🌻 Late Summer Greetings Yogis,

Last week, I taught poses from the wisdom of Donna Farhi's teaching on how to stabilize and support the healing of the sacroiliac joints, pelvis and low back. In April 2017, Donna fractured her pelvis in two places as a result of a serious riding accident. Her lengthy rehabilitation has given her extraordinary insights into the profound consciousness of the body and its ability to heal.

For most of my life, I have experienced levels of irritation to debilitating pain in my S.I. joints. I have great respect for Donna's insights and I have tried, tested and shifted my own understanding of yoga poses based on her methodology. Her return from serious injury along with 43 years of deep study and teaching experience, offer a map for all of us to leave behind misconceived ideas of pain for gain. She also shocks the yoga world by telling us to stop stretching when an area is actually crying for stability. Now my S.I. joints and low back feel stronger and more comfortable from applying her principles. So, today I wanted to share one of her foundations of movement which she calls non-negotiable body contracts. I transcribed Donna's words from the workshop I took last weekend. 

Non-Negotiable Body Contracts:  How making agreements with yourself is the path to healing your sacroiliac joint pain.

~ I never move beyond the point where I feel comfort - I never move into what I call 'bad pain'.

~ Good pain - intensified sensation that moves us in the direction of freedom. eg. As I do this movement it increases sensation/intensity and as a result, I have greater mobility and more comfort. I'm able to do all the things that I enjoy doing. And not just while doing the movement, but hours and days later, I'm on that graph toward healing.

~ Bad pain - usually localized, sharp and causes a flinching reaction in the body. It's really unpleasant. And where it takes us is not toward freedom, it takes us toward limitation. Tomorrow I can do less, next week I can do even less, because I'm moving in the direction of re-injury. 

Part of the strategy here in my non-negotiable body contract with myself is that I need to create a corridor of safety in my movement practices.  - Donna Farhi

Learning what it means for yourself to create a corridor of safety in how you engage with your body-mind, is a way to formulate your own non-negotiable body contracts. These non-negotiables light a path for putting self-compassion to work in our movement practices, which begins to inform our whole model of self-compassion— our thoughts, self-talk and feelings. We learn about the ways we can meet ourselves with integrity and grace, opening new possibilities to all kinds of healing. When we heal we are stronger and more resilient. Pain often creates more pain...the last thing we need more of in this world.

If you still relate progress in your physical practices to pain and exhausting yourself, it does not have be that difficult to make a shift. Try softer, slower, mindful choices in a pose. There are a spectrum of choices in any kind of movement you are doing. Then look for better results, look for feelings of safety when dealing with yourself on any level, look for the lasting outcomes that can come from respecting the body's language...sensation. Pain is a message we have unnaturally trained ourselves to ignore. It is not 'weakness leaving the body', it's the body saying stop and please pay attention.

This is why the base of how I teach is built on learning what it means to listen inwardly, to understand different sensations, and to begin to experience for yourself, that corridor of safety, and the truth that gentle presence is powerful and it generates a strength that lasts. If you are interested in last week's classes, I can email you your choice of recordings, and I've also uploaded them into the on-demand library. Find them in the Sacroiliac Support & Comfort section. (see below)

With Lovingkindness,
Heidi
hlyogini@yahoo.com
602.550.8487


picture - Anatomy of S.I. joint/pelvis