Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Sciatica

So many of my students suffer from sciatica.. Simple explanations below, as well as good, smooth, suitable exercices (after checking with your doctor, and resting of course!)

"What is sciatica?
Sciatica is a condition that causes tenderness/pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve line. And guess what – the sciatic nerve is the longest damn nerve in the body (no wonder it’s such a troublemaker).

The sciatic nerve starts at the lower spinal cord, weaves through the deep layers of the buttocks, down the back of the thigh, along the outer edge of the leg, and all the way into the foot.

As I said, it’s a long nerve – about half the length of your body long!

Your next obvious question should be, what causes sciatica?

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, I don’t have any medical certifications, and I’m a fresh out of the oven yoga teacher. I’m wholeheartedly sharing my experience, my pain, and my journey to healing to inspire your journey. Please take what you need from this and leave what you don’t.

That being said, I will shed some light on what I’ve discovered through my journey of sciatica. And trust me, I’ve discovered a lot . . .

Sciatica is caused by two common culprits – the lumbar spine and the piriformis muscle.

If you’re a total anatomy newbie – like I was and still am – let me further explain those two culprits.

The lumbar spine is the lower back area that connects the thoracic spine (middle to upper back) and the sacral spine (the tailbone).

The piriformis is a sneaky muscle located deep within the buttock, it attaches your sacrum to the top of your femur (thigh) bone.

It’s important to understand the difference between these two in order to locate where the pain is originating from and then how to heal this pain.

If the pain is starting from the lumbar spine and aggravating the sciatic nerve here, then you’re dealing with sciatica. But if the pain is starting in the booty area and then aggravating the sciatic nerve, then you’re dealing with piriformis syndrome.

And to make it even more confusing – a lot of people experience both scenarios, both lumbar and piriformis pain (I fall into this category).
 1. Ardha Matsyendrasana (Seated Spinal Twist)


  • Use a blanket underneath your seat to help tilt the pelvis and create length and space in the spine.
  • For the arm placement, I mentioned the elbow versus the hug method. The hug modification is highly recommended for sciatica/piriformis pain. Once you go deeper into the twist with the elbow outside the knee, the pose stretches deeper into the hip and loses the piriformis/sciatic benefits.
2. Supine Figure Four


3. Forward Fold Variation
Note: If your sciatica is derived from a spinal issue, I recommend skipping this posture altogether. Like, don’t even try it, it’s not worth it.

4. Standing Figure Four

Variation: Use two blocks to help support the posture and find a deeper, yet softer release. The block height can slowly be lowered as the piriformis and hips begin to open. If standing isn’t accessible, go back to the supine version up above.
5. Figure Four with a Roller
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