PROS AND CONS O F BONE- ON - BON E CO NTAC T I N YOGASANA PR AC TI C E BY M E L R O B I N, P h D Although bone-on-bone contact poses a seemingly unsolvable problem for yogasana beginners in some postures, it also can be an aid to performance in certain others. The aim of this article is to present several examples of how to overcome bone-on-bone contact when it is detrimental to postural alignment and joint opening and how to encourage such contacts when it offers opportunities for achieving a deeper descent into the posture while remaining aligned. This discussion focuses on bone-on-bone contact within the hip; however, a more complete discussion of this and related points involving the spine, the elbows, the shoulders, and so forth, appear in my new book, A Handbook for Yogasana Teachers: The Incorporation of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Anatomy into the Practice, available through amazon.com.
Definitions Bone-on-Bone Contact. Virtually every bone in the body is in end-to-end contact with another; thus is it that our skeleton is formed. Nonetheless, when in the extreme positions common to yogasana practice, the two bones forming a joint can interfere with one another, limiting alignment or range of motion. Also possible is the incidental contact between bones not otherwise involved in the formation of a joint. While working in the yogasanas, it may happen that further depth in a posture seems unattainable, no matter how large the effort. When up against such a dead end, it is likely that a bone is being pressed against a second bone, and progress halts because such bone-onbone contact is insurmountable. Rather than wait decades for the bones to change their shapes by remodeling and then progressing from there, it is far better to find a new approach to the yogasana that redirects the action away from bone-on-bone compression and toward muscle and connective tissue tensile stretching. This rephrasing of the problem is a wise choice, for tensile muscle stretching responds much more quickly to practice than does boneon-bone compression and its attendant discomfort. Bending at upper and Lower hinges. When bending forward, backward, or laterally from Tadasana, there are two distinct ways of performing the bend. Thus, the bend can occur within the upper hinge formed by the lower vertebrae and the ribcage. This involves unavoidable ribon-rib contact in the thoracic spine, especially when the bending is forward or lateral, or vertebra-on-vertebra contact when bending backward. Such upper-hinge bending (Figure 1A) will be firmly resisted because it is very difficult to proceed beyond the point of multiple bone-on-bone contacts. This is especially so when trying to descend in Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana, for example, where rib-on-pelvis contact is inhibiting when bending at the upper hinge. In contrast, maintaining the proper spinal alignment, the bend can occur instead at the hip joints of the lower hinge (Figure 1B). Although bending at the lower hinge sidesteps the problems of vertebra-on-vertebra, rib-on-pelvis, and rib-on-rib contacts associated with improper spinal alignment, lower-hinge bending can be problematic because the femur may suffer from bone-on-bone contact within the hip.
Yoga Samachar
Fall 2010 / Winter 2011
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