I'm back from work today after being on vacation since last Wednesday. I had an awesome week with lots of sleeping in, snuggling and just spending time with my boyfriend :) Yesterday we went to the Bronx Zoo (pictures to come!) which was so much fun. We saw a lot of animals we didn't get to see last time we went (except the Brown Bear, which we are convinced was never at the zoo in the first place because the exhibit is completely empty every time). We got the inside scoop from an off-the-clock zoo employee, too. Did you know otters have the ability to kill monkeys? Well, they do, and that's why the otters aren't in the same exhibit as the Ebony Langurs anymore!...Yeah I thought it was a weird random fact to mention to total strangers as well, but, interesting none the less. I don't know why it's so easy to forget that cute animals are still dangerous.
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| Ebony Langur (I did not take this picture!) |
One thing I didn't see, after 4 hours of walking in the heat, was immense low-back pain at the end of the day. Woohoo!
Why? Because I engaged my core muscles while I was walking. I also tried to be mindful of my posture by keeping the tailbone curling in toward the spine, the low belly in and upward, and the low ribs in and upward, while keeping the shoulders back and relaxed.
It's actually very easy to do, well, it's "easy" to learn how to properly engage your core muscles, however it does make walking a bit more strenuous (which is a good thing) and will heat you up from the inside out.
It's not about superficially "sucking in" your belly. It's about moving your body from the muscles in your core. Namely, the Iliopsoas muscles which include the iliacus, psoas major and minor. Ironically enough, the psoas minor (and it mentions this in it's Wiki entry) muscle does not exist in almost half the human population because it is so underused now that we walk upright. But this muscle group is really important for protecting our low backs. When the psoas muscles are contracted, that's when our backs start to feel the pain. Yoga in particular really helps to keep these muscles long and strong.
So, where the heck is the psoas ("so-as") exactly? Finding your psoas can be done by laying on your back, find the top of either hip crest (the point where the bone sticks out most) then find your belly button. Place two fingers at the half-way point between the hip crest and your belly button. Now, push down into this spot, very deeply (like, really, try to touch your spine, of course that's not really possible, but, that's the depth I'm talking about), it will feel a little uncomfortable. At the same time as your are applying pressure to this spot, begin to lift the knee on the same side. You should feel a muscle pushing back up against your finger tips there as you lift the knee. That's your psoas. By the way, gotta thank Sadie Nardini for teaching me that technique!
Try finding that spot again when standing up and walking and feeling it push back against your fingertips. Visualizing this muscle connected to your legs and moving them also helps them to engage. Do this while maintaining the action of curling in your tailbone. A visualization technique for keeping the tailbone inward: Imagine your hip bones as a bowl tipped slightly, and there's a ball in the center that you don't want to fall onto the floor, so you have to keep the bowl as upright as possible.
You will know that you're doing it properly when you feel a burn in your abs similar to what you feel when doing crunches or any sort of core work. If you're pushing too hard you may start to feel soreness in the back and sides of the hips. Back off a little bit, relax the muscles, take some deep breaths, then start again and try engaging the muscles a little less fiercely next time.
It's very easy to lose the connection and forget about it when you're walking and become distracted (I forget all the time, especially in yoga class where it's even more important to keep this area strong). But try to keep an awareness there and if you notice you've stopped being active in your core, just reactivate!
So, next time you've got to take a long walk or go hiking, (or next time you walk anywhere, it only does good things for your back and core to do this) try this and see if it helps ease the burden on your low-back spine. I would love to hear if and how it worked for you! Any questions, please ask in the comments :)
Namasté!
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