I went to an informal gathering for Zero Balancing practitioners Thursday evening, and I was very fortunate in that the man I partnered with is an experienced Zero Balancer, massage therapist, and physical therapy assistant.

I received first on our trade. I told him I wanted to take off my sacroiliac belt  before getting on the table, which engendered him telling me what he uses to make SI belts for his clients.

He goes to a sporting goods store and gets a product sold as a waist cincher or a waist slimmer belt. It’s made of black neoprene with Velcro at one end, has anti-microbial properties, and is about 42 inches long and 8 inches wide.

He then takes a pair of scissors and cuts it in half lengthwise. The cut velcro can be sewn, glued down, or left as is.

I wanted to have more than one SI belt available, so I got a slimmer belt yesterday and cut it into two and also shortened it to fit with about 4 inches of overlap. I’m wearing it around my pelvis now. It feels the same as the original.

Unlike the first one, this one cost $6.84, and I got two SI belts out of it. I bought the Valeo Neoprene Waist Trimmer.

Amazon sells other brands, by Everest, YesForAll, and more.

Since I know some of you are trying this at home, I thought I’d share.

I want to add that it helps to keep a little bit of the excess fabric you cut off, or some kind of fabric, to tuck under the velcro closure. These belts get stretched out over time, and it is really annoying to have that harsh velcro chafing directly on the skin. Protect your skin!

By the way, Greg’s Zero Balancing work on me was superb. I slapped the belt on immediately after he worked on me so my body would maintain the alignment longer.

I also learned something interesting: It is part of the PT code of ethics not to create dependency in clients, keeping them coming regularly for years for treatment that doesn’t ever quite get them fully aligned. Actually fixing people’s issues comes first. That may be part of why PTs and PTAs often work so aggressively and give so much homework. I believe insurance demands it also. They want you healed and out of there, and you need to really step up to the plate and be an active, committed partner in your own healing.

Source: PopSugar

Other noticings about healing my misaligned pelvis: When I work out doing functional movement training, squats are part of my workout. I notice when I’m coming back up to standing that one hip joint returns to full extension before the other does. Click. Pause. Click. My joints aren’t working together. This is a sign of the lateral tilt and uneven left-right rotations in each half of my pelvis.

In someone with an aligned pelvis, both hip joints would return to extension at the same time. So I have some work cut out for me.

I’m going to cut back on my squat repetitions and go for quality of movement. I’m thinking I need to push my left hip forward as I move toward standing in the squat cycle. It feels a bit awkward and unnatural, but my hips have been out of alignment for so long, my body has gotten accustomed to it. Of course it will feel unnatural at times while I’m working toward alignment becoming “the new normal.”