- HI Bernie. My question is about deer pose and sciatica. I found out that this pose helps me in relieving sciatica pain by stretching my piriformis. However I need to do the pose by bending forward like a sleeping deer (twisting on the side or directly over front leg) in such way that my back hip (painful side) rises slightly to enable a pleasant inward rotation of thigh and adduction of hip. If I press my back hip down to the floor, then it’s an hip abduction and I feel it’s worse for my sciatica. Is my analysis correct? Is my practice correct even though I raise my hip (just enough to adduct)? Is it still a Deer or incorrect to use this name? Thanks for your kind attention. Kind regards.
The question of whether I am doing a pose “correctly” stems from an aesthetic approach to Yoga. (See this article to learn the difference between Functional Yoga and Aesthetic Yoga.) Often we worry if a pose doesn’t look right, or isn’t being done exactly as described in a book or by a teacher. But from a functional point of view, how the pose looks is irrelevant --- how does it feel? Remember, we don’t use the body to get into a pose, we use the pose to get into the body. If your way of doing Deer Pose relieves your sciatica and if doing it the “correct” way makes it worse, stop doing it the “correct” way and keep doing it your way. Who really cares what it is called: call it “My Deer Pose” or even “My Dear Pose” … if it helps your sciatica, it really is a dear pose for you.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Bernie