yogalifer

I agree with Springtime. It’s hard enough to breathe during rabbit pose as it is.

Hi Jeanette,
As Gabrielle referenced above, I have also been having some long term issues with my hamstrings. I’ve lost track of how long, but it has been over two years now. I initially injured them while doing vinyasa yoga, or should I say overdoing? It also probably didn’t help when a guy friend and I were competing – showing off – our yoga flexibility at a party. :red: During all of this time, I have been trying to heal the injury through yoga. I have kept that up because I thought that I could fix it myself and I assumed that, if I went to my doctor he would just say to quit yoga and take ibuprofen. I finally went to a sports medicine physical therapist and have made great progress over the last few months, but am still not at 100%. Here’s what I have learned:

1- All of the pain that I had was right at the top of my hamstrings where they connect at the butt. Per PT, the injury was actually in the belly of the hamstrings and the scar tissue had limited my flexibility so much that I was hurting the connecting tendons by yanking on them while stretching.
2- Even though I thought that my legs were super strong, I found out that my hamstrings have grown super weak. He proved it to me by having me push against his hand while using my hamstring strength and my leg just started shaking like crazy.
3- Basically, over the last two years since I did not heal the injury and have continued to push through it, I have built up a significant amount of scar tissue which has caused a significant decrease in strength and flexibility of the hamstring. It’s a vicious cycle.
4- Interesting note, the doc thinks that I aggravated the problem in yoga–not just by continuing to stretch into pain–but also by compensating for the injury by using the other muscles in my legs and butt. I DO have very strong quads. One of the things that may have made it worse was that the hamstring is key while balancing on one leg. By doing that balancing while the hamstring was weak, it may have made it worse. Note that my balance has been pretty bad comparatively speaking. I could never figure out why. Guess what–it’s getting a lot better now.
5- All that said, the doc never said that I should quit going to yoga. I just need to strengthen the hammies and avoid overstretching.

Here’s how am I fixing it:

1- Physical therapy including electrical stimulation, sonograms and some pretty harsh massage using metal implements to break down the scar tissue. Have gotten a few bruises, but it seems to be working.
2- Gradually increasing difficulty hamstring exercises to rebuild the strength. Per doc, I need to work on the eccentric (Gabrielle is that right?) strength. An example is using a hamstring weight machine and using both legs to lift a fairly heavy weight and then using only one leg to slowly lower it back down.
3- Yoga. I am maintaining the flexibility and further working on the strength in yoga class.

I am really excited because this week I just went to my first pain free yoga class in over two years. Not only did it not hurt during class, but it didn’t hurt the next day either! 🙂

Lessons learned: Don’t ignore your hamstring pain. It probably won’t just go away on its own. The right doctor/physio/chiropractor/whatever will probably be able to help you heal.

Best of Luck!
Cindy

I was quite skeptical as to whether a supplement could help flexibility, recovery time, etc. I decided to try it as I am working through a long-time hamstring issue and felt that it couldn’t hurt. All I can say is that I have had some very enjoyable classes since I started taking YogaBody. It is kind of hard to describe. It is like it is more peaceful moving into the poses. I am able to go just a little bit deeper than usual. Also, I am not going to class as frequently as usual (about 3 days per wk now) to give my hamstrings a rest. Usually I get sore muscles when I go this infrequently and I haven’t since I started the YogaBody.

I have not started the stretching regimen as I am trying to be very careful of my hamstrings at this point. I may just do four days and skip the hamstring stretches for now.

One thing that I am noticing… I am also taking Menersa (an herbal supplement for perimenopausal symptoms) and Body Balance. All three of these supplements suggest that they might boost energy. Some days I am feeling a little jittery. I need to figure out how to balance all of these and still get the benefits.

I recommend that you try it!

I also feel like I have more success if I push my body forward and reach toward my feet with my hands. I will never get my shoulders on the floor due to my bust. This technique has worked well for me, though.

I think that we only gain weight, lose muscle, lose flexibility as we get older because we allow that to happen. I have read many articles that say that we do not have to lose any muscle or flexibility as we grow older. I fully intend to do Bikram yoga for another 40 years and I’m now 46 years old. (note that it will likely take 40 years to reach my full expression of the poses.) 🙂

I go to Bikram about 4 times per week on average and would prefer to go 6. I also walk 5 times per week about 45 minutes per time. Like I said above, I am 46 years old. At this level of exercise I am able to eat pretty much anything that I want without gaining weight. I am not super thin, but am a healthy size. I am 5’8″ tall and wear a size 10. At this level of exercise, I know that I could be thinner if I cut back on my calorie intake, but it’s just not that important to me. I think that it is most important to be healthy and enjoy life’s experiences to the fullest extent possible. One of those experiences that I enjoy is good food and wine. :red:

Note that this attitude is fairly new to me. I used to teach aerobics classes, run, walk, weight train, anything to try to be thinner. Age and Bikram have helped me to get past that obsession and I’ve never been happier!

Namaste,
Cindy

So was that how you met or was it after you were married? I think that it is wonderful that the two of you work together like you do.

I was thinking about this post yesterday during an all day seminar given by Rajashree. The room was much more crowded than I was used to. When we went into Full Locust, I ended up not only bumping hands with the people on either side, but we pretty much bumped arms and hands through the whole pose. Everyone seemed ok with it, though. I would have thought that would bother me, but it really didn’t. It kind of added a sense of friendliness–like we’re in this together.

Our yoga room is not generally that crowded, but there have been times when it is. One time the lady next to me and I bumped hands when moving into Locust. Instead of startling away, she gave my hand a nice friendly squeeze and smiled at me. That made me feel really good. I suppose that there is some risk of offending using that approach as some people do not want there hand to be squeezed and don’t want to be distracted from the yoga.

Robert,
I see the om sign on the VIP Forum, but not in the general one. There are a lot more posts in the general forum so I think that it would be useful to have the same feature here.
Namaste,
Cindy

Hi Gummisteph,
I am also 5’8″ and have long legs. I was having trouble with my feet sliding apart in the beginning, but I have followed all of Gabrielle’s advice and the issue has corrected itself over time. I do find that this is a pose in which I have to play mind games with myself sometimes. I usually do the following:

1- when I step to the side of my mat before moving into the pose, I meet my eyes in the mirror, take a deep breath and take that instant to completely and consciously relax every part of my body. I take two breaths if the instructor allows that much time, but that is rare.
2- I have a few instructors who have us hold the initial lunge for a few beats before tilting into the pose. (sometimes I think that I don’t like them–just kidding). When we move into the pose, I tell myself what a relief it is. I do think that the intial lunge when you are upright is harder than the pose itself.
3- Once in the pose I do a mental inventory from front to back– heel pressed down, knee not past toes, elbow at knee, elbow pushing knee back, not slumping forward but lifting towards ceiling, hip down, spinal twist going, extended leg straight and foot flat on the floor.
4- I count my breaths ensuring that they are always at least 4 counts in and out.

By the time this is all done the pose is over! My point is that I am focusing my brain on everything EXCEPT for the fact that I am really tired and about ready to fall over, throw up, pass out, whatever. At the same time I really talk the pose up to myself. Stuff like–wow, this pose feels great, I love the way my spine feels in this twist, my legs look really powerful today.

Anyway–these are things that have worked for me. Good luck and keep us posted re: your progress!

Namaste,
Cindy

I usually ask first timers what they thought of the class after their first one. Nearly all of them say ‘I loved it!’ as they sit there red-faced and dripping. Many of them also say it is the hardest workout that they have ever had. Most of them come back again.

I’ll chime in on Gabrielle’s comment re: “palpable change in ones life…” After I had been doing Bikram for a short time, I suddenly stopped drinking soda altogether. This was a bad habit that I had had since college. I had tried to quit before, but just never made the commitment to doing it. Suddenly, I just didn’t want it anymore. It wasn’t even a conscious decision. The same can be said for my food choices. I just automatically eat more healthfully now.

Also, I didn’t think that I would be able to take the heat, but it hasn’t been a problem.