This is why I love yoga

So my low back has continued to hurt, and got even worse after a chiropractic treatment. Some of the tingling in my feet is gone, thankfully, but I was in a very crappy mood after my appointment. The doc had told me that yoga would probably irritate my low back, so his suggestion was to take a break from it. Since I didn't seem to be improving with it, I took his advice.

I know that yoga purists would say, "Don't listen to him," but this doc has great diagnostic skills. Upon meeting me, he told me to walk down the hall in his office, and barely had I taken a step when he said, "Ahhh. Your pelvis is torqued - your right PSIS is pulled down, the right ASIS is pulled up, making you have a short right leg." Bingo. And even though his treatment lasted only a few minutes, I felt better afterward. This second treatment I felt worse, but that's the reason that I'm blogging.

I went home and did a teeny yoga session: 2 poses. First, the pranayama breathing, and then the half-moon side stretches. And for the first time since I restarted my practice, I stretched "beyond my flexibility" - as far as I could go and then some, without pain. And 80% of my low back pain disappeared.

Now that my pelvis is slipping back into place, the yoga can do its job again. The studio is closed tomorrow for the holiday, but mark my words - my butt will be on a mat on Saturday morning. Thanks, doc, and thanks Bikram. You rock.