Do spinal twists to stimulate organs, don't do spinal twists because you'll screw up your SI joint. Do forward bends to increase hamstring flexibility, don't do forward bends because you'll mess up your lower back.
Unfortunately, in these cases it's not so much a case of contradictory advice as "both are potentially true", depending on alignment. So, forwards bends are great for hamstring flexibility, as long as you make sure you bend from the hips and lengthen your back rather than rounding it -- if you round it and strain, then you can mess up your lower back (and will also not get the full hamstring stretch).
Btw, if you have sacroiliac issues, I have a few resources about that -- I found my SI joint can unlock way too much, and have been learning how to stabilize it. Let me know if you'd like me to post about that.
FWIW, I've found that I feel very stiff when I get back to yoga after a short break, but the results of the previous months of practice aren't gone -- it takes a few sessions for my body to loosen up again, but then I'm back where I was.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-05-04 07:07 am (UTC)Unfortunately, in these cases it's not so much a case of contradictory advice as "both are potentially true", depending on alignment. So, forwards bends are great for hamstring flexibility, as long as you make sure you bend from the hips and lengthen your back rather than rounding it -- if you round it and strain, then you can mess up your lower back (and will also not get the full hamstring stretch).
Btw, if you have sacroiliac issues, I have a few resources about that -- I found my SI joint can unlock way too much, and have been learning how to stabilize it. Let me know if you'd like me to post about that.
FWIW, I've found that I feel very stiff when I get back to yoga after a short break, but the results of the previous months of practice aren't gone -- it takes a few sessions for my body to loosen up again, but then I'm back where I was.