Illopsoas stretches

[seasonoftowers]

As I've mentioned in my journal, I've found that attempting pigeon pose helps with a hell of a lot of highly annoying physical issues I've had the past year. Note that I say attempting, and not succeeding - I can maybe get 8 inches above the floor on my bad side before my hips start turning. I wonder how best to proceed from here - do I keep doing as much of the stretch as I can do correctly, or are there other things I should try first?

Comments

[indywind]

To my way of thinking, you are succeeding at the stretch if you can do it safely-- that is, without doing yourself a harm that leaves you in more pain or less functional after doing it than you were before-- and if you feel some stretch in your target area while you're doing it.

How far from or close to the floor you get any given time is largely irrelevant, it's just one piece of information about what's going on between your body and the posture, out of many pieces. your height off the floor might change over time (to the degree that what's holding you up is muscular tightness and can be eased by stretching) or it might not, or not very much ( to the degree that something other than stretchable muscular tightness is what's holding you up --like shape of the bones in your pelvis/hips for instance).

You can keep doing this stretch the way your body can do it, as long as you feel like you're getting benefit from it. And you can add/substitute other options for variety.

If being off the floor makes you have to tense up to keep from twisting, drooping, or leaning to the side, you can totally place supports underneath you so you don't hang in space (if you don't already do this! if you already do, it does not mean you're cheating or failing). I like a couple towels folded together or a stiff small throw pillow. Some people like a yoga block (or 2 or 3) or bolster. Some popular placements for support: crosswise centered under the hips, off center toward the side that wants to lean/droop, or under the bent leg hip joint. You can experiment and see how much support or which position makes you feel secure and able to relax, while still allowing that feeling of stretch.

[seasonoftowers]

Thank you! "Cheating" was precisely how I thought about supports before, but clumping up a blanket under my hips actually let me stretch further - I tense up less now that it's not just my hands and arms holding me up.