Why Forward Folding Ain’t It: A Closer Look at the Pelvis, Pain, and the Kind of Practice That Actually Heals

 Sacroiliac joint pain, tailbone tenderness, sciatic-type discomfort—these are some of the most common pain patterns we see in pregnancy. But they’re not unique to pregnancy. They’re common for women across the board.

And yet, what most women are told to do in response is… s t r e t c h .

Forward fold. Make space. Soften everything.
But when we really look at the pelvis and when we understand what’s actually happening at the level of the joints and tissues—it becomes clear that stretching is not the answer. In fact, in most cases, it’s making the problem worse.

Forward folding is almost always contraindicated for both sciatic pain and SI joint pain. Why? Because what’s needed in these pain patterns is not length, but support.

If the glutes aren’t firing, if there’s no structural engagement holding the sacrum in place, then the SI joints begin to slip. One ilium rotates forward, the other rotates back. You get gapping, instability, pressure on the nerve bundle. And then we fold forward—and all we’re doing is drawing the tailbone down and continuing to lengthen tissues that are already under-recruited.

So if that stretch has become your go-to, it’s worth asking: what is it actually doing?
Is it changing anything, or is it just the thing you always do when it hurts?
Is it helping you organize your pelvis?
Or is it reinforcing the same instability that’s creating your pain?

Why the SI Joints Become Unstable

This is almost always from a lack of structural engagement at the level of the glutes. Meaning, if the bum isn’t turned on, then this musculature isn’t firing, and these joints aren’t supported. The pelvis doesn’t have the muscular tone it needs to hold the sacrum in place—and without that, you get movement where there should be containment.

What this can look like (again, this is exaggerated, but it helps to visualize) is a chronic tucking of the tailbone, gapping at the SI joints, and a kind of “sliding” pattern through the pelvis: an upslip or downslip of one ilium, or a rotation where one side comes forward and the other rotates back.

That’s where we start to see SI joint pain, or pressure through the sacrum, or nerve-like discomfort that refers down the leg or through the glutes.

And yes, chiropractic care can be helpful here. But unless we address the underlying pattern, and back to why those joints are slipping in the first place (usually from a lack of muscle volume and a lack of muscular engagement) then the adjustments won’t hold. The pain will return.

This is where I want women to stop forward folding and start building the bum.
Because the answer is not more softness, it's glute activation.

Sciatic Pain and the Role of the Nerve Bundle

We often say “sciatic nerve” as if it’s a single strand, but what we’re really talking about is a nerve bundle—a collection of nerves that exits the pelvis and travels down the back of the leg. This bundle is influenced not only by the spinal nerves themselves, but by everything around it: the piriformis, the glutes, the position of the sacrum, and the tone (or lack of tone) through the whole back body.

If the glutes aren’t engaging, what tends to happen is that those tissues strap down—almost like they’re clamping over the nerve bundle. And if there isn’t enough muscle volume, if the bum is flat or inactive, there’s no space. So now you have soft tissue pressing down on neural tissue with no counterbalance.

This is often why women feel nerve pain that travels not just down the leg, but sometimes in and through the vulva.

And in pregnancy, yes, it can be harder to build muscle. But that doesn’t mean you can’t build activation. Getting those glutes to turn on, even if you're not adding visible volume, is what creates the lift and support that keeps the nerve bundle from being compressed. That’s what brings lasting relief.

So again, it’s not about “stretching the piriformis.”
It’s about creating structural integrity through the glutes, so those deep tissues stop clamping and start supporting.

How This Shows Up in Prenatal Yoga

So many women come to class with SI joint discomfort or sciatic symptoms, and what they’re given over and over again are variations of forward folds, external hip openers, deep stretches in pigeon or Baddha Konasana. It might feel good in the moment. But it doesn’t bring lasting support.

None of it trains the posterior chain to support the pelvis. None of it addresses internal rotation. None of it helps the glutes come online.

That’s why, in my prenatal yoga series, we don’t stretch to soften.
We train to stabilize.
We pick movements that clarify structure and actually give the pelvis what it’s asking for: strength, space, and containment.

Internal Rotation: The Most Underrated Support Strategy for the Female Pelvis

Internal rotation is the name of the game.

Long hamstrings and excessive external rotation are everywhere in yoga culture. But when you spend years practicing shapes that pull the thighs open and draw the legs wide, you start to lose access to the internal rotators, especially the deep ones that matter most for pelvic stability.

Internal rotation brings coherence back into the pelvis. It’s inherently organizing. It helps the femur sit more squarely in the socket. It encourages gluteal engagement. It supports the kind of thoracic rotation and posterior chain activation that is foundational to long-term pelvic health.

Every pose should find some aspect of Virasana for women. Not Dandasana.
Because Virasana is inherently internally rotated. It’s grounded. It’s supportive. It teaches the pelvis how to hold weight.

Try This: A Supportive Twist That Stabilizes the Pelvis

One of the ways I help women feel internal rotation in their bodies is through a high lunge twist. But not the big, open kind. A closed twist that keeps the pelvis contained and the back leg actively wrapping inward.

• Step into a high lunge with your right foot forward and your left leg extended behind you.

• Actively reach through the back heel, drawing that back thigh into internal rotation.

• Keep the pelvis facing forward. Don’t let the back leg drag the twist open.

• Gently rotate the ribcage toward the front thigh. Let the twist come from the thoracic spine.

• Stay lifted through the back body with glutes engaged, spine long, and sacrum spacious.

This isn’t about how far you can twist. It’s about what stays stable while you do. It’s internal rotation that makes the pelvis feel held, not just rotated. We’re training rotation that’s anchored, not rotation that’s flung open through space.

It teaches the pelvis how to stabilize under rotation, distributes effort across the whole structure, and it avoids the compensatory patterns that create more pain.

Conclusion: What We Choose Instead

If forward folding has been your go-to, or the suggestion that’s offered to you in class, and you’re still dealing with SI joint discomfort or sciatic symptoms, I just want to name that for many women, that’s not solving the problem. In most cases, it’s continuing the very pattern that’s creating instability.

Because what those joints are asking for is not more stretch. They’re asking for glutes that turn on, for internal rotation that helps the pelvis feel held, and for weight to be received well—especially when the body is moving asymmetrically, especially in a pregnant body that’s already bearing more load than usual.

Forward folding does not train any of that.

So inside my prenatal yoga series, we don’t do it.
Not because I’m trying to be provocative, but because we’re working toward something specific: a pelvis that’s organized. A structure that can hold weight without slipping. Joints that feel supported—not just in the moments of doing the poses, but in movement, in load-bearing, and in daily life.

The actions we use are subtle, but they’re not soft.
They are precise, informed, and they are based on what I’ve seen over and over again in women’s bodies: pain patterns that resolve when the system is given the right support via movement.

If you’re pregnant and this has been your experience and you’re ready to understand what’s actually happening in your pelvis and learn how to move in a way that supports it, I’d love to have you inside the live series.

→ [Join the Prenatal Yoga Series]
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