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Six years ago a research paper featured injuries associated with yoga poses, and one of them was śavāsana. I posted about it on social media and the responses were full of people saying stuff like “YES! This is me! Why does lying supine hurt my spine?”
How can lying flat on the floor hurt your back? Here’s the deal: Many of us are not actually lying flat when we lie down. We’re simply not able to, because of how our bodies adapt to a lot of sitting time (tight hips and upper back rounding). Usually these changes aren’t permanent, but they’re also not immediately adjustable. They’re more like semi-permanent hair coloring, which takes regular washings to get out.
To immediately ease discomfort:
- Put a pillow or blanket behind your head and upper back.
- Put something underneath your knees to support them in their elevated position.
To improve discomfort over time (i.e. to help “wash out” some of those semi-permanant hip and spine adaptations), try our Psoas Release exercise (exercise clip from our 12-Week Body Boost program).
To get deeper into the mechanics behind why some yoga poses (like śavāsana) are associated with issues in certain bones and joints for some bodies—and what to do about it—join me in this 2-Hour live online class with Omega Institute on March 5th: How To Modify, Bolster, or Sometimes Step Away from a Pose.
- Concerned you may be exacerbating issues with certain poses?
- Want to learn good form to improve your yoga practice?
- Interested in addressing excessive upper-back curvature and restricted hip extension?
This is a great workshop for yogis, movement teachers and everyday movers wanting to understand their anatomy and movement habits better.
