Let’s talk about your butt muscles—or more politely, your glutes.
This may not be a conversation you expected from your yoga teacher, but if you’ve ever dealt with lower back pain, then you need to get to know this part of your body. Here’s an excerpt from my upcoming book that might give you a little glimpse into why:
“Let’s say you go to your personal trainer because you are experiencing low back pain and you know that means you need to strengthen your hips and glutes. One problem: do you have a sense of where your hips and glutes are exactly? And how they are connected to other muscles and are supported by a web of fascia?
When you scan your body, so to speak, are your glutes just ‘muscles in the area of my butt’? And your hips, are they in the place where an ornery teen might put their hand and roll their eyes at you?
…Squats and other muscle-strengthening exercises do little, if anything, to help you gain awareness of your glutes within your body. Instead, you risk straining another area of your body that is already strong (for example, your back), an area that is compensating for the work that your glutes are supposed to be doing. That’s where the yoga practice comes in. By challenging just the right spots and just enough intensity you can set yourself up for happy hips!”
Awareness is everything. And one of the biggest gifts yoga can give us is the ability to feel our bodies from the inside out.
Lower back pain is one of the most common complaints I hear from students. And often, the solution isn’t found in the back itself—it’s in the imbalances surrounding it. Tight hip flexors. Weak glutes. Overworked low back muscles. These all create a perfect storm for discomfort and disconnection.
Yoga helps untangle that storm.
Through intentional movement, mindful breath, and poses that target the deep muscles of the hips and core, we begin to bring the body back into balance. We don’t just strengthen—we feel. We tune in. We build the kind of body awareness that turns vague sensations (“my back hurts”) into specific insights (“my glutes aren’t firing when I walk or stand”).
At SyteraYoga, we specialize in yoga that meets you where you are and helps you build not just strength, but connection. Our classes are designed to support you in discovering where the real work needs to happen—so you can stop compensating and start moving with more freedom and less pain.
Whether you’re brand new to yoga or you’ve been practicing for years, you’ll find support here. Relief is possible. And it starts by listening inward.
We’d love to welcome you to SyteraYoga—and help you start your journey toward happy hips and a pain-free lower back.