connie36

Hi, thanks for the support!

I think I had a breakthrough!!! Yesterday I decided to sit and do some meditation (which I used to do every day but had stopped since i hurt my back cause it was painful to sit still). So I sat though the pain just observing it and not reacting and amazingly my body was able to exit panic mode and relax. So after one hour of meditation I still felt pain but was very clam about it and decided to do some stretches as I was still sitting on the floor. I basically just ALLOWED my body to stretch down naturally with gravity instead of FORCING it to stretch. It was absolutely amazing – i felt some stretching pain but I was just observing it and not reacting and slowly the muscles would release and I was able to get closer and closer to the floor. So finally in child’s pose I was able to touch my forehead to the floor like I used to be able to!!! Anyway, I feel a LOT BETTER now. There is still some pain and I still have to be very careful about how I do things but my mobility has increased to the point where I almost feel normal. But the most important thing is that I now see the light and know that I will be ok. I am thinking of going back to Bikram next week but definitely not pulling to stretch in any of the postures. I might just go and let my body do what it can. Looking back at it, I think one has to be very careful with the ego in Bikram – it can push us to do stupid things. At the end I will probably go back to Iyengar style yoga – I had a teacher who would look at you and if he thought you were trying too hard he would ask ‘Do you need a hammer?” . I think a lot of time we try to ‘hammer’ our body into a position we want it to go in instead of listening to it, respecting it and being patient.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the encouragement. I might go to the chiropractor anyway just in case to see what he/she says.

That’s fabulous news! I didn’t post any advice earlier because I’m fairly new to Bikram myself, but everything you wrote makes a lot of sense. It’s always challenging to find that proper balance so you are trying but not pushing too hard. And it is very hard to keep your ego out of it. I think it’s easy to put pressure on yourself to keep improving, whether your body is ready for it or not.

I was going to say it’s probably good to work on the back strengthening and back bending postures(obviously still in an ego-free and mindful manner) and see how everything heals. There is also a free video here on strengthening your core, and that might be useful as well as it seems very related to lower back pain in my experience.

But congratulations on your progress and thank you for sharing! I know I need to work on being more mindful sometimes and it’s good to hear how important it really is.

I agree – that’s a tough thing to answer because it’s different for everyone.

Do you get very out of breath during class or is it just muscle soreness?

I just came across this thread as well and it’s quite interesting.

A couple things – like the post above this one – I DO appreciate doing the same sequence every day. I do some other yoga classes as well, where we do whatever the instructor feels like doing at the moment and it’s fun – but it doesn’t approach the “moving meditation” quality of Bikram Yoga where I can relax my mind and not worry about trying to figure out what pose we are talking about now. To me, the benefits of a fun yoga class where you are just trying new things all the time and talking and the whole atmostphere is relaxed – well, it’s enjoyable, for sure, and I’m sure I get some physical benefit. But the strictness required to keep a room full of people from chatting and creating constant distractions – while it seemed like boot camp at first, I’ve realized that lack of distraction is what allows it to become a moving meditation over time. And the mental benefit of Bikram yoga is one of the things that absolutely keeps me coming back.

Going way back to the very first post – there was a statement about “ignoring the pain”. I’ve only been doing this for 2 months, and maybe this is just my studio, but I don’t recall any Bikram instructor telling me to ignore pain. I’ve been told to acknowledge pain, acknowledge how I’m feeling, to push through the pain (when appropriate – i.e. not knee pain, etc.) That, to me, is the opposite of ignoring it. I’m learning to pay more attention to my self, my body, etc. and become stronger by learning what I can truly deal with, not just giving in and quitting in the face of every discomfort that comes my way. (And I never thought of myself as being a baby about discomfort before…)

It sounds like I’m lucky to have a group of excellent instructors. They do certainly encourage first timers to make their goal to stay in the room, and encourage people not to leave unless it’s an emergency. At first I thought this sounded very harsh, but recently someone left and returned and she brought up the point that if someone leaves the room while feeling light-headed and passes out – the instructor with the first aid training is still in the room with the rest of the students. He/she would have no idea what is happening to you and wouldn’t know if you fell and hit your head or who knows what and you could be lying there in need of help for quite some time. Therefore, if at all possible, you are safer to stay in the room and lie down on your mat, where if you do have some sort of medical emergency, they will know and be able to help/call for help, etc. After thinking about that, I think it does make more sense.

One of the other parts of the dialogue that I enjoy goes with looking at yourself in the mirror. The other serious (non-standard gym) yoga classes I’ve done before don’t have mirrors in the studio at all. You are supposed to feel the pose, not be looking in the mirror. But with the emphasis I’ve gotten in Bikram on looking at yourself, particularly looking at myself in the eye and smiling, I’ve found that it’s built confidence, improved my general mood and helped me melt into a moving meditation that I hadn’t really experienced before.

I can certainly see how it’s not for everyone, and apparently people interpret things in different ways. But it’s certainly been helpful for me!

Are you drinking something woth electrolytes? Like coconut water or Ultima, if not try that.

That helped me a lot.
Marilyn

I agree with that for sure. And would also suggest trying to go back to class even when you are still sore. I know that sounds crazy, but I went to my second class ever right after a hard day of skiing – I could barely walk! Yes, my awkward pose and such were pathetic – it barely looked like I was squatting down at all. BUT – it really helped wring that lactic acid out of my muscles and eliminate the soreness that I expected.

As crazy as it sounds, I would try to go two consecutive days. Hydrate yourself (with electrolytes) very well before and after classes. And don’t go into it with any expectations of what you should be able to do. It’s not how far you get into the poses, but that you are trying what you can with correct form. And even if you spend half the class in various resting poses… I think it will help. It’s worth trying.

I just watched the free videos the other day and one of them addresses foot alignment and flat feet: https://www.hotyogadoctor.com/index.php/site/topics/resources/free-yoga-videos

It’s the third one down. Basically it’s something you can do in any of the standing poses.

Suddenly I feel very lucky that my studio doesn’t have carpet! We have some sort of material that looks like hardwood but is actually rubbery and has some give to it if you push at it with a fingernail. It’s got to be some sort of gym specific type of thing, but it’s great because the studio doesn’t smell at all and they can just wipe it down between classes.