Practicing without pain is not only possible, it is the key to healing.
Sorting out your psoas can sort out many other issues in your body, sometimes with phenomenally quick results.
Learning to stabilize the pelvis while releasing the hips is key.
Over the ensuing decades I’ve noticed that many of the people coming to my intensives have problems caused by hypermobility rather than lack of flexibility. Many are Yoga teachers who have literally pulled their bodies apart with Yoga and are now seeking a solution to chronic debilitating pain. Today as I teach around the world the problem has multiplied. We now have a global epidemicof instability and reoccurring injuries from over-stretching and repetitive practice of extreme postures.
* Hyperlordosis is an accentuation of the lumbar curvature.
Together with my co-author Leila Stuart we have put together the definitive guide to working with the psoas. These practices have been tested in my own practice and with hundreds of students worldwide.
The result is Pathways to a Centered Body– Gentle Yoga Therapy for Core Stability, Healing Back Pain, and Moving with Ease.
Sequence F, partial. Click to enlarge.
My Back Has Been Much Happier
My lower back has been bothering me increasingly for several years. Its not quite pain. More like discomfort. It seems to have been aggravated by the construction work that I do.
I began heating my back and stretching in the evenings. I saw a spinal doctor at the Veterans Administration several times. I went through a course of physical therapy. I went through a chiropractic sequence. I tried an inversion table. I’ve used a Med Massager. I went to a masseuse for most of a year.
These treatments provided me with some temporary relief but none of them had lasting effects.
Somewhere on Facebook several months ago I came across Donna Farhi, Leila Stuart and Yoga U Online. I bought the Pathways to a Centered Body book and then the Anatomy of a Centered Body online course.
I began reading the book. I was struggling to get through the anatomy and happened to catch Donna on Facebook. She said to not worry about the anatomy and to try the exercises on pages 168-9 in the Pathways book. I did and my back has been much happier since I began integrating these practices.
Many thanks.
I Turn To This Book Weekly
Personally, I have L4, L5 disc issues and many, many clients with back pain.
I turn to this book weekly as I really like how the sequence pages are clear and easy to follow. My students keep coming back saying it’s the only class where they can learn simple poses that they can do at home that really work!
The Number One Muscle to Know If You Have Back Pain of Any Kind
The Number One muscle to know if you have a back pain of any kind, or physical practice of any kind, is the psoas. There’s a tremendous buzz about core strength in the fitness world, usually limited to building abs of steel, but there’s so much more to it. This book is the best way to get to know the psoas in all its subtlety, all its versatility, all its crankiness, and all its power and glory. Your body will be grateful.
About Donna
Donna Farhi
Incorporating the rigorous backing of anatomical principles for safe and sustainable practice, Donna offers progressive levels of engagement that allow people of all levels of experience and from all traditions to build their own authentic Yoga practice.