Body · Reading
Sciatica
Pain along the path of the sciatic nerve, from the low back down the leg.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
Structural anatomy
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It forms from nerve roots in the low back, passes through the buttock beneath the piriformis muscle, and runs down the back of the thigh into the leg and foot.
Sciatica is pain, tingling or numbness along that path. Two common sources are a disc in the lower lumbar spine, around L4 and L5, pressing on a nerve root, and a tight piriformis muscle pressing on the nerve in the buttock.
The hip-opening poses linked here are movement references, not a treatment programme. Anyone with sciatica should see a doctor to find the cause, and practise with a teacher who knows.
Practices
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, pp. 11–12, anatomy cards