To Your Health
October 2007

Along the Mountain Path
by Sarah Kilpatrick, E.R.Y.T.

Transversus abdominus is the deepest of the four abdominal muscles. It is built like a corset around the trunk and is the only abdominal muscle which attaches to our spinal joints.
-- Spinal Stabilization, the new science of back pain, by Rick Jemmett, BSc (PT)

Julie Gudmestad, PT, yoga teacher and anatomy columnist for Yoga Journal, tells a story about many of the people she sees in her practice. They have often gone to their doctor with low back pain, and been told to strengthen their abdominals. This is good advice. Then they go home and practice crunches or sit-ups. This is a mistake! They show up in Julie's studio a couple of months later with the same low back pain, but now they have neck pain as well!

The problem with this scenario is that doing lots of crunches or sit-ups strengthens and shortens abdominus rectus, the "six pack" muscle, which runs down the front of the body on the surface. If it becomes short and tight, it pulls the breastbone down, bringing the head forward, and putting strain into the trapezius muscles in the back of the neck!

Meanwhile, it further flattens the lumbar curve and does nothing to help low back pain. In order to stabilize the low back and support the spine, you must consciously engage and strengthen the deepest layer of abdominal, transversus abdominus. Then you can lift the breastbone, bring the back of the head in line with the back of the heart, and be well! This does not mean that crunches are "wrong." The rectus is important, too. It simply won't help your aching back!

To get in touch with the "TA," we often do a "happy baby" variation. Lie on your back on a firm surface. Bend your knees and bring them up so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor, and extend your lower legs and feet out. Stretch your arms up to the ceiling, and then drop the upper arm bone into the shoulder socket, relaxing your shoulder blades to the floor. Keep the back of your neck long, and let your eyes gaze as though there were a fascinating mobile hanging over your belly! Now, draw your navel into the back, and press your back to the floor and begin to wave your arms and legs gently back and forth (same side, arms and legs!) Continue to move your arms and legs as you keep your back on the floor for 30 seconds, rest, and repeat twice more. Happy, strong baby!

Now, stand in Tadasana (basic standing alignment). As you gently draw up from the pubic bone and draw the navel in, you will feel the support in your low back. This action of drawing the navel up and in lifts the pelvic floor and engages the TA. Yogis have been doing this for thousands of years and calling it "mula bandha," the root lock. As you walk along the mountain path, may you find your support inside yourself and be free of suffering!

Namaste'.

Sarah Kilpatrick, E. R.Y.T., practices (and teaches) yoga at Mountain Path Yoga Studio on the third floor of Barman's Country Store in downtown Colville. For information about classes, call (509) 684-0965.

Care to comment? Please direct your comments to editor@ncmonthly.com.

The North Columbia Monthly provides news, views, humor and a calendar of events for an area that stretches from Nelson in British Columbia south to Spokane in Washington State and covers all points in between. A free (and free-thinking, progressive) magazine, The Monthly is available at several hundred spots throughout the region and now is also available on-line at www.ncmonthly.com. Published once a month since 1994, The Monthly is an independent magazine that often challenges contemporary wisdom by encouraging critical thinking about issues and attitudes in the region and beyond.

Featuring our one-of-a-kind "What's Happening" department, The Monthly provides the region's only all-inclusive, free listing of community events and is the first place many people check to find out about area arts, crafts, music, fairs, services and events of all kinds. Our free listing policy for the "What's Happening" department promotes diversity, cultural interaction, and the exchange of ideas and free expression. Also featured in the magazine are people, food, health, humor, and feature articles that keep readers coming back for more each month.

We can be reached by mail at The North Columbia Monthly, PO Box 541, Colville, WA 99114; by phone or fax at 509-684-3109; by email at editor@ncmonthly.com; and on the Web at www.ncmonthly.com.

©2006. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the contents or use in whole or part without written permission from the publishers is strictly prohibited. Views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publishers.