Safety with Extra Mobility
 
A student with extra mobility in the spine tends to drop into a backbend in Adho Mukha Shvanasana and in standing poses.  How would you correct this and why?  What are the risks if the student continues to practice in this way?
 
If a student with extra mobility tends to drop into a backbend in Adho Mukha Shvanasana and in standing poses it is important for her to do three actions:  make her legs very active with tremendous focus on rooting the bones and lifting the muscles of the legs and feet; lift the POA (pit of the abdomen); and lengthen through the spine so the head and sacrum are moving in opposite directions.  Although she may have great flexibility where she is dropping, if she has a lack of strength and/or awareness it is of no benefit and does more harm than good.  It may also be true that her apparent flexibility is masking a deeper restriction or tightness in her diaphragm, iliopsoas, quadratus lumborum, or rectus femorus.  There will be disc compression where she is dropping in the spine and distortion in the spine will create a greater likelihood of distortion in the sacrum and shoulders.  Ultimately, she will miss out on the opportunity to realize the full benefits of the pose and not develop the strength or flexibility where it is truly needed.
 
- Aadil

Is it unhealthy if your back cracks when doing twisting poses?

It depends. The cracking sound you hear often means that the alignment in the vertebrae is off (called a subluxation). In this case, when you do asanas and hear cracking, you are realigning the spine. This is a healthy cracking. Unhealthy cracking is when the same portion of the spine keeps cracking again and again over many months. This indicates that other activities in your life are causing that particular part of your spine to go out of balance, and you must make changes in the way you stand, sit, or walk.

The important thing to do is observe what effects the cracking has on your body. Do you feel more centered or calm? Have you released something that was tight and tense and now feel your energy flowing more freely? Or does the area feel sore, painful, slightly distorted? The first case is the release of a subluxation. In the second, you are causing one! Just as a good crack at a chiropractor's office can remove the numbness from a finger, so a good crack in a yoga practice can promote energy flow in the nerves. This may then assist in the enhanced functioning of many organs and muscles in the body.

 

Open the flyer: Healing the Shadow