A couple of weeks ago I put up a video showing me doing a sitting and standing test.
I acquit myself well enough but my descent lacks control for the final foot or so and I plop onto the ground.
That displays my weak pelvic muscles– gluteals and piriformis– in a big way.
Today’s video shows the same dilemma of weak pelvic muscles from a different perspective.
Standing pigeon is a favorite pose of mine– it is a piriformis stretch as well as a standing balance, combining two of my favorite things.
The video above shows how the body accommodates the balance and squats differently on each side.
When I am standing in tadasana before I cross my ankle over the knee everything appears balanced and forward facing.
On the first side, crossing the right ankle over the left knee (I am a lefty) changes nothing- the body still points forward and when I lower towards the squat I do so with good balance and stability.
Everything goes kablooey as soon as I cross the left ankle over the right knee.
The pelvic muscles on the right leg fail to solidify and stabilize the hip pulling very slightly backward.
This movement backward creates torque throughout the rest of the body.
It is a very cool thing to feel in my body as the lack of stability in the pelvis twists the spine to the crown of the head.
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