Hi Folks. I’ve been practicing ashtanga yoga for 5 years and I’m finally starting to make progress with my (very) tight hamstrings 
However I’ve recently started to get sore muscles around my lower spine after doing forward bends (especially praserita padottanasana). My yoga teacher thought this was probably due to this being a new area that has opened up as a result of my hamstrings beginning to open.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Hello Dan,
No I have not had this experience. I’ll presume you want more feedback than that.
What other poses are giving you trouble please?
Is the muscle pain bilateral (on both sides).
Can you be more specific about the location and nature of the pain please?
How long does the muscle soreness last and how often are you practicing?
Do you have any health issues?
Are you big or small, tall or short? Heavy or light?
Does the pain go when you lie down?
Is it worse in the morning or evening?
Is it eased by heat or by cold?
Hi. Thanks for the reply. Here’s some more info.
The pains actually gone now, there’s just a little residual stiffness. The problem was just on the right had side of my lower spine level with the top of my pelvis.
I’ve has this 3 times now after practicing (I practice 3 time a week normally)
And the discomfort has subsided over night in all cases.
I have no wider health issues other than tight hamstrings and lower back
This particular pain is relieved by heat (hot bath!) but I’m keen to try and avoid this happening again.
Hi. I think I may have solved this problem. I’ve been practicing taking extra care to make sure forward bends originate from the waist and not from rounding my lower back. This more careful approach seems not to aggravate my back issue. My teacher has also shown me some extra twists to practice which seems to help.
I would just offer a gentle reminder to follow up any forward bending with an equal amount of back bending. A lack of balance in strength and/or flexibility between the front and back side of your core and thighs can lead to lower back pain (since your body will try to compensate for it, often leading to spasms,etc).
How do you know your hamstrings are tight???
Have you tried bending your knees when doing a forward bend. Some people need to bend their knees a lot.
Vic
If you need to bend your knees then your hamstrings [I]are[/I] tight
I bend them slightly when I’m doing the first few but they loosen up as my practice continues. However I used to have to bend my knees significantly for the first few years of learning about yoga.
How do you know it’s your hamstrings and not your hips?
Vic
You two have me completely confused.
Dan’s likely got BOTH tight hamstrings and tight hips.
But if the chat is about anterior and posterior pelvic orientation I’d be more inclined to look at hamstrings in the posterior body and iliacus/psoas in the anterior body.
Of course “hips” and hip flexors are very different terms. Hip flexors are three and have only one job. Hips have several muscles and eight jobs.
I’ve added to the murkiness, haven’t I? LOL
As I too have this stiffness to my hip flexors, ham strings and must remember never to curve my spine when doing forward bends.
What has helped me is to do as Kiran has suggested, practice more reverse bends to increase flexibility. [I]And I can say from experience, If I push my breath into my abdomen while flexing forward I have gotten better results with the forward bend.[/I] Bending the knees slightly is another fine tip.