Because I have a little scoliosis, I have a twist in my body. When I stand, one shoulder is higher than the other shoulder. Sometimes it bothers me. As a yoga teacher I feel like I am “supposed to be” more symmetrical. But I notice the same thing, in varying degrees, in my students, friends and even in pictures of other people. Most people are not quite symmetrical when they stand.
Vasisthasana
We don’t do things symmetrically. We have a dominant and non-dominant side. We hold our children, push a vacuum cleaner, rake, sweep, shovel and do a number of other activities on one side. Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand! This preference of one side over the other sets up a functional asymmetry in the body. Knowing this can be a good thing. It can help you be aware of your asymmetry and you can work to correct it. You can even try, as I sometimes do, to do all of those activities on your non-dominant side.
Years ago, I asked one of my yoga teachers for help with my scoliosis. She gave me several practices to do. One of them was to practice Side Plank on my convex side twice as much as I practiced it on my concave side. (If you don’t know which is your convex side, it is the one that is harder for you to bend towards.) Just this week, a friend forwarded an article to me that cites the benefits for improving your scoliosis by practicing Side Plank for a minute and a half* daily on your convex side. The article suggests you do this for two months to notice an improvement. (And then please don’t stop! It’s just like cleaning your house. You can’t expect to vacuum once and be done with it. You have to do it regularly.) Check out the article by clicking here. Let me know what you think.
*Please start slowly, maybe 10 seconds at first and build up by a few seconds each week to get to a minute and a half. There are also modifications. If you need help I would be happy to work with you privately to get you going. Contact me by clicking here.