I am sure most people know this already. But, it took me a while to understand this myself. When I started a serious yoga practice last year, I got to know I cannot go into a sandwiched paschimottanasana as in classic pose. I mean, I cannot get my stomach completely on my thighs and have a flat spine.
Surrender is normally the word associated with paschimottanasana. My favorite teacher came over to help me figure out and she said I have backward tilted pelvis and that is why I am far from the sandwich and the surrender.
I heard about this condition for the first time and got me worried. Why does the pelvis tilt backward? Sounds scary. I have never had any problems in day today life with this condition except that I cannot do a sandwich in a paschimottanasana. I have never been after acrobatics in yoga. So, is this important? Yes. It is a sign of problems to come. Having all the joints of the pelvis work as it is designed, is quite important. If the joints cannot move as it should, the problems can be in the form low back pain, short muscles in the hamstrings which make you stiff over time by limiting the movement of the hip joints and a general dis-ease in the movements.
Then I learn that this is a common scenario for many desk jockeys. Under utilization of the core muscles is one of the main reasons for this. The weak abdominal muscles in combination with tight hamstrings can pull the pelvis backward over time. Even though a desk job is one of the main reasons for this, I think my case has another angle where I never paid attention to any of this. Not living deliberately and consciously with clarity is also a reason.
When I started learning kalari, my gurukkal would always tell me to pull in the lower abdomen. It should not be loose, but it should be taut. Pull it in, ribs on thighs. Kalaripayattu places so much importance on this. The loin cloth which the male students wear is worn quite snugly around the lower abdomen. A constant reminder to hold the lower abdomen in. This is quite similar to the uddiyana bandha of yoga. But, this is considered an advanced topic and normally yoga teachers do not bother with this in a group class. Most of the movements in kalari are hip oriented, having a great level of flexibility in the center of the body is vital.
Having a strong core is not only key to yoga and other physical activities, it is also essential for a sense of ease in day to day life. A strong core is also helpful in having a good balance and a gait. It took a while for this piece of knowledge to dawn on me. Now, I am consciously working on solving this. I see some improvements already in some poses. One of my enemy poses is turning into a friend. Chaturanga seems attainable now, I see light.
I had blogged about Chaturanga being a such a pain, in my very first post. It did not take a year to get this, but just a few weeks of conscious effort has me at this stage. Getting better at Chaturanga helps me enjoy Surya namaskars, which I would do grudgingly to get over to the interesting part of my practice. Now I enjoy Surya namskars so much, I end up doing many rounds of just Surya namaskars for my daily practice, which I have to correct.
Reversing the backward tilted pelvis will definitely take time. If it takes a decade in the making, it will take some time to correct this. So, patience is what I need to practice. And of course, detachment. Patañjali would be happy with the clarity in this post.
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