Sacroiliac pain is a common problem that can make yoga uncomfortable or even painful. Besides discomfort during practice, you may also feel hip and lower-back pain throughout the day when the muscles around the sacroiliac joint are tight. Forward bends and seated postures stretch the area of the sacroiliac joint in the rear of the pelvis.
Ananda Balasana
Ananda balasana, or happy baby pose, stretches your lower back and opens the hips. It gives you a mild stretch in the groin and inner thighs. People with knee problems or extreme inflexibility in the lower back may find this posture an alternative to more intense postures like bound angle and cow face. Lie on your back and grab the bottom of your feet with your knees bent toward the sides of your rib cage. The shins are perpendicular to the floor. Pull down on your legs so your knees move toward the floor. This posture releases the sacrum and strengthens the arms.
Baddha Konasana
Baddha konasana, or bound angle posture, is also known as cobbler's pose or the butterfly stretch. It opens the hips and stretches the groin, relieving muscle tension in the hips, glutes and inner thighs. Sit with your knees bent toward your chest, feet together on the floor. Let your knees fall to the ground and put the soles of your feet together. Keep your lower back straight and your chest lifted so your lower back stretches, too. Do not force the legs to the floor, though you may use your hands to gently push down on the knees. Simply hold onto your toes if you feel pain in your knees from pushing.
Gomukhasana
Gomukhasana, or cow face posture, is a beneficial stretch for the hips and pelvis through crossing the legs. Crossing the legs spreads the hips at the back of the pelvis away from each other to stretch the area around the sacroiliac joint. Sit cross-legged on the floor. Slide your left leg to the right and place your right leg on top of the left so both knees align with the midline of your body, right over left. Clasp hands behind your back with your left elbow bent toward the ceiling and right elbow bent toward the floor. Repeat on the other side.
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
Eka pada rajakapotasana, or one-legged king pigeon pose, is a traditional hip-opener posture. Lie on your belly and prop up your upper body with straight arms, as in upward-facing dog pose. Let the hips lift off the floor slightly and look forward or slightly upward. Slide your left leg forward and position it horizontally beneath your chest with the outside of the leg on the floor. This means that the hip rotates externally like in bound angle pose. Rotate your pelvis to the left until your hips point straight forward, if you can. Repeat on the other side. This posture may not be suitable for someone with a pre-existing sacroiliac injury.
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