Imbalance

BECOMING WELL BALANCED

A strange thing occurred to me the other day. I have been dealing with a set of injuries that stubbornly refuse to go away. Yoga, regular stretching, a long break from being sat in front of a computer all day long and general lifestyle improvements have all helped to significantly reduce the symptoms...but they are still there. 

While laying on my back after a particularly tough (yes guys it can be very physically challenging) yoga session, I quietly focussed on my body and the benefits of my practice. What I noticed, was a tendency for my right foot to roll out to the right. I traced the muscles up my right leg and realised my hip was touching the mat. Over to the left foot and up the leg, I discovered my left buttock was engaged - hence the tilt in my hip and splayed right foot. I was twisted! Suddenly it dawned on me...the tightness in my left hip-flexor & glutes was causing an imbalance in my movements (increased flexibility on one side more than on the other) - why was this?

Little things have big consequences

I'd heard about the knock-on effects of having injuries on one side of the body consequently affecting the other. A good friend of mine had recently confirmed this fact when he went to a physio with a chronic back issue that he'd been informed required surgery by his doctor. 

Desperate to avoid the knife, he went back to someone he'd seen two years prior. He'd disregarded her advice back then. The physio had taken one look as he entered the room and before he'd properly explained his symptoms, she'd already identified the root of his problems - a limp caused by a badly healed broken leg from 10 years before!

This friend, finally accepting something in the area of his left ankle was the cause of a prolapsed disk, then chose to alleviate the symptoms by following a course of physiotherapy to first fix the limp. 

The Impact of time

Injuries can cause imbalances. But also, repeating the same action over and over, sitting in the same position, doing the same movements - these will all cause slight changes in our body that become more major over time. Muscles on one side become stronger or lengthen on the other and the body holds it's imbalanced position, causing tension and problems down the line. 

So what had dawned on me the other day was simple - and it was such a simple thing to fix that I was dumbstruck how I'd allowed this to happen in the first place. 

I'd had a wallet in my back right pocket for the whole of my adult life. This is why my right buttock muscle is relaxed - it's because when I'm sitting down on the wallet, only the left side needs to switch on the muscles to stay straight. 

Since I removed the wallet and now have another possible solution for where to keep my valuables, I've noticed a massive change in lower back tightness over night. Yet again I'm astounded in discovering something that's been so glaringly obvious - yet taken me so long to discover in myself or so long to acknowledge and do something about. It's also confirmed to me that the small things really can make a difference in making a change for the better and for keeping a balance.