How to Release Groins of Steel

Short answer: stop digging your heels! I came to this insight as I was riding my bike (which I do every day to and from work). Basically, I realized that when I press more through the balls of my feet (which is what should be on the pedals, by the way, as opposed to your arches or some other part of your foot) as I pedal forward and straighten my leg while biking, my frontal groins release and don't tighten up as much compared to when I press equally through the ball of the foot and the heel. In other words, I plex or floint my feet while biking (without keeping them rigidly in that position) as opposed to overly dorsiflexing my foot (in essence, digging my heels as I pedal).

As you can probably tell, I am a big fan of finding ways to release the groins, since mine are made of steel. There is definitely a structural issue at stake, but that's a tendency in and of itself, which can be either exacerbated or actively coaxed towards a more middle ground.

So I had been experimenting with this idea while biking for some time and then found further to explore at a recent workshop with Doug Keller, who is very often mentioned in my posts. I don't have the opportunity to study as regularly or as much with him as I would like, but our rare encounters lead to substantial explorations, evolutions and insight. In this workshop, I learned the following mantra: big toe mounds = mobility, heels = stability. I know, right? You don't have to be complex to be brilliant!

This idea is borne out by modern anatomy theories, specifically Tom Myers' Anatomy Trains concept and related elaborations such as the work of Doug Keller, Jenny Otto, Megan Davis and others.

Here is how I see it:
The heel is one of the major bony stations or points in the Superficial Back Line (SBL) or the Postural Sutra as Doug Keller calls it. This is the line that runs from the soles of your feet, up the whole back of the body over the head and stops just above your eyebrows. It is the myofascial line in the body that allows us to stand upright and moves us fwd as we walk, and includes the amazing hamstrings and the erector spinae muscles, the latter acting like ropes to keep you erect and also being instrumental in creating the secondary curves of the spine (low back and neck).

Superficial Back Line from http://crossfitsweatshop.com/2012/07/10/superficial-back-line/

The crucial point here is that this line connects the heel to the sacrum. Thus, the heel is instrumental in creating sacroiliac (SI) joint stability. This happens not only through the clear and straightforward myofascial connections of the SBL (sole of foot-heel-calves-hamstrings-sacrotuberous ligament-erector muscles-etc.) but also through the functional connection of the SBL with the gluteal muscles. Myers places the trio of the glutes (maximus, medius and minimus) in a separate Lateral Line, but Keller functionally includes them in his postural sutra because of their central importance to posture, including low back and hip joint stability.

Keller's inclusion of the gluteals, which when properly engaged stabilize the sacrum (and are fascially connected to it, esp. the maximus), is reinforced by another connection, that of the heel and the piriformis.

Priformis in red: under the glutes from http://www.starchiropracticandnutrition.com/chiropractic-symptoms/buttock-conditions/piriformis-syndrome/

Notice how the direction of the fibers of the piriformis is very similar to that of the gluteals and how the glutes and piriformis have a strong fascial connection to the sacrum on one end and the outer top thigh on the other end. The two piriformis muscles join into one across the front of the sacrum, whereas the glutes act on the fascia that covers the top of the sacrum.  So these fasciae in essence sandwich the sacrum from the front and the back.

Consider the most basic human action: walking. At the moment when the heel strikes the ground, the piriformis force closes the SI joint to literally prevent it from dislocating (this is one of the reasons we can walk and not fall apart at the seams!). Then, if all goes well, the weight travels to the pinky toe mound (base of 5th metatarsal), creating the lateral arch of the foot in the process. Then, we move from the pinky toe mound to the big toe mound (creating the transverse arch), at which point we push off the ground with the big toe mound (creating the medial arch of the foot or the spring in your step, basically activating the deep core line in the body) and contract the back line of the body (hamstrings and glutes, for example) to free that leg off the ground, swing it forward and start all over again.

Why all this? To demonstrate that the heel is indeed a fundamental point of stability in the body. However, to paraphrase Jenny Otto, we first need to find release in order to create meaningful (read: optimal, healthy, effective) engagement. If you are already tight, bound and wound up, your attempt to engage will result in over-contraction, gripping and overworking.

This is where the plexing/flointing of the foot comes in and the idea of big toe mound = mobility. If you are having trouble with the idea of plexing and flointing, just think of what your foot does in the push off phase of walking (described above), an action of "stepping on the gas" which translates up through the ankle, the deep posterior compartment of the shin and then onto the inner thighs, pelvic floor and iliopsoas complex, that is, your groins!

How does this translate into practice? The simplest and most efficient way to feel what I am talking about (the idea is courtesy of Doug Keller) is to come into a low lunge with the right foot forward to start and your fingertips in cup shape on either side of the foot (or hands on blocks if the floor is to far away and you are starting to hunch in the back) like this:

Low lunge from http://freretstreetyoga.com/asanas.html

Now, lift your front heel slightly off of the floor, with the weight placed on the ball of the big toe, and feel how this not only activates the inner arch of the foot and lifts the inner thighs to the bone, allowing the thigh to spiral out a bit, but also allows the groins to  release, lengthen and descend. The see-saw principle is at work here (allowing the top of the thigh bone to settle into the hip socket). Here is a visual (in a more advanced version) of what I am talking about demonstrated beautifully by Shawn Parell (look at front foot and leg):

Shawn Parell from http://www.shawnparell.com/#!services/ck0q

To me, this is active release or freed engagement, because it simultaneously activates and releases the deep core line of the body. After you feel that, you can slowly release your outer heel to the floor to create stability. You can experiment with this idea in many other poses: warrior 1, warrior 2, side angle, for example.

I also find this extremely helpful and beneficial in externally rotated poses such as reclined ankle over knee pose (sucirandhrasana or eye of the needle pose):

Eye of the needle pose from http://www.freretstreetyoga.com/asanas.html

The standard instruction here (and one I have given plenty of times) is to flex the top foot so as to protect the knee. However, notice how this locks the groin/inner thigh as well as the outer hip areas and is, in essence, digging your heels but in a different spatial orientation. Now, floint/plex your foot like we discussed (with the inner and outer ankle hugging evenly towards the midline) and feel how the inner thigh releases from the pubic bone towards the inner knee, the thigh bone spirals out, and the outer thigh/hip area is not gripping for dear life. For more advanced practitioners, this idea can really help in your explorations of padmasana (lotus pose). Please note that none of the above in any way implies sickling the ankle like this:

Sickled ankle (green outline)-- a sure way to hurt the ankle and the knee above it. From http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/ankle-exercises.

Finally, here is a video of a supta baddha konasana variation--this is an active groin release, not a passive one. It involves a strap, so go get one (the longer the better; if not, you might need to connect two straps to make a long one). The video will show you how to loop the strap around your feet, shins and thighs. Notice that the heels are not together in this variation, only the toes and the balls of the feet are touching, the heels never touch. Once you get there, anchor your upper arm bones against the floor. As you pull on the tails of the strap, actively press the balls of the feet into each other and resist the heels away from each other (same idea as above). At the same time, lift your heels away from the floor, as if someone is prodding the outer heels and the outer edges of the feet up from underneath. By this time, you will probably feel a stretch from the pubic bone through the upper inner thigh. Don't forget to breathe and keep space between the upper and lower jaw. Also, your buttocks will be working, but don't confuse working with overworking and gripping. If you feel like you are gripping, think of broadening the buttocks away from the sacrum and lengthening the center of the buttocks away from the top of the pelvis in the back. Finally, check once or twice to see that the heels are evenly lifting away from the floor. Often one will be higher than the other, as in the upright version--you  might also be able to discern this from the tone of your buttocks against the floor/mat. Enjoy! Let me know what you think and if this was helpful.

Thank you for reading! A bientôt!!

Levator Scapulae: Perp or Vic?

You can't integrate the pieces until you can differentiate them, and that for most people is a big deal - most people don't even register on a sensory level that there's a distinction between their shoulder blades and their upper back.

-Leslie Kaminoff

This quote appeared in my inbox, just as this post was taking form in my head. How appropriate!

I became acutely aware of my levator scapulae muscle the other day after practicing something (on purpose) that I was going to tell my students not to do in their practice. So I went on a little investigation to see why this muscle can sometimes feel like it was expressly placed there by the celestial design committee (expression courtesy of the wonderful Donna Farhi) to make you miserable.

The levator scapulae as its name implies is the elevator of the shoulder blade. That's the muscle that you use to hold the phone between your shoulder and your ear, when you hands are occupied with doing something else. Here is a visual of how this muscle attaches to the upper inner corner of your shoulder blade at the bottom and the first four cervical vertebrae at the top:

Levator Scapule from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Levator_scapulae_muscle_animation_small2.gif

What does it looks like to you? Yes, that's right. The reins of a horse. So in addition to lifting the shoulder blade, the levator scapulae can also quite effectively and painfully contract to keep the top of your neck (those first 4 cervical vertebrae) from going forward, that is, it would pull them down and back, exactly like someone pulled the reins of a horse to stop it from going further.

Now, let me introduce splenius cervicis:

Splenius cervicis from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Splenius_cervicis_muscle_animation_small.gif

What is the difference with the levator scapulae? The main difference is that the splenius (which means bandage and plaster) attaches from your neck to your upper back whereas the levator attaches from your neck to your shoulder blade. And this is profound: kind of like of the realization from the quote above.

As Thomas Myers likes to say, stabilization and support of the head are most optimally (not the same as most efficiently or expediently) effected as "an entirely axial event." The axial skeleton consists of the human skull, the ossicles of the middle ear, the hyoid bone of the throat, the rib cage, sternum and the vertebral column. (My understanding of the body tells me that the pelvis should be included in this list too, but I'll stop here and don't go an a tangent.) As you can see the shoulder blades are missing from this list with good reason. They are much more movable than either of the ribs or vertebrae, and have a lot more inherent motion in them by virtue of being connected to the arms and hands, the latter being perhaps unrivaled in their ability for exquisiteness, sensitivity and refinement. So this quite simply makes the shoulder blades an unstable base from which to support the neck/head.

Further, when the levator scapulae gets bullied in supporting the head (for example, when we are tense and hunched over a computer; or when we walk with our head down while checking the latest and greatest on our smart phone, but we still need to look up somewhat; or when we are biking), then a myriad other shoulder muscles get involved compounding the misery for your upper back and neck. Some of these are the upper traps, rhomboids, and pecs, but tension, drag and pull can result along any of the 4 arm lines, which I have described here in conjunction with downward-facing dog. To add to the complexity, bear in mind that these myofascial arm tracks have multiple crossovers among them, which make our arms and hands the miracles that they are, but also augment the task of figuring out what is going on and how to address it.

What can be done to relieve the levator scapulae of the unwanted burden of keeping the neck/head from going forward? Simply, we learn to differentiate between it and the splenius cervicis and its brother, splenius capitis. However, a few other issues need to be addressed first before we attempt to do that.

First, we need to bring the head back from its forward position (reason #1 for the levator scapulae overworking). For this, you can read my post on neck smiling. You can skip to the third to last paragraph.

We also need to ensure that the chest is opened properly. For clear and intelligent instruction on that, check out Doug Keller's article for relieving upper back and neck pain. The quick and easy is that the habitually tight pec minor needs to be released and lengthened so that the low traps can draw the shoulder blades down the back and away from the base of the neck. The shoulder blades also release down the back with external rotation of the arms (for example, warrior 2 with the palms turned up, so that the whole arm is externally rotated).

When we have that knowledge and awareness—Is the head jutting forward of the spine or is the neck smiling and extending? Is the chest closed and shoulder blades creeping up towards the neck or is the chest open and broad and the shoulder blades releasing the down the back?—then we can turn to the task of differentiating between the levator scapulae and the splenii brothers that prevent the head from going forward.

The splenii muscles are part of the lateral and spiral lines in Anatomy Trains speak. In yoga terms, these are the lines that are stretched and strengthened with lateral poses like trikonasana, parighasana, parsvokonasana, vasistasana, side bends and the like, and twists or revolved poses. I won't go into detail, but here is a visual of both (note: yes, there is overlap between these two myofascial tracks):

Lateral line from http://www.sportsrehabexpert.com/public/472.cfm

Spiral line from http://www.sportsrehabexpert.com/public/472.cfm

In addition to keeping the head from going forward, the splenii assist with head rotation. I think that a good way to feel the splenii and see how they work is with a twist. I shot the video below this morning to help with the description.

Sit on the edge of a chair with the thigh bones mostly off the chair seat, fairly parallel with each other. Remember to take the top of the throat up and back (neck smile) and keep your chest open and broad. Take your right fingertips at the base of your skull—under the occiput and a bit to the side such that your fingertips are under the lateral part of the occipital ridge and the mastoid process (you'll see in the video)—with the elbow pointing forward and slightly higher than your shoulder. With your other hand, nudge the lats and the teres into engaging to take the outer edge of your right shoulder blade onto your back. Keep your gaze diffuse (i.e. more peripheral vision than staring somewhere in particular) and direct it slightly down and to the right as if  you are trying to look at your right elbow crease. You will feel the splenii muscles contract under your fingertips and start turning your head to the right, at the spot where your skull and your spine meet. Follow the twist from the top of the spine down through the upper back, keeping the right shoulder blade down the back by reaching out and slightly up on the diagonal from the elbow as you draw the shoulder blade onto the back (if it starts creeping up, the levator scapulae has probably kicked in and you might feel that your neck in no longer smiling). Twist to the best of your ability, keeping the eyes soft, reaching up through the crown of the head, having space between the upper and lower teeth. If you feel this around and under your shoulder blade, as well as the sides of the torso (see lateral line photo above), you are probably on the right track. Also remember to keep both collarbones broadening and the opposite shoulder blade releasing down the back. Come back to center and go to the other side (when I turn away from the camera, you will see that my right shoulder blade needs a lot of convincing to stay on my back):

 http://youtu.be/mrvGfflT5Js

I have called the levator scapulae a villain, but as Jenny Otto once said, it is the victim that screams not the perpetrator.

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you have any questions and please share if you found this helpful in any way!