Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Mandi

Can you confirm that it is when your student is using the leg that has the healing achilles tendon to stand on during these balancing poses that is currently causing the problem in his yoga classes? I really don’t like to make any assumptions so it may seem obvious but I always check these things.

It’s also worth asking what he’s actually feeling at what precise point for each pose. For example he may be able to stand with his foot in his hand for Standing Bow and he may be able to create some traction by standing in an upright position but as soon as he reaches a certain angle where his body comes forward (which must only be achieved by pressing that leg back and up and NEVER bringing the body forward and down), that’s when the pain starts.

Balancing stick he may be able to step forward on that leg and point the back toes and leave the weight in the front foot but just ever so slightly rest the back toes (or even lift them a tiny bit).

For Standing head to knee he may be able to stand with the leg at right angles but not round over. And for Eagle he may be able to lower hips (with chest high, arched spine, arms twisted) but with both legs taking the weight he will be able to gauge how far he can go and limit it accordingly.

So, at the moment there are some ideas to work with that I can flesh out when there is a clearer picture or when you get a chance to work with them and ‘report back’! :cheese:

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Sara

For decades Bikram was asked how hot the room was supposed to be heat and what specific humidity was best. His answer usually included profanities and the basic message was simply “I don’t care what temperature it is. Just heat the room hot”. That’s just putting it nicely.

A friend of mine was there when a certain person (not Bikram, and not to be named here) decided on a whim, after having realised that if they quoted a figure, then the question wouldn’t need to posed again. They (she) decided to answer with the oft-quoted 105 degrees etc.

From that day forth (sounding rather biblical here) those figures have been quoted as if they were scripture. They don’t take into account the heat index. They don’t take into account that you can drop the temp and increase the humidity to get the same result. It’s just a bloody good myth ascribed to Bikram as if it were indeed a sacred utterance.

I find it an absolute shame that some (not all!) teachers pay more deference to some arbitrary numbers than their students. If you have people who cannot get through the class, if there is more than a reasonable 1 or 2 students taking a very brief break once or twice in the class, then there is a problem in the room. It’s something that needs to be fixed. And contrary to some responses, it’s not the students’ fault.

Regular students or fit and healthy students don’t usually need to take any break. So if a teacher sees a handful of those students on the ground then the temperature or the humidity (or both) is too high.

You asked what you can do. Well, you can approach the teachers/owner with the other people who are possibly feeling the effects of mild heat exhaustion, and request that they drop whichever factor is easier to do. There are places where a dehumidifier is required because the ambient humidity is high. So usually it’s about dropping the temperature and usually nobody minds paying less for power! 😉

You can make sure you are well hydrated and you include sufficient sea salt in your diet. I would make sure I had a pinch of salt in my water for during class (and to make it taste better add a couple of drops of lemon juice). Basically you want to make sure you keep the potential of suffering the heat exhaustion that is likely to be occurring to a minimum. Drinking plain water may not be good enough in this instance because you are likely to be sweating a lot and therefore losing your electrolytes.

You can practise at home! Yep, it’s not the same if you love the joint practice. Some people prefer it at home. You do have to be more disciplined because it’s easier not to go. If you practise at home you’ll be able to modulate the heat and once again enjoy getting through the entire class.

On that point I guess your teachers could be thinking that you should be some kind of trooper or martyr and push through whatever it is that is stopping you from getting through the whole class. To that I say, and I am sure you will agree, that that would be ignoring your own voice, or defying one of the fundamental precepts of yoga which is being the observer. The thing that I think a lot of yogis could be missing is that they are fine being the observer but in cases such as these, they may not be processing and using the information that they are observing! It’s the missing link. :cheese:

I hope that helps. Come back and tell me your thoughts

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

You’re welcome Jackie

I will get to some more detail over the next few days. I can give you some more hints about the ball. In the meantime, I will send you over to the page with some free technique videos. The one at the very bottom of the page called “A Transformational Technique For Your Body, For Your Life” is an excellent place to start.

The other vijos are very good too and address breathing, posture, foot use and core strength.

See you soon

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Kirsty

You make some good observations about the ankle against the thigh which seems to occur on the days when you cannot lift the hands into prayer.

Sometimes one just doesn’t have the strength in the leg, or in the core or even in the knee, to settle into the position correctly. It’s amazing how it can change so much from class to class. It seems perhaps (and maybe you could chime in here and confirm this for me) that you are still generally working on your core and leg strength and this is making certain aspects of your practice changeable.

The goal is to come down and hover (as you may well know). The stepping stones to that can be leaning the thigh into the back of ankle, or heel. I can tell you that on the occasions when I have had some issues with my left knee that – just on that side – I feel so incredibly heavy in toe stand when the weight is supported on that leg that I have not been able to lift my hands from the floor. So in those cases I have just stayed there with my hands on the floor and made sure that my arms supported me fully so that I could surrender and not risk any damage to my knee. The progress has been very noticeable over the ensuing classes. I have never tried to push through it.

This could be happening for you (where exactly the issue lies is hard to say, it’s not necessarily with the ankle) so observe, get to that point, don’t do anything that elicits pain (rather than just discomfort) and support yourself with your hands (even if they are heavy on the floor) if you happen to descend into the toe stand.

Namaste
Gabrielle

Hi Willie

I believe there is a problem with the argument that your teachers are giving you, IF when you are upright you cannot naturally reach your arms to the floor and simultaneously keep your back vertical – and BALANCE. Since you are applying the technique for those who cannot reach the ground with hands then I figure you have taken that into account! Right? :cheese: I believe you are on the right track.

Your body geometry won’t allow you to balance first with hands on the ground if you are upright. If you were to get balance first then you would only have one arm on the floor and you’d be leaning over to the side. Not the best way to move into no-armed balance, particularly because you are in an asymmetrical position.

In the rounded forward (not hunched!) position your body will be symmetrical which is a far better starting point for your outcome of sitting upright.

Here’s my guess: I think you are trying to move to hands-free position too quickly. You did actually use the term “trying to jump to prayer position”. You see, if I were leaning forward with hands on the floor, then coming up slowly with eyes fixed somewhere in space as I straighten up, as hands come together, I would simply go back to my starting point, forward, with hands on the ground again. Falling backwards seems to indicate that it’s all happening too fast and there’s some over-compensating going on!

So, your mission, if you are to accept it, is to disregard everything else, just notice that your eyes start at a fixed point, let them find that distance and defocus if they do, then slowly move your body and arms upward towards final position. Just disengage your hands or fingertips from the floor, at the same rate as your body moves upward. The hands will only come together at the last moment!m Maybe think of it as rounding rather than hunching forward!

Do tell me if that’s what you’ve been doing. I am still intuiting that the movement may just need slowing right down.

Remember you ARE balanced when you have your hands on the floor. Then with that balance already created, you are moving ever-IN-balance, upward. The tiny adjustments that you make, allow your body to do that, your hands to do that, without conscious thought.

And… tell me how you go!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello John

Yes indeed! Since this thread is about cramps I guess a new thread would be great. I had better read the book then eh? I do have it (it was a gift).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello ju

That is an interesting problem. Let’s see if we can get some more information about what’s going on.

If your eyes really are purulent then that by definition means you have an infection. So have you given some thought to having the exudate swabbed and cultured? At least you can exclude that issue if there is no infection.

It would be more than extremely odd to be an infection ’caused’ or aggravated by the sweat going into the eye on a class by class basis. Please get that swabbed soon.

There are many questions I could ask you. For example:

>> Have you had this problem every class you have attended? Or is it something new?
>> How long have you been practising the yoga? Is it Bikram style? I need to know if you are a new student to hot yoga and how new.
>> Maybe you have had past experience with gluey eyes or conjunctivitis?
>> What is your water intake like?
>> Do you supplement with electrolytes or are consciously taking more sea salt in food etc?

Oh, it just occurs to me, that if you are concerned that it is because of inverted positions then how about attempt to exclude that ’cause-effect’ scenario by showering before class and wetting your hair (clean it at home before!) and then practise. At least if your eyes become ‘dirty’ after class then you’ll know it wasn’t dirt. You then don’t have to worry about sweat in your eyes. And it means you can practise with your eyes open. Really the only reason your eyes should sting is because of salt in your sweat and that amount changes depending on your physiology and your practice experience. Hence the questions above.

There are next to no toxins in sweat so don’t be concerned that your sweat is actually doing something bad. The amount of ‘toxins’ is a tiny tiny part of 1%. It’s basically water and salt.

Looking forward to your reply!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Bethy

First I would avoid plank poses and others that rely on you placing a lot of weight on your bent or straight arms. It seems you may do hot yoga flow classes and there would be a lot of poses that you potentially need to avoid.

Stick with passive poses (that you would find in a Bikram style class) that allow you to monitor the impact and be more present with the arm itself.

Avoid Eagle pose for example where you twist the arms together. Outside of yoga, I would use resistance against your outstretched arm (against a wall) to help strengthen and consolidate joint integrity.

Simple Sun Salutations where you are not jumping back but are just stationary are a great way of monitoring the increasing ability to open up that elbow joint. On inhaling arms up over your head, I recommend you can activate your arms right down to your fingers (important) and move with your breath. Even if you don’t get a full class in, you will feel the benefit of simple yoga poses and being present.

You can also do some Yin Yoga where you can really enjoy longer held poses where you can pay more attention, again, working with the breath and being present with movements that affect your arm, noticing even over the minutes in a pose how things can change.

Please let me know how you go

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Megan

I look forward to reading more of your experience.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Mary Beth

You could do it that way if you feel that’s the way to progress. Using that idea you could go all the way down for one set (either). The other set stop at that point where you know you can keep yourself from surrendering. That way you can have the best of both worlds. Your threshold (or hover point) will change and that’s what you can keep an eye on.

There is also merit in just going to the lowest position and learning how to summon the strength to rise up off your heels to set a hover point (no bouncing!). Whatever you decide, your job is to notice. I certainly wouldn’t be deciding never to get to that surrender point if it meant I only descended half way. In any case, stopping there is no guarantee that your body wouldn’t move forward to ascend. Do let me know how you travel! :cheese:

There ARE lessons to be learned at every point aren’t there? 😉

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

You’re welcome Mary Beth

Don’t be too hard on yourself. There is a part of our logical self that ‘knows’ that if we rest at that spot it will be easier to come back up.

If you actually check into what’s happening with your muscles you realise that they are not working there. Because of that it is actually harder to come up. That’s why we have to lurch forward or bounce out. I wouldn’t go so far as to say you are ‘hanging out’ because sometimes you just don’t have the stamina to do anything else. There is a positive side to resting there and that is learning how to activate muscles to lift yourself up from there. And I have something for you to try:

When you are resting on your calves (if you happen to be 😉 ) then before the ascent, while everyone else is ‘bouncing’ (which I think actually needs a different focus, and so here it is …) summon your strength by activating your core muscles and ‘simply’ raise up off your calves so that you are sitting above your heels still without coming out. Basically, it’s a one way bounce without coming back down, and staying at the top of that first ‘bounce’. THEN, you will be more equipped to ascend.

Getting ready for the ascent you should check into your arms, shoulders and back and then your breath. Squeezing knees together is a given. One of the elements that is possibly taken for granted that is part of the pose is consciously pushing up through the toes.

DEFINITELY come up on an exhale. A steady one will help the activation of your core muscles. There are several techniques for that but just focus on the exhale.

Focusing on all elements of this while you are experimenting is very difficult. So one time focus on arms and back, another time toes and knees, and so on and so forth. Over time you’ll be able to do all elements together.

Can’t wait to hear how you go. Don’t be in a hurry for it all to happen to a schedule. Remember things change and can go either way depending on your mental and physical resilience, from day to day. Just be the observer and collect data (consciously or unconsciously).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Devi

The way you perceive the heat is going to depend NOT just on the heat but also the humidity. The higher the humidity when there is high heat the more of a multiplication factor it has… It’s actually measured by something called the heat index.

Without getting too technical, at certain temps (even in dry heat) the body is unable to cool down (think ‘desert’). At certain humidity combined with high heat the body cannot cool down… (sometimes this cooling down effect is hampered, as was probably the case for you and those other students, but when both are too high the body may not even be able to cool down at all). There are 3 major mechanisms by which one cools down so I am just generalising so that you can appreciate the importance of a well-controlled heated environment.

Core temperatures do rise in the hot room and if you are unable to cool then the conditions can actually be life threatening. This did not occur for you. I am showing you the extreme situation of a wildly high hot and humid environment.

However it is possible that you and many others are experiencing heat exhaustion of a mild-moderate nature. This is why lots of regulars could NOT handle the conditions the other day. See later, high heat and low salt which could in fact be your issue.

There are many threads on this forum discussing how people overheat their studios. Some cover up temperature readings so that their students cannot see/measure/confirm how hot it is getting. To me, that is irresponsible behaviour. While one should not look at the temperature, one should be in a safe and secure environment, one where the conditions are consistent.

The point is that your body needs to recover from some heat exhaustion. Repeated exposure to an environment which causes that kind of exhaustion could (repeat could not will) lead to heat stroke (another research project for you 😉 ). Just knowing the signs will be a very good thing for you to recognise in yourself and others.

My aim is for you understand that it could be the heated environment and that if this is happening a lot then you really need to request better heat control at your studio. Honestly, even in a big class, there should not be people lying on the floor unable to go on. That’s a big clue. One down every so often and maybe a couple of people, but not for extended times – a set, a side or a pose is a reasonable break. That’s the general rule of thumb.

For you there could be an issue with your electrolytes. What is in your lo-salt? If it’s just sodium and chloride then there is evidence to suggest that using sea salt rather than sodium and chloride (table salt) is far better for your body. Your body thrives on electric connections that the electrolytes provide. Sea salt has minerals essential for the body. When one goes to the hospital often the first thing they do for someone with a serious condition is put them on a drip to re-establish electrolytes. You may also want to explore what science and medicine are now starting to say (and something I have been aware of also for years) and that is that there has most likely been a gross over exaggeration of the effects of salt on people with blood pressure and other conditions.

Enough said, I am not your doctor so it’s just friendly advice to investigate. You need minerals and you are possibly not just having problems with heat exhaustion but also need to dose up on sea salt on a regular basis.

FYI there is almost NO circumstance where you can overdose on salt (just a couple of things that happen in hospital for particular systemic conditions). The cure for overdoing salt intake is not having salt for a day while the body rebalances. The opposite however, when you do not take enough salt is SERIOUS and can cause death. Wow, that sounds dramatic. Just look up Hyponatremia which I believe happens mildly in many hot yoga students.

Don’t be alarmed! Eat/drink stuff with sea salt in it. Possibly add some to your water with drops of lemon for class. Investigate the heat in your studio. And take care of YOU!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂