Child Pose

[Questioner]

I also wanted to ask you about a problem a student is having with child pose and knees to chest. Left leg @ the crease of the thigh is hurting terribly. She is flexible and is a massage therapist and has her own body worked on all the time. She is very puzzled by the pain in this area. She feels it is not a hip flexor. She thinks it is the joint capsule. Could you shed any light on what this problem is and possibly what she could do for it? Thank you

[Mukunda]

It is most likely a pressure on the hip flexors and/or adductors however it can also be the pressure of the abdominal wall or hip flexors against the inguinal ligament. When people go into these poses the hip/thigh rotates externally but compresses the groin. Often this accompanies either excessive weight or diminished rotation of the hip rotators. When this pressure is present it often helps to soften the groin tissue and on longer term work is to stretch the upper adductors -- pectineus especially then work your way to outward stretches of the adductor Magnus and longus. Underneath this issue is often a dysfunctional sacroiliac. See sacroiliac mobilizing exercise in Q & A on www.yogaforums.com where archives of sharing is kept. Blessings Mukunda