Cobblers, Psoas, Knee Pain, Back Pain, Flat Asses & Fancy Fuschia Eye Pillows

September 30, 2011 ♦

Movement

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You’re smart…so you sit…even if you workout, you’re still mostly sedentary. That makes your PSOAS muscle tight…our Lady in Black is doing a hip opener called cobbler pose–you put your feet together like a frog…but for some of us our knees will stick UP to the sides..and that’s OK…it’s still a dandy stretch to OPEN your hips without being on top of your knees…..Please don’t EVER let someone tell you that your knees have to touch the floor like the Lady in Black here, because that’s the way to get injured. Even worse NEVER let someone push your knees to the floor in this pose. We all have a different pelvic bone structure!! Lady in Black’s knees would stick up if the soles of her feet were together, and that’s ok. Thank you Lady in Black.

Now Hippie Yoga Lady (beige) is doing an additional stretch in cobbler’s pose. Still a dandy stretch while you’re watching TV to open the hips and stretch the PSOAS. Hippie Yoga Lady’s additional stretch will stretch the erector spinae and the psoas.

This is not a photo of a yoga hostage, this is me in my favorite supported cobbler’s pose with my fancy fuchsia eye pillow (sorry my socks don’t match)…I am completely supported like I am floating in water…my knees do not touch the ground but I am supported by blankets and pillows. This is still cobbler’s pose to open the hips, but WAY more comfortable.

so here’s the thing…if you don’t stretch out your psoas..if you don’t stretch out your hip flexors…and open your hips…your psoas is shortening while your sitting reading this…that muscle pulls your hips out of alignment which pulls out your lower back (that’s a much longer story) affects how your feet hit the floor and how load is distributed to your knees….and even worse..it makes our ass flat since we tend to have very strong calves due to compensation. If we were aligned we would use our glutes, not our calves, and our ass would not be flat. You need to learn these stretches/postures in safety…not from some yoga goofball who is going to push your knees down to the floor.