annadenise77

Hi Gabrielle,

Yes, sorry for taking some time to answer you. I wanted to give your advice a couple of tries in class before replying.

Focusing on keeping the back straight definitely is a different feeling and approach to the pose and I’m having difficulty to get into it and sit down as low as I could before, which I am assuming will improve with practice. I’ve definitely had less ‘dead toes syndrome’ these past few weeks, so it seems your method is definitely one I want to keep doing! (One small note, though: yesterday was pretty bad again (but I was tired, so maybe leaning forward more than usual) and I’m guessing it’s because pretty much all of my weight seem to be in the toes. Every time I try to bring it onto the heel to relieve the toes a bit – I fall).

Thanks so much Gabrielle! I’m going to keep practicing the way you described!
Lots of love, Anna Denise

Hey Gabrielle,

Thank you for your quick reply! No, it doesn’t happen in any of the other poses and it’s only when I try to sit down real low like the teacher tells us, and only on the left side. It’s both when I’m standing on the left leg and when I’m wrapping the left leg around the right. Funny thing is, the other standing postures don’t cause this.

Have a wonderful day!!!
Love, Anna Denise

Hey Gabrielle,

There’s a couple of things I’ve noticed during class

– There seems to be an imbalance in my hips. My hip on the left side is much less flexible than the one of the right. In wind removing pose I can get my right knee to touch my shoulder, but my left knee isn’t even close (it feels like there’s something ‘stuck’ in the hip joint). I feel it also in triangle pose and very much in half moon (I can stretch down a lot on the right side, not at all on the left).

– I’m naturally very flexible, also in the knees (fixed firm is a chilling posture for me), and it’s difficult for me not to sink too far into some of the poses (again, really struggling with triangle). My knee will not ‘lock’ in the traditional sense (I’m slightly double jointed in my arms and legs) and will keep shifting around, but am working hard to lock it in the bikram way.

– I seem to still lack some of the strength to protect my joints properly. Engaging my triceps and the muscles in my thights is still very tiring. Also, my back still hurts in the back bends and I’m working on not falling too far backwards, but on keeping myself ‘up’ by engaging my leg and hip muscles.

Could it be that I am working on fixing some alignment / core strength issues and a lack of strength and that this is why my muscles are always so sore?

I eat pretty healthily I’d say- lots of veggies and fruits, although in the past I’ve had to take protein supplements because of a deficiency. I haven’t had my levels checked out recently, but this could be something to think about.

Hmmm… I’m not sure if any of these things have anything to do with me always being sore, but these are some things I’ve noticed in class.
Thanks again Gabrielle and I apologize if any of these things I described are too vague for you to conclude anything about my situation. I’m saving up for a private class with one of our teachers here, cause there’s never any time to ask these things during or after class (or I’ll forget with being so tired and all).

Thank you so much for this forum and for all your hard work in giving everyone advice. I really, really appreciate it!
Anna Denise

Hi Gabrielle,

Thanks so very much for your reply and help!!! I did as you said and took a few days off (feeling pretty guilty, yes) and have been allowing myself some more in-between days. I must say, it really helped. My body did recover during those days off, although the next time I went I again was pretty sore the next day.

I’ve also been trying to figure what’s hurting me. I think partly, it’s just building muscle strength that I lacked in my arms, legs, shoulders. However, I also think I’ve got some issues with my lower back. My lower and middle back hurt like crazy during the first backbend (half moon pose), although my teacher’s do say I am doing the bend right. I wake up the next day with incredible stiffness in my back. I now also feel it when I’m in the wind-removing pose, when I have both of my legs up, and I wiggle around a bit I can feel sweet pain in the muscles in my back. My teacher here has been telling me to go get a massage, so I’ll try that, but I now wonder if the soreness in my back is also part of an alignment problem?

I realize it’s hard for you to shed light on this situation just by reading my vague descriptions 🙂 but thanks so much for your advice already. More listening to my body, less pushing. 🙂

Have a wonderful day!
Namaste!
Anna