Sometimes students email me if I have any information about particular problems they have. I welcome these inquiries, as it sends me back to the books and to the internet, where I glean all the information and whatever makes sense to me based on my experience, I can hand over back to the questioner. Here is what I've come up with for sciatica, which is a problem that has come up a few times.
Sciatica can be quite annoying, and different for everyone, so what works for someone else, might not work for you. The sciatic nerve is quite a big one, the thickness of your finger, starting at the low back and ending at the back of each leg. Sciatica is usually caused by a bulging disc in low back or a tight piriformis. Avoid all forward bending, try all stretching very slowly and carefully, you might have to experiment a bit with the following to find out what will work for you:
A sequence to follow can be found at:
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2308
Also try (keeping back straight for each one)
- Dog pose to a wall - toes pointed in, heels out
- Raise the painful leg on stool, chair, step - whatever you can handle.
- Sit cross legged, cross foot over knee of painful side, if you can take it, hug knee toward chest, but don't go into twist.
-Lie with legs up wall, bum at wall or slightly away, bend leg of good side and place ankle of bad side over thigh (as high up as you can go) over knee of good leg. Slide foot of good leg down the wall as far as you can go.
Also keep those hips open with hip openers!
