Yoga Butt, the dreaded but quite common yoga injury of tendinopathy that can occur from overstretching or straining the hamstring tendon. You feel the pain right underneath your bum, at the insertion point. It’s something I haven’t talked about in awhile, but it’s something I think about EVERY SINGLE TIME I move into a forward fold.
⚠️Disclaimer: this post is educational and not intended to diagnose or treat you. Please consult with a licensed physiotherapist for help with your specific injury and your unique body. 🤗
🦵Coming back to your mat after experiencing yoga butt can be daunting and frustrating, especially because stretching the hamstring MORE is going to be counter productive. You may need to back off of the deep folds and spend more time warming up with bent knees and / or using blocks to shorten the range. You want to feel the hamstring stretch in the belly of the muscle and not so much at the top of the hamstring where it’s pulling on the tendon.
🍑 Take your time and use your breath! Make your folds really ACTIVE, think about engaging glutes and hammies together to stabilize the pelvis. Hug your outer hips in toward the midline and keep drawing that energy up and in thru the pelvic floor — uddiyana bandha.
💪STRENGTHENING is the key to happy hamstring tendons, and eccentric loading is particularly effective in supportive tendon health. These are some of the exercises that helped me tremendously after struggling with tendinopathy for years. I now do these on a regular basis to support my yoga practice.
Good luck! Drop any questions in the comments below!
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