Sciatica Relief Mat

Hi, everybody. It's Amy here at Pilates anytime, and I have a more gentle class today. This is really for those of us. I'm included. Those of you who've ever had a sciatica flayer. Or about of sciatica. And my guess is maybe everybody has or, likely, you will sometime in your life.

It's actually quite normal. This is a wonderful class for some relief from some sciatica symptoms. Okay? What you're going to need is a small hand towel rolled up folded or a small pillow. I have a hand towel. A I have a yoga strap, but a belt would do if you're a gentleman or you can borrow a gentleman's belt or a yoga strap, something sturdy, not a theraband. And we're gonna use a chair and a yoga block. If you don't have a yoga block, you could do a standing up on a set of books that would also work. We just need to get you up off the ground for something, one exercise. Okay? So sciatica, let's just start actually with our legs apart, and I wanna bring awareness, light tapping to your pelvis.

First, just anywhere along your pelvis here. Sides front, but we're gonna pay special amount of attention to I'm gonna turn around our low back, which is the base of our spine, sacrum right between the cheeks, and the sides of the pelvis. Why are we tapping? Tapping is a way to bring energy and awareness into specific areas. Nerve endings are in there.

Our nervous system is waking up, and I'm gonna just put it in the awareness box. Okay? And that's the area that we wanna focus on quite a bit here and relieve some discomfort. So let's get our way to the mat. Any way you'd like, I would advise though, not a roll down. Is a sit down. Alright?

And have your props nearby. I want you to lie back on your back. And it's always important to bring awareness to how we are weight distribution wise on the back of our body and right to left. And especially if we talk about this pelvis, which we're going to, I'm gonna put my hands right on my two iliums, right, and pell left pelvic calf. And if you're especially if you're in a flare up, I'm gonna say this might be the affected side.

I'm touching my right buttock, which I have had it in my right buttock before. So I know it does feel like Let's call that the affected side. Often, we wanna level our pelvis. Right? We wanna get as level as possible. So take a moment. If you feel like you're tipped take the time to feel the back. I'm gonna roll again to my side.

That sacrum right there, the base of your spine, that you're not left or right of center. Ideally, we're right in the middle. And I can't encourage that enough to stop and really feel that. Okay? The other place, though, with with sciatica, depending on where your sciatica is coming from. I'm gonna move my arms up like this. You might feel better getting organized with your pelvis.

Watch this. A little bit tilted back. A little little bit. We're not forcing this. It might feel like the right thing to do. Let's not. No force ever. It's weight distribution.

Right? Here would be a not to do alignment. I'm gonna start right away with this that big arch back there. If you're that person and you feel like that You're gonna wanna have your pillow or your towel in there right away to support that so that you are not arching your spine. Alright? We were gonna actually bias a little more on the opposite, but ideally would be level. So all of those words, get that connected, and we're going to breathe. I'm a big fan of taking big breath.

Fill up the rib cage. Fill up the back. Fill up, of course, your lungs. When you exhale, we're not changing the structure. We're just letting the air come out.

Breath is so essential for calming the nervous system. So if you're in pain and you're in discomfort, we wanna bring that in and welcome that. Slow things down, no hurry or rushing, create space within, and does alleviate discomfort a lot of the time. Okay? So another couple breaths. Let's start adding a pelvic tilt. So I'm gonna keep my hands just on my pelvis again. And during the exhale phase, everybody, now we're all going to move that pelvis very gently into feeling the lumbar bones touch the mat, it's very gentle.

Inhale come back to the level place that you just came from. Super small, exhale, and rocking. And then returning. We do wanna mobilize that lumbosacral area that is affected with the compression that is usually associated and the cause of some of our sciatica problem and discomfort. And as we're doing these movements here, I I'll re remind us, you know, true sciatica is diagnosed by a PT or a doctor. Because they've scanned us, they've done an MRI or other scan to validate and for sure you have a compressive problem down there. Some of us have symptoms that feel like sciatica that could be just other referred pain issues.

I'll talk about that along the class. But if you've really been diagnosed, good for you. I would say everyone should If you think you've got it, go to a doctor, go to a PT, get a scan, rule it out. Right? Okay. So let's move on. So we're gonna take that pelvic tilt and move it a little bit more into a bridge. So I keep moving my arms just so you can kind of see what's happening.

When we do bridging, I'm asking us to go stay very low because I don't want that lumbar area to go into any arching or extension, which could make that flare a little bit more extreme. And then come back down. We are trying to lengthen and create space between all of those segments down low. Alright? And let's go again. So rocking to pelvic tilt.

Press your feet into the mat. You're gonna feel how the glutes connect. That's essential. Now you've lifted your above the ground. Can you bring awareness and work into your abdominal muscles?

Pull those up, pull the side abdominals up, and make your hamstrings work a little bit. I like to think of my hamstrings making ball like shapes in the back of my thighs. And when we come down, think of and feel every vertebra trying to reach away from the one above it. Alright? Couple more. I'll lower my arms now.

Rock to pelvic tilt. A little bridge, we want glutes to be stronger. We need stronger glutes to help support our lower back where a lot of that compression is taking place which is sending us into some sciatica symptoms. Strong glutes. Right? But sometimes strengthening the glutes, if you arch your low back too much, that could add the compression back in, which we're trying to avoid.

So we're doing pretty modified, range of motion here. Okay. Go ahead, everybody, and lower yourself back down. So I want you to take one leg into your chest. Just fold a leg to your chest. You can thread your hands behind your thigh.

Now as you're holding this, and if this is your affected side, that might already feel like a really wonderful stretch around your buttock, which is where that sciatic nerve pain is usually very present. We're not pelvic tilting if we can help it. Right? Just hold this. You could lightly press your thigh into your hands and check your weight distribution on your pelvis. Hopefully, you're not leaning one side or the other.

Let's go ahead and change sides and breathe. Welcome in that full breathing, that full expansion. Pain can be frustrating. So keeping your system calm is essential. Keeping your mind quiet. Let's go back to the first leg We'll add a little something if you feel you'd like to try.

Again, though, this is completely fine just here. And depending on your pain scale, this might be all you need to do. But if you want to go a little bit more, aim the knee to the opposite shoulder. So it looks like this. I'm gonna change my hand position.

And by aiming that leg over the midline a little bit, you'll feel how that tissue fans open slightly. I'm gonna extend my other leg. That adds to the sensation. And I'm gently aiming me to shoulder. And you're breathing.

It's important not to pick this hip up like this. That could be more compression going on in your lumbar. So you want a long waistline. Okay. Let's change sides. Take that bottom leg and just slide it up.

Need to chest. And again, that could be your first one. And you can also aim that knee across to the opposite shoulder. Hands on the outside. You can slide your bottom leg long. It feels so good.

And then again, just fanning that tissue open on the side of your hip. Take some deep breaths. And my recommendation is because sciatic is usually one-sided. Do this affected side one more time. Why don't we? I'm gonna bring my right leg up.

It feels good. I'm not in a flare. I have been in one before, but that just feels good. You feel how that opens up. There's that wonderful muscle we all hear about in here called the piriformis that usually gets kinda takes a bad rap and it can be pressing on that sciatic nerve that runs out of the sacrum and the lumbar vertebra of facet joints. And this relieves It's one of the things that can really relieve the the discomfort. Alright.

Let's go ahead and place the feet back on the mat and do one more pelvic tilt a little bridge. And we're gonna hold it for ten counts. So we're holding ten, nine, eight seven. You can count six five four three two one. Just feel the strength in there. You might be able to feel the work in your buttocks more now after you've having a stretch on there.

And then, again, as you roll down, it's gonna be nice and subtle. Next, we're doing an active figure four stretch. And also, I'd like you to have your strap handy in case. Alright? So active. What do I mean by that? Let's fold the leg. Again, this is my affected leg.

I'm gonna have you flex your foot. And instead of just isometrically holding this, which is fine, I want you to move your thigh over the other thigh. You feel that it will open and lengthen that lateral hip compartment again. And that might be just enough for you. Or if you want more, I'd go back to the cross.

You could have hands behind thigh and pick your legs up pretty typical position. Or if that's too much, thank goodness for all the props that we have. You thread that behind, use your strong arms, and you help yourself up. Right? Now if you're in a big amount of pain, you'll want some some help. So hold this.

Try not to compress your low back so, strong on the floor. Breathe deeply. You can flex your ankle. Right? And if you don't need the strap anymore, try your hands. There's something nice about your own hands helping your own stretch. And you could also then do very subtle weight shifts side to side, very subtle.

Are you breathing deeply? Yep. How long would I hold these thirty seconds or so? Sometimes you'll your intuition will say, that's enough, and you'll listen to that intuition, and that's that's what you do. Alright. Let's go ahead and change that to the other leg now. So step out gently unloop yourself thank goodness for all our props.

And then second leg comes up ankle over knee. We started with the active stretch. I'm gonna flex my ankle and then just slide that shin across to the knee. Once again, I think this is good for anybody, whether you've got sciatica or not. But if you're not feeling a lot and you wanna add a little more, here's where we take that strap and thread it behind.

Right? Use that and support yourself to pick up your legs toward your chest. Remember, I'm gonna show you. Try not to go too far. Oh, it's tempting. It's tempting. It's tempting. Try to keep that pelvis at a very level, congruent place.

We're trying not to compress the lumbar spine any more than it already has been in. Okay? If you don't need your strap, use your wonderful arms and hands, bring that leg in. Again, you can add some crossing, a little rocking. And just like we did on the knee to chest, if you want the affected side to feel it, go back to it. Once again, maybe this time you don't even need your strap. You can just go right in and see, ah, there's a little more relief. Okay? So while we're there, I'm gonna ask everybody to hold, put the bottom foot down, Class your hands around that thigh or use your strap. I'll show the strap once.

Just hook it. I want you to do a hamstring stretch. Now this is when we're working toward getting the legs straight. Some of you won't get your knees straight. It's okay. But rather than just to stick the leg up and hold it there, I love this little foot movement. And it's I like the thing of it as like a vine.

Creeping vine, growing up a wall because sunshine is asking it to grow and follow. What's happening is that's the nerves that run down the back of the leg, we're giving them space and movement. I'm not just yanking and holding on the leg, and that is a tremendous stretch. Reach for the sun. Right? And then release it and just relax the knee.

Why the strap? Well, I was just helping myself. Right? And my thighs do it again. Thigh is pressing against the strap, creating a little bit of se stability in the stretching and the movement. If you don't need your strap, I'll show the next one without it, but just keep moving that. Something known as flossing nerve flossing.

You can add a few ankle pumps at the top. You'll really feel it there. If this is your affected leg, go easy. It should never hurt. It should never hurt.

You'll feel sensation, but no pain ever. K? And then take it out. If you're using your hands, it's the same thing. Releaving that pressure on your back and on your hip, and then flexing point. Gentle. Yes. A few circles. And we'll do our other leg. Take a nice deep breath and then bring that side down.

And maybe just do a compare contrast how the two legs are feeling. I'll just show the second leg with no belt. I'll do the belt. It feels nice. So the hamstring stretch. And snaking that foot, the thigh can be at 90 degrees.

It can be closer to the chest. It could be farther away. Go to where there's no discomfort. Working toward getting our legs straight, reach for the sky, and then flex at the knee. Round two and It's following some vine like motion and imagery up a wall.

Right? And you can add some extra ankle pumps. And then one more without the strap. And I'm lightly pressing my thigh into my hands working to lengthen and create space for that nerve to flow and be decompressed in the lumbar spine. And the sacrum, and then your circles. Okay. Good. Everybody. Awesome.

Bring your feet back down. Now, we're gonna do something. One side. Let's say this again, the affected side. A knee fall out or a thigh fall out. And I just I'm asking you to go real minor here. Easy does it. Are you evenly weighted on your pelvis right to left?

Please be so. Pull the abdominal support to your back. I'm in my neutral. So I'm just letting my femur open and close. Let's do the other side a few times. Again, we're endeavoring to stay very level.

Gentle stretch on the inner thigh and gentle work on the outer thigh, adding to that. You're gonna open that thigh. Now I'd like you to straighten that leg down. And then re bend your knee and circle it around and place your foot. We'll do three or four each side.

So you're lengthening without arching your back, without adding more compression in your lumbar spine. And getting some movement in the hip. Sometimes our hip can be the culprit. If we're kinda tied in around the hip can be what's causing some of that pain. So other side.

So I Pilates is so amazing. For sciatica, so many of our fundamental things create amazing relief. Just letting that leg slide. Open your hip. Easy does it one more. Alright.

So instead of doing table top, I want everyone crease one thigh toward your chest. Keep your pelvis pretty level and bring the other thigh towards your chest. I don't want you tabletop. Now hold your stomach in. You're not over flexing your or flattening your back.

And start to generate these movements of your thigh bones just out and out, like, little pistons. This is a sequence I learned a long time ago. It's very good for rooting in your abdominals and pelvic stability and your spine stability. That can be quite a bit if you want a little more adding some strength where you can feel the floor and the foot to the floor. Root in with your tummy.

Of course, more challenging. If you're looking for it, you would reach your foot farther out be ready. If you feel any twinge of, don't do it. Okay? I'm just gonna count down four and three and two and one, and then bring both feet back to the floor. Easy does it with both legs side to side. Okay. Great. So we're about to turn on to our stomach now, everybody. So just roll over to your stomach now.

I will say use your towel here or your small pillow. And I want you to so I'm gonna fold mine like that just in half. And we're gonna place our pelvis on that, and the front of your pelvis, and your hands can just be stacked and place your forehead down. Now why the towel? We need some support Again, this lumbar area, base of your spine, lumbar four five, sacral one two three, all of that. If you're dealing with this compression, the towel is gonna lift you a little bit. And we're gonna do some exercise with our abdominal muscles underneath us and really work to lengthen that tailbone to our heels. So watch again.

If I'm not in it, here a look, It could be ouchy down there. I'm gonna pull my stomach up the front and really work to lengthen the tailbone to the mat. That feels so good. Okay. Breathing in. Breathing out. Hold that work.

That might be all you do. If you're feeling okay and you wanna try the next part, which is a little mini swan or mini cobra, I'm gonna move my elbows out. And I wanna raise my upper body up We do want to strengthen our back with this symptom of sciatica. We're not gonna, you know, not strengthen it, but I've got to keep that long tailbone to heels. Right? If that's just too much, you're going back down.

If you're okay, we're gonna hold it for about fifteen seconds. But you're not doing nothing. You're really pulling your stomach up and your tailbone to your heels. So another tricky thing is if you have any of the s's, scoliosis, stenosis, spondylolisthesis, this may not feel great. You're gonna be a candidate for staying down lower.

Maybe. It's hard to tell you because I can't see you. So we're just we're giving you options. Right? So four head down. I want you to lengthen that tailbone again. Press your shoulders down your back, and I want you to do a very small, very small and low, single leg lift, alternating legs.

This is for your buttocks. Not going too high to make your back muscles do too much work. I'm I'm barely coming off the mat. Your weight distribution, again, is even on the front of your pelvis. If you feel any pain with this single leg lift, you're not doing it. Just don't do it.

Okay. But We do need to strengthen those glutes. We do need to strengthen our hamstrings, the muscles that extend the hip, one more each side. Okay. And then we're gonna build something here, a very slow swan like movement. So get that tailbone long.

Try to decompress the spaces down there. Pull the stomach up. Feel that security and that support. Keep it as you raise your head off of your hands a little. We do want the back to be strong and lower your head.

Now you can try that what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take both feet barely off the mat, legs, and then lower back down. Let's complete that again. So upper body, Later this would be swan dive, but I'm breaking it way down. Get your tailbone long and try to lift your legs.

Use your buttocks muscles, not your back. Two more. Let's lift. And down, leg extension, hip extension, and down one more time, everybody, and lift, and lower, well done. Good. And then rest. Okay.

Wiggle your tail a little. Just give her a little wiggle. Wonderful. I want you to come up into a a kind of a child's pose like position. Not really a round back, separate your knees and reach your pelvis back. I want you to let your sit bones be open.

You can have your elbows come down on the mat. And just breathe here. Now if that's putting any pressure on your low back, you're gonna be somebody who curves more. And just take a few breaths into this position. So a lot of these movements we've been doing so far have been more on on the releasing side of things.

We're gonna do one more known as the z sit. So z sit is this right angle here and ideally a right angle back there and bringing your body forward over the front leg. So it has a stretch component to this hip area. Think you all can feel that. And come forward. If this isn't working for your knee, you're not gonna do the exercise.

But I want you to lean up and down a little, put weight in your hands, check your breathing, You're right. So this is a huge stretch, glutes, deep piriformis, and up into your lower back area. Hopefully feels good. And again, if it doesn't, you just don't do it. Okay? One more time, and we'll do the other hip, and then a little cat cow, and then we're gonna do some harder things. More loading kind of movements. Alright? So as you come out of it, swing your legs to the other side, a right angle, relative right angle, and hands forward, and your chest is over your thigh.

I'm just gonna kinda move it. So it's a little more of an active release or active stretch for the glutes. Three or four. I'm gonna do about eight of those. Again, I think these feel good no matter. If you're having a sciatic fillet or not.

Alright. And we're gonna do a little cat cow easy does it. Alright? So come on to hands and knees. We're not doing the archie part, though. We're not gonna do the archie part because, again, we don't wanna compress this base area. We're trying to keep those segments open and open, decompressed. So neutral is best.

Sholders over wrists. You know your neutrals. And if anything, let's go into the round aspect of cat. A very small one is fine. Bigger is fine. Pressing the tops of the feet helps out, and then just return into your neutral.

It's so tempting to do the other one. Try not to, please. And exhale round. Opening up those facet joints, opening up the spaces that the discs might be too close together where the vertebra too close together compressed. We want to decompress.

Alright. One more time, breathing in. Create space. That's also what the breath helps for. Okay, team. We're gonna come back down on our back with some strengthening now. Okay. Not that that wasn't, but this is a little bit different. So come on down. We're doing loading.

We need to get stronger here and in our hips. Get your strap ready. You might need that. We're gonna bring the towel back over here. Okay. Bring one leg toward a 90 degrees now.

Hands in front of your thigh. Level pelvis, easy spine, and ribs. Take a breath. I want you to press this thigh into your hands. Your hands are pushing back on the thigh. It's an isometric for your core. Just hold and hold and hold and then change the energy. We'll do three. Ready? If this zings anywhere, lean your pelvis back into a slight pelvic tilt, ever so slight.

Hold, hold, hold, and then release the energy. One more time. Deep breathe, exhale, feel your stomach engage. Hold, hold, hold. I think three is fine.

Let's change legs. You don't need to do too many. Quality over quantity. Here we go. You can have your leg at 90. You could also have your chin down.

It's the femur pressing the hands. Ready? Press. Hold, hold, and hold, and change the energy. And press two, three. Change the energy. One more and press two, three, and relax. One try two.

Let's see. Now if you do two, it's kinda back in that piston land. Right? You may need to have your back a little bit in that flat back rather than in neutral. Let's see what shows up. Take a breath. Both knees into both hands. The stomach is supporting our back and then relax the energy. And strengthen, go press two, three, and feel all of that's happening in your middle right now, because we're gonna need that when we do sideline, which is next.

So feel what you're feeling here. Right? And then relax all the way down. Okay. Place your feet down and just toggle your legs for a moment. Now I want you to roll onto your side. I'm gonna roll facing you first on the low level.

You can have your towel Underneath your head if you want to, I'm just gonna use my arm and my pillow. We've all done clams many, many times, but I will say they're great for the glutes. If you're in a flare, you may wanna just do a very small range of movement here. Okay? I'm on my non affected side, and we're gonna start with just some easy clams. I chose not to use a loop thera band for resistance because it could make it too much if you're having some sciatica flare up. I think joint motion is safer than adding load to it or too much load.

If you're not in a flare, feel free to go for it. Ready. And then one more time. So we're gonna add a little bit to that. Let's lift those feet up. Keep your waistline long and then more clamps.

And two, we'll head for eight. Three, and four. Good. Five. And six. And seven.

And eight. And then lower the feet. Just take that top leg long. Get long on both sides of your back and just a pure hip abduction. Again, we're adding strength for the hips. All of that glute work is to help support the lumbar joints, the sacral joints.

And seven and eight. Okay. If you're feeling good like I am, let's come up on our elbow. Okay. This could be tricky. You're gonna be on that elbow, but turn your palm face down. You're gonna come up on that elbow. Lift your hip and press your hips forward, you can hold this or you can add, let's go four.

Three little different load. If this is too much, you don't do it. You can always build up to it and then four more clamps. And two, keep your hips forward. Three, and four. We really wouldn't need to do a whole lot more than that. Okay? Just swing on over to the other side.

Starting down low, bend that elbow, knees are stacked, hips are stacked, ankles are stacked, and we're clamming. Both sides of the back are long. We're trying not to have this hip hiking, which could equate to the compression in those lower back joints. And six. Go ahead. Seven.

And eight. Feed up and be mindful. So if you're in a flare, you might be this person. See how small I went. I'm not in a flare.

I'm gonna go for it. But we're working the external rotators right now, which is our piriformis is in that group. So if you're in it and you just don't wanna do this section, you just don't. Okay. And eight. And then you lower down.

And peer hip abduction one. Get nice and long. Reach out through that heel, lengthen from your waist. And your lower back, and five, strengthening glutes to support the joints of the lower back, and eight. We're gonna come up on our elbow.

Here we go. Palm down. Everything is the same. Lift up onto that elbow and then press your pelvis forward so you're active here and then hip abduction. Two, again, if this is too much, you're not doing it yet.

And four, and then four clams, one. Keeping the hips forward, and three, and four. And then press your hips down. Okay. We're gonna come up again on quadruped. I'm gonna face this way.

So something with sciatic, I think, it might be a misunderstanding is stretch, stretch stretch. We we wanna stretch it. It being the sciatic nerve or the discomfort. Yes. And we need to strengthen because because it's a one-sided event, one side's needing to be strong. Right? One side's probably compressed.

One side's not. So we need to work on strengthening and finding that balance between both sides. We can't just stretch. Okay. So on we go, quadruped. Alright. You're neutral. We're not arching. We're not rounding.

We're gonna be neutral. I'm gonna take one leg behind you into hip extension, reach back through your heel and lift your leg just a little. Squeeze your bottom. It should not be arching your back like that ouch. Right? So you're just nice and straight.

Bring it in. Kick it down. Kick. Now low is better than high, long is always what we want. And seven, good, and eight, other side. Go slowly, stretch it out first, heal, if all feels good, and just keep repeating.

You could also just do slow one at a time. You don't have to do all eight. Hit points facing the floor. Stomach up is in. Right. You're not lifting high long and low.

One more everybody reach back and in. Okay. We're gonna go for modified plank We can do it. You can do it. It's great for your back. Come down on your elbows. Now tuck your toes down.

Separate your knees. I've got my hands here together. You can have them down this way. Either one is fine. Pull that stomach in without rounding too much.

You're definitely not gonna arch, and then just lift your knees up. It may look funny, but it's a good exercise, and then set your knees down. Reset your shoulders. Take your breath. Ready.

Keep long in that low back and sacrum. Hold. Hold. Hold. And one more.

And, eventually, you do a full plank with no pain. One, two, three and lower. And once again, shift back. And like I said, eventually, we're all gonna do those regular planks. We're all gonna get back to it. We're if we're in a flare, we've just gotta be mindful of not overdoing it.

It's just no point. Okay. We're coming up to standing for a few things. You can move your props. So I love this. We're gonna work with our chair and our yoga block.

You need to or your stack of books, and we're just gonna use the chair for a little balance, place your block down, I'm standing on the block with my unaffected leg and just stand on there. We wanna be up and elevated so that this leg, you're just gonna do easy swing. Feel so nice. Gravity is helping traction the leg down. So you have some freedom in and around your hip joint and your back.

It's not about a big high leg behind you. If anything, it's more about lifting up in the front. Easy. Now I am gonna show the other side, but if you're in a flare up, don't do the other side. I would recommend, especially after tractioning this one, but just to see it.

And for myself to be equal. And if you're not in a flare up for you to feel equal, but just stepping back on that, if this was the compressed side, it it could feel a little, back here. If it doesn't feel achy, go ahead and do it. Right. And or like I did before, you could do the affected side one more round, which I think would be lovely to try here. And up.

Ah, let the leg be heavy. Let it swing. Good. Squats would be things we could start to build into programming for glute strength, etcetera. But what we're gonna do next, everybody is just come off your block. No more need for the block.

We're just gonna sit in and share. As you sit in your chair, get to the very front edge of your chair. I like to show this for everybody with back pain in general, is to find a way to sit with decompression back here because a lot of times we're sitting and we go into the slouch right away. Or overarching the back, make those fists and put them right here by your hips or the heels of your hands, if your arms are long enough, and push down with your arms and lift yourself up a little. We're in essence trying to traction the spine, just like you did standing.

So let your pelvis be heavy, support with your tummy up and lower. And you'll probably notice that takes a lot of pressure off your lumbar, sacral joints, k? And then the objective is to when you sit back down to keep that sense of levity, keep that sense of suspension, take your affected leg, oh, boy, cross over, and see what happens. Can you hold it? Yep. You can also rock a little bit. Yes. It's a figure four again.

Stretching is good, strengthening is good. We want the balance. Good. If you're ever in question about the sciatica issue, if you're taking this class with us and you haven't been diagnosed by a PT, I would strongly suggest it. So you rule out any herniation or disc bulge or stenosis or more diagnosable condition in your back. If you're having the referred pain, I just switch legs, in and run your buttocks, That can be from the pure formless muscle.

It can be from some other things. So when in doubt, go rule it out. Pilates teachers can be an amazing allies to clients who are suffering from sciatica. It's very important to get a PT relationship going or or spine doc so we can work together. We're here to help. Right?

Okay. And then we're gonna come out of that. And then everybody coming up to standing. We are going to do a final stretch. It's a wonderful right angle stretch. You can do this on a chair.

You can also do this at home at your kitchen, bathroom counter, etcetera. Hands on top, walk back in the spirit and theme of length through this lumbar spine, last and final decompression here. My feet are hip bone width apart, hands up on top, resist the urge to indulge arching. Instead, soften your knees and reach your pelvis to the wall behind you. Plug your stomach up into your body.

Focus and breathe. We're really long down there. We worked lots of length, lots of releasing, little bit of strengthening, The way out of this stretch, I would start to bend the knees deeper. Round that low back a little start to walk forward gently slowly. Bring yourself up.

Sometimes that can be kind of a lot. And just check-in to see how you feel standing on your laying. I hope this has helped. I'm sure it will. Let me know. Let us know.

It's important. But if you're ever in doubt, and you think it's sciatica, but you're not quite sure. Go to a piti. Go to your spine doc and make sure that it is or isn't. Then we can work a little bit more on specifics. Thank you everybody.

Feel good.