Acute pain in the elbow in Salabhasana when lifting both legs

Hi Yana

Thanks for all the details. Can you confirm that it is only one arm with which you are having the problem?

Well done for working on the right things.

It did occur to me it could be a particular problem to do with a nerve that travels through the elbow that gets displaced, but before we go there I want to ask you to try a technique or 2.

It’s very common for yogis to follow the recital instructions word for word and bring the arms underneath the body to get those ‘pinkie fingers touching’. That works for a large number of folk, but not for all. Now, with a sizeable bust, and or when elbows are hurting excessively, and or when one or both arms/wrists or elbows are injured and healing, or when you can feel your hips slamming against your arms causing pain, it is worth placing those arms apart rather than touching the little fingers.

The lift will happen as long as those arms are symmetrically placed. I have had students who have had to temporarily place their arms beside the body with or without the little fingers under the body.

Over time you move the arms inward.

The great thing about having the freedom with arm position is that you will be able to experiment with and find the optimum position for your shoulders. In other words, you will find the place where your shoulders are most spread laterally (external rotation) and the upper chest and the arms giving the most leverage against the floor in order to get the best lift.

That freedom is going to be very useful for you or anyone else with a large bust. You see, if you are negotiating your arms under the body to use that supposed landmark of touching the fingers, you may be going PAST your ideal position (where your shoulders are helping creating that flat platform). Having awareness in the right area means you won’t go for any pose goal by going beyond optimum placement.

So give it a go and tell me if we’re ‘barking up the right tree’.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Vanessa

The solution is to separate your arms equidistantly under the body. People with large busts often have this issue (and other related issues).

You should not continue to have such pain in your arms. If you have been searching the forum on this pose you’ll note that I have specific instructions about bringing your arms towards each other but at the very same time making sure the shoulders externally rotate. This makes a better platform of support across the shoulders. The big mistake many, many people make is to try to get the arms together while bringing the shoulders closer together.

It would be absolutely fine to have the arms alongside the body (symmetrically) say, with thumbs and forefingers just under the hips – if that’s what it takes to create the ease in this pose. I don’t mean that the pose will be easy. I mean that there should be no struggle. Just good old fashioned CHALLENGE. While it can be uncomfortable, you should not be feeling this pain.

Focus on shoulders spread (externally rotate the arms), arms symmetrically under or next to the body (whatever position works) and then in the single leg lifts press your arms and shoulders into the ground for a much more satisfying lift.

Over time you will feel much more able to bring your arms inward toward the centreline. It will be a progression of arm placement that will happen naturally with no artificial milestones to satisfy such as ‘baby fingers touching’.

Come back and let me know how you go!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂