Q: I was trying to find yoga poses that were designed to stabilize the hips and pelvis and prevent a sideways rotation. I do a lot of stabilizing exercises and my hips are in alignment but my pelvis turns to one side so that my centre of gravity is turned to my right and takes my ribcage along with it. My centre of gravity seems to have shifted to the right hand side instead of being directly in front of my hips. I do a lot of meditation and I keep getting a strong feeling to do Yoga, which I do small amount of but I don’t know which asana’s would target my problem.

A: Our bodies are complex structures and often function altruistically. When one part of our body is not performing optimally, another part must compensate. Our biomechanics can be altered dramatically due something such as a weak or tight muscle.

During gait, the pelvis and lumbar (low) spine are intimately connected. In a normal gait cycle, the lumbar transversospinalis muscles (rotatores and multifidi) function to rotate the lumbar spine to the same side that they are located on. These muscles contract to pull the torso to the opposite side of the leg that is in extension. For example, if our right leg is in extension, the lumbar spine will rotate to the left to bring the upper and lower body into equilibrium.

If your pelvis is rotated to the right, your lumbar rotatores and multifidi will likely be shortened. If hip extension on your right side is limited due to shortened hip flexors (psoas, iliacus, rectus femoris, tensor fascia latae (TFL)), the left lumbar transversospinalis muscles will have to lengthen to compensate for this lack of movement. This will therefore create an inequality between the right and left transversospinalis groups, leaving the right side shortened and the left side lengthened.

A decreased range of motion through the hip flexors will wreak havoc in the body. Since the psoas attaches from the lumbar spine and attached into the femur, it functions as both a hip flexor and a lumbar spine stabilizer. If this muscle is too tight, not only can it affect lumbar spinal rotation, it will affect the lumbar lordosis (lumbar spinal curve) by increasing it, thereby intensifying the load placed on the upper lumbar vertebrae.

Other muscles are likely contributing to the pelvic rotation that you are experiencing. A thorough assessment by a health care practitioner will inform you of where the root of your rotation lies. Opening the hip flexors in Warrior I and lengthening through the right transversospinalis group in poses such as Half Lord of the Fishes Pose and Mariachi’s Pose could be beneficial for you at this point in time.

There can be other reasons for a rotated pelvis: weakness, muscular inhibition, and skeletal anomalies, among others. However, these are the most likely muscular causes of a rotated pelvis. Get yourself assessed to determine the cause of the rotation so that you can safely and properly determine the right course of action for your body.

Read Other Articles by Dr. Carla Cupido:
Yoga and Proprioception

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