A long and painful week
What a week for this gal! As you can see from my weekly schedule... I teach a good amount of classes during the week. On Monday, I took a preview of the "Barre" class being added to the YMCA classes beginning this month. Even though, the Barre class (a fusion of Pilates, Yoga and Ballet) can be almost anything the instructor decides it should be.... this first preview class, tended toward flexion in the hips.(tons of squats and leg lifts) I had already done 3 classes that included a lot of that... and still had my noon yoga class yet to go. OK... so on Tuesday (My personal workout day)... I spent one hour on the elliptical trainer (as usual), taught a yoga class and then headed for the Group Power class at the Y. Great class for strength training.... but I was beginning to feel the workload on my Psoas. (the major muscle of your hip flexors). To make a long story short….by the time I got to my evening class at Lewis and Clark Elementary school… I was definitely in pain. My hip flexors (Psoas muscle) was inflamed and my back was hurting so badly, I could barely move. We did a very gently and slow flow yoga class, needless to say. (I did get feedback that the participants really enjoyed that class?...hmm…am I missing something here?) I was getting ‘kicked in the butt’ for overdoing it. Too many classes, too much concentration on those hip flexors… and apparently, not stretching them enough. If you have had low back pain, radiating around to your hips…. You may have experienced the same thing. I will attach some links here regarding the Psoas muscle/hip flexors/stretching etc… that may be of interest to many of you. Take heed… it humbles you… The really funny part is… (or wake up call for me) is the amount of nerve endings in your hips/low back. During these several days of “pain”… I am feeling every single movement I make… every pose, every twist and turn, every breath I take. I have a great respect, understanding and sympathy with those that suffer any injuries (especially this back pain that is associated with the hip flexors) This may well be my body’s way of telling me to slow down a bit… take time and re-connect with my own practice and be more patient and understanding with my students. Wow… it doesn’t take much pain, to bring you around to re-connecting. Read the following article and notice the picture of the Psoas and where it is on the body!
video of the Psoas:
There are more videos of the hip flexor muscles...check them out on YouTube
Have a great weekend - see you next week!
