Fluffing the butt

One of the things I was reminded of this weekend (see Aston-Patterning Reunion) was a perfect outgrowth of a trend that's been creeping up on me lately. 

More and more clients (especially the more athletic ones), when I investigate their "butt pain," wind up directing me to somewhere on the back of their sacrotuberous ligament. Back in the day (the Eighties), I was introduced to the idea that this ligament could be a source of pain. But it's also a large part of the origin of the gluteus maximus. So are we thinking of the ligament as a structural element in the pelvic girdle, a pain production site, or as an attachment site of an important muscle? Yes and yes and yes. 

So back to getting reminded: as I received some work from my colleague Valerie Lyon this weekend, she pointed out that as my leg swung forward in gait, it was pulling my pelvis into a posterior tilt. As the work proceeded, it became clear to me that my gluteus maximus had gotten used to stabilizing in a shortened position…not so good. As things reorganized, I could feel the space between the front of the sacrum and the back of the upper femur opening up…which seems to live in Aston-Patterning language as "fluffing the butt." I don't think I had made the connection between that narrowing and the gait problem. I don't think I'm going to forget about this again! It's definitely a refined expression of pelvis/femur balance.