illustrates something I struggle to explain to all my clients, and want to share it here with you. As if collapsing on the couch, driving your car and slumping in front of your computer isn't enough, many of my clients working with personal trainers, pilates instructors and virtually all my yoga clients are being told to "tuck their tail."
Not only does this cause too much lordosis of the lower spine and inhibit healthy hip movement, it puts the sacro-iliac joint (which supports your entire body) in an unstable position. This makes the "SI" joint and the oh, so popular L5-S1 joint exTREEMLY vunerable to injury. These two chronic conditiions are the most common complaints in my practice along with rotator cuff injuries. And amazingly, the chronic shoulder injuries are directly related to tucking the tail because when the pelvis is unstable, the neck and shoulders try to hold us up.
Now I know this is a lot to get your head around. Don't feel bad, it confuses many fitness professionals as well. So do yourself a favor, take 4 minutes and watch this clip which beautifully illuminates the movements of the sacrum and why, especially when loaded, (which is anytime you're not lying down!) your sacrum needs to be "nutated" that is, slightly tipped forward, so that your tail is out behind you. If your sacrum is slightly arched (think happy dog), then you're back wont' be over arched or "sway backed." Hint: This is also why no matter how much you stretch them, your hamstrings are always tight. Are you listening yoga people?
Tucking the tail also prevents the deep stabilizing musculature of the spine and pelvic floor from firing correctly so that the big muscles of the back are always overworked. Sound familiar? That's a whole lot of stuff than can be fixed, just by changing the orientation of your tail!
I know this can be hard to actualize in your own body without help, which is why I'm here for you, ever on the cutting edge and outside the box, to help you sift through the tremendous amount of (often erroneous and misleading) information out there. If you want to explore this in your own body, call me. This is a game changer.
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Yours in Health,
Kerry
www.InspiringMotion.com
818-469-0445
