Photo Source: Chakra flags by visionwise on Etsy
Last week in class, I had a few students mention they were experiencing sciatic pain. Sciatica (a compression and inflammation of the spinal nerves) seems to be pretty common. Here is a sequence for relieving minor sciatic pain:
Beginner-friendly Hatha sequence
- take a cross-legged
comfortable seat - ground through sit bones, grow tall in side body,
hug your midline, roll shoulders up and back, close eyes, focus on breath, think about decompressing
- belly breathing - (one hand on heart, one on belly) inhale (inflate stomach) exhale (pull navel to spine)
- seated - circle around hips
- seated - spine flex
- inhale/exhale arms up & down
- seated twist, repeat
- crossed legs, palms up facing ceiling
- extend legs - windshield wiper legs
- extended legs - point/flex, then ankle rotations
- recross legs (opposite cross) - side bend R and L
- inner wrist stretch on leg, then wrist rotation
- L ear to L shoulder, R ear to R shoulder, C chin to chest
- tabletop - rotate hips
- cat/cow
- child's pose
- thunderbolt x4
- down dog/puppy pose x2
- standing - mountain
- inhale/exhale - arms up, then meet down through center, x4
- standing crescent pose
- tiptoe balance
- forward bends
- extended side angle pose
- wide-legged forward bend
- seated twist (one leg extended, one leg crossed over, twist), reverse sides
- head to knee pose
- come to stomach - cobra
- locust pose - arms like cactus
- come to back -- bridge pose - three variations - feet together, feet hip width, feet mat width
- bridge pose with arms overhead on inhale
- reclined hand to big toe pose
- supine twist (both knees into chest)
- back - push and pull knees into chest w/breath
- final relaxation pose
- final seated
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