Twists are great for keeping suppleness and tone in the trunk and for stimulating detoxification. But  are you doing them right? Are you creating long-term instability in your hips when you twist?

Your spine starts from your coccyx and sacrum, which fit snugly in the bowl-like pelvic girdle, the two structures connecting together at the sacroiliac (SI) joint. Soft tissue, ligaments and tendons further connect the two.

So it makes a whole lot of sense when you do twist, to allow your spine and pelvis to move in the same direction. Some poses, like the extended side angle twist, create too much torque as the two are forced by the nature of the shape to move at cross purposes to each other – the pelvis opening one way, and the torso moving in the opposite direction.

If this pose has never felt good to you in any way, there is no need to include it in your practice. Instead, work with these variations in this video tutorial. We want to minimise the pulling apart – and potential destabilization – of the SI joint. This way, you’d enjoy all the benefits of twisting, and for a long time too!

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