Since I moved, I’ve been part of a group that does sustainable wood construction and builds green roofs. Last week, we had a project involving a prefab wooden house. We had to build a stable wooden base and then put the house on top of it.
After building the base, we could put the floorboards on. Seven boards measuring 1.22 m by 2.44 m, heavy and impractical to lift and move, but of course I could do it. By the end of the day, my SI joint had had enough.
When I got out of the car when I got home, I noticed that walking upright normally was no longer really feasible and I felt everything in my body tensing up to support this new walking pattern. Not ideal, especially since we were going to continue the next day.
I had done too much…
After a warm shower, I lay down on the floor in my dome. Where I do my “maintenance” movements every morning, it now became yoga therapy on myself. Slowly and carefully, I made small movements with my legs, my arms, my back, all within the limits of what was pain-free. No forcing, no stretching, just feeling what was possible. First everywhere except my lower back and SI, giving the whole system space to relax. Only then did I very slowly move around my SI and lower back.
After about half an hour, I got up and still felt it a little, but I could stand up straight and walk normally again. It worked, my own work applied to my own body.
And this is exactly what I see happening in my classes on Insight Timer. People with chronic lower back pain, hips that don’t want to move and pelvic pain that just won’t go away. As soon as they make small conscious movements, they start to feel a difference.
