I'm suprised by improvement in bladder/kidney function

Hi Foos

For the past month I’ve done Bikram yoga between 6-4 times per week. Somewhere after week two, I noticed that drinks no longer passed straight through to my bladder. I’ve had this condition for 14 years or so (I’m 52 now). Now I’ve cut back on the amount of fluid I drink before class because I can feel it in my intestines (and it makes some forward bending poses uncomfortable).

There are lots of Bikram poses which supposedly benefit the kidneys. Any suggestions on which poses most likely caused my sudden improvement??

How satisfying to know that what you are doing is giving you tangible benefit!!! There is some truth in saying all poses in the series are helping you heal.

I would like to look at it a little differently.

Much of your overall health and wellbeing comes from your ability to breathe more fully. This effects great stimulation of your lymphatic system and ridding yourself of your body’s wastes. The different moves in your asana, the compressions and stretches and the twists are affording you greater manipulation, massage and cleansing in all your organs, in your circulatory system and toning your nerve function. So your hormonal systems are being “RESET” to much better function.

In particular you have a handful of hormones that DIRECTLY effect your kidney function. One of these ADH or ANTIDIURETIC HORMONE is produced in the hypothalamus, released by the posterior pituitary (all deep in the brain), angiotensin II and aldosterone are produced locally in the kidneys, and there is even a hormone released in the heart that effects balance in this system.

So when you talk of which poses actually benefit the kidneys it is not simply those that stretch, compress or twist the kidneys themselves. Naturally, there are some poses that won’t effect change in some systems. I think you can take a global or holistic view and see that you can’t really separate one pose from another in its ability to help, just as no system in the body works in isolation. Having said that it doesn’t hurt to check out the list of benefits of poses as a guideline to what they can do for you. It can certainly help you focus your intention or be more mindful of your body.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Well I actually suffer from a chronic bladder condition and I find that I still need to go to the washroom once during Savasana so I make sure to keep my mat next to the door for quick acess. But I will say that I informed the yoga studio about my bladder condition and they were less than sympathetic you might say. After buying my package at that particular studio, I informed the staff of my condition, and that one day I believe my bladder will improve but it hasn’t happened yet. I mentioned that I need to go only once during Savasana and that I’m very discret about it tip toeing out of the room. Well, once I started doing that I started getting lectures from the yoga manager on how I should try to “control my bladder more and try not to go”, that I am being a distraction. Well, I tried holding my bladder for the entire class, but to do that i can’t drink any water, or hold in my stomach during certain poses, so by the end of class I felt like I was dying and didn’t have a very good workout. Hello? Are we in kindergarten or something. I don’t appreciate being told to not go to the washroom. I was absolutely enraged, complained to the owner and wrote a very detailed letter, stating the lack of customer service of his Manager, feeling discriminated because of my health condition and threatened to never come back. Well he had a talk with her and now she no longer bothers me. Find by me. For the record, many people complain about this Manager to the owner for various reasons, however since she runs the office, he’s not about to let her go.

I would just like to be able to do my practice in peace without being harassed! Just wondered if anyone else has had any similar experiences or am I special? 😉

Hi Ilyzium,

I agree with Gabrielle – and I’m happy you quickly took positive action and corrected the situation.

It’s not unusual in the hot yoga world to have unnecessary, arbitrary and somewhat draconian “rules” imposed. This includes imposing a “no-leaving-the-room” rule.

I find it affronting that adults and CUSTOMERS are treated this way – without any understanding of specific issues that may be specific to certain students (such as yourself). I went through quite a period of stress where I would always leave the room during savasana to cool down (coupled with a studio that ran their temperature waaay too hot), then reappear for the floor series. I was made to feel as if there was something “wrong”, rather than helped through the process (which eventually did right itself).

Anyone feeling “harassed” in a yoga class should vote with their feet if they cannot have the situation resolved as Ilyzium has. There’s no place for this in our community – by definition, yoga is inherently non-violent, so even having this conversation is bizarre!

Anyway, that was my 2c!

Namaste

Robert

Hello everybody,

Well I’m back again “ranting and raving” this time about the same very issue. Ok. well the other day I went to my regular Yoga studio to take my class. Now, normally I usually see whoever is teaching online, but I didn’t think to check that day. Well, I arrived there and found out that the “spawn of satan” how I think of her, is the one teaching. Trust me, if you saw her teaching style you’d agree. She has this harsh shrill voice,and she shouts (barks) out her commands-very stressful, and picks on people continuously, like I have never seen in a Bikram class.

Many people refuse to go to her class, but she’s still there as she’s the Office Manager. Ok, well I was halfway through the class, when I really needed to go to the washroom, so I stood up and pointed to the door. The teacher was like : “No, no, no, no, no. Do you really need to go? Can’t you hold it? I said “no I can’t need to go now”. Well when I came out i saw the owner there who smiled at me, and I promptly came back when I was finished in the bathroom. The instructor’s reply was: “Oh was John out there?” I replied yes, and she said that “Oh dear well he’s probably not very happy about you now”. I thought to myself here we go again!! I went and complained to him again about his instructor/Manager’s rudeness and how I was extremtly angry, and how I’m plain fed up!

I had already complained to him once before and thought that he’d spoken with her…maybe not i don’t know. All the other Instructor’s are fine with me going to the bathroom, I just make sure to remind them before the class. Well, I guess it’s my own fault that I didn’t pay attention to who was teaching that day. For the record this Instructor has had several complaints against her, however she’s still there as the owner thinks she’s doing a fabulous job. I just feel that the owner maybe doesn’t take my complaints seriously or something as I’d already complained before about that woman. Maybe I’ll be looking into joining a different studio, or be really careful not to ever get this instructor for a class. What would other people do?

So, sorry if I bored some of you as this is really a ridiculous complaint, but valid nevertheless…

Hi Gabrielle,

Thank you very much for your feedback. I have a question about that. Ok, now what do I do say, when I’ve done what you said and this rude Instructor still embarrasses me, making me feel like a “naughty child in kindergarten”? I’m always discrete and quiet about it and I know that no other students are bothered by it. What would you personally do? I get really tired of complaining to the owner about this issue, because I feel like it’s falling on “deaf ears”. I just feel like driving to a farther Bikram location and trying out a new studio. 🙁

Namaste
Ilyzium

Hi Bonmar,

I purposely come to class a bit dehydrated for that very reason, and always empty my bladder 5 min before, but still have to go halfway during class, so I go during savasana. Oh you’re doing those kegel exercises….Well, I’m glad they worked for you. They’ve never really worked for me unfortunately. Just out of curiosity, how were you treated by the Instructor, when you had to void during class?

Come to think of it, I think the next time that Instructor/Office Manager gives me a hard time about needing to empty my bladder, I’ll say something to her like- “You can’t be telling people not to use the bathroom. It’s a basic human need. Do you think someone with a bladder condition wants to go to the bathroom? Uh, not! Or I’ll say that “I really do need to go urgently and if I can’t leave the room, then I’ll just pee on my mat”! I’m tired of being treated like that, it’s so draconian! I feel like I’m the only one having this issue too.

Oh, I like that chamber pot idea! We’ll just keep it in the corner…

Ilyzium, I’ve NEVER had a teacher say anything negative to me when I’ve snuck out to the loo. I too had the habit of going after the standing series, whilst everyone was in savasana, because the minute I would flip over onto my back I could feel my bladder talking to me. The teachers would just wink or wave or whatever and that’s the extent of it.

I would not put up with what you have, it’s ridiculous. I would loudly complain to the studio and if nothing was done, I’d “use my feet,” as Gab said.

But in reading Gab’s post, there’s a lesson to be learned by me in there too. Some days I totally zone out and everyone/everything in the room fades away by Standing Head to Knee. Other days I’m bothered by people wiping, drinking, fidgeting, as if it’s somehow connected to me. “As your yoga goes, so goes your life.”

Sorry, I got a little sidetracked from the topic.

I need to improve my bladder health too.