Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Izzy

I am glad you’re not doing the vinyasa at the moment. The strength you need for that is quite marked but since your spine is in dysfunction you could be exacerbating the curve due to dysfunctional muscle use (due to scoliosis and all that weight bearing activity). I think that the static poses without loading the shoulder area as much will stand you in good stead to make some changes to your spine. You’ve read my other posts so you know that you should try to up the frequency of practice.

I don’t think you need to avoid backbends. You will notice that your body will go more to one side than the other when you’re in them but that will change over time. Don’t be concerned with depth just your breath and strong alignment.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Brian

It’s great that you have had success! Every injury is different. I agree with you that there are times where one does have to see a doctor or specialist. You would be very pleased you have a physician that had a conservative approach.

For the record, I don’t condone either always going to a doctor or completely avoiding them. A hardline radical approach to just about anything can mean one closes oneself up to certain possibilities.

In the case of shoulders and rotator cuffs: There are principles of use that apply to everyone and that’s why the techniques that I offer and promote are ones that work. They are based on functional anatomy and solid physiological function and focus on creating and sustaining mindful awareness. They are also aligned with the outcome of the pose even if the so-called ‘ideal pose’ is not reached.

Going to a doctor or specialist is a great idea in order to establish a baseline. Whether or not one goes to a specialist there are still yoga teachers out there who have no idea how rotator cuff injuries can be avoided or healed. This is particularly those who follow the script to teach (or students who follow the scripted approach when being taught). Those common commands to lift arms; or squeeze head with arms; and to straighten arms; and charging forward; and so on and so forth are counterproductive to having good functional rotator cuffs. I always try to give a balanced approach and I can only go by what people tell me!

Joan, come on back and close the loop for us! Have you had success in paying attention to proper arm and shoulder function? Let me/us know what else I can help you with.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Mitch

All OK? I have come back to clarify the intent of my original response for you. I don’t think Kapalbhati alone is responsible for doing anything to your resting heart rate for more than the time you do the exercise and the moments beyond. It is the combined effects of doing all your yoga poses and the holistic effect it has on your body that will make changes to your whole system. This includes your resting heart rate. I do not believe that one can say that x pose is good for y condition (in the vast majority of cases) ESPECIALLY if the effect being queried is a systemic issue such as cardiovascular health!

I hope that makes sense for you.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Tina

Can you tell me if a) you’re still having the issue with sore breasts? b) what your 3rd doc advised c) what you ended up doing and of course if you’re still practising Bikram or hot yoga.

I am also wondering if you did a ‘control’ test to see if it were possible that the hot yoga was contributing to the problem. For example if you did 2 weeks of the running or other exercise to see if anything settled down.

I have a friend who tells me she has cysts in her breasts that grow and after a while she has to have them drained. Is this what has been discussed with you too? I am simply ascertaining if it’s a similar situation.

If you have things handled or if you’ve chosen not to do the hot yoga anymore and or are perhaps not needing any help or ideas from me (as I do realise that it is now a long time since you first posted – my humble embarrassed apologies) then also do please let me know.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Cheryl

Well! It’s just little ol’ me! HOWEVER … Anyone is free to answer any question they like! :cheese: It’s a position of total relaxation. If you don’t let your body go then you’re holding tension then that means you’re not as relaxed! So lie there and relax. You allow the legs to extend and then feet to fall out. You allow the arms to lie by the body. Don’t worry about creating an exact distance of feet apart. Sometimes you’ll hear an instructor say, start with heels together. However if you are carrying extra weight then perhaps that’s too uncomfortable. So let yourself chill. Start with them close or touching, whatever works.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi John

Honestly, I think you may be measuring your ‘vitals’ too often. For me, it would be way too confining to live life by numbers. You are MUCH more than a reading on a sphygmomanometer.

There! I have said it 🙂

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

PS: Your lifestyle appears to be ENORMOUSLY healthy. Now live your life the way you want to. Maybe be present with the way you feel instead of relying on the numbers. Just a thought… (hope i am not outa line there!)

Hi Tatyana

Yoga done properly will strengthen your core muscles. The only issue (and a big caveat) is that you must know how to activate your core muscles. A very good exercise that you can do anytime, even before or after yoga class can be seen here. It’s called Flatten Your Tummy and Strengthen Your Back.

The other issue of the ‘small hiatus hernia’ is something that can be handled by good use of your muscular corset (so to speak). If certain yoga moves are ‘pushing’ the hernia out into prominence then there are certain moves to avoid that.

This would most likely happen on descent into poses such as Standing Separate Leg Stretching and the Head to Knee variety. It could also happen on the way into Hands to Feet. And possibly on the way out from this poses.

You can prepare like everyone else, then on descent bring your hands to your legs and walk them down. Then when you get to the floor you participate fully in the poses.

You are the one to judge whether you need to do this. You may find that the core exercise above could help such a problem. I can’t tell from the lack of description. But I think you have enough to go on at the moment.

Let me know if you need more help. Or if what I have said prompts more description then write another post! 😉

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi jo87

I noticed you had a WONDERFUL post that seems to have been deleted for some reason. I just want to say that your story was very inspiring. If you need any help or have any questions then feel free to post again. Did you finish your challenge?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Azita (I seemed to have left this written for a couple of weeks. I didn’t press submit. I definitely was distracted when I was putting the finishing touches on my new Salads book! Here’s what I wrote:)

Thanks for joining us! 😉

So I would highly recommend popping the word “conceive” into the search facility at the top of the page. You will find 5 very well visited posts on the subject.

In short: If you are well acclimatised to the heat and you know the series, you can keep on doing it!

I thank you for the information about the ovulation temperatures. I think that that would be relevant in some cases from a statistical standpoint. Where I think it could ‘fall down’ is that it wouldn’t take into account the healthiness of the whole system of someone with a regular Bikram practice.

You will read elsewhere that people I know including students and personal friends (students too) who had previously tried to conceive for years and even one particular woman who was told that she would never, ever have children. She has 2 gorgeous girls now, one 7 and one 3.

That’s where I finished 2 weeks ago. Here’s what I added today:

Personally, I could think of nothing worse than doing the series in an unheated room when I love the whole heated experience. I found the altered video experience very unsatisfying (Rajashree vid).

When you make up your mind as to what is right for you you may even choose to continue in the hot room. There are ways to fully participate AND help prepare your body for childbirth.

In the meantime you have probably spoken to your doc. The hot-yoga-friendly or hot-yoga-phobic status of your doc may have influenced you. Ultimately you have to follow your intuition. Many MANY mummies (mommies) have kept the hot yoga going right from before conception to full term. I did! It was a gift. I am sure I mentioned that the top obs/gyn in the area at the time said there was no reason for healthy mums not to do it. Your choice! Always!

Please share your thoughts

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Alexandra

What an incredibly detailed post. It seems the silence could indicate that others may not be experiencing the same issues. I certainly haven’t heard of your particular combination of experiences.

It has been 3 weeks since you posted so in that time did you happen to get a blood test? I would think that is the first port of call. It would seem that with all the changes over the last 2 years to deal with your thyroid that checking on the efficacy of your efforts would not only be important but a great idea to see if your own self-management is doing the trick.

It is also possible that the tingling feeling may not be related and just a coincidence. Who would know without more investigation? You could have an inkling.

I would like to suggest that some attention to your electrolyte intake may be an area to focus on. You are taking iodine (great). Are you taking sea salt with your diet or know that your electrolytes are in the right range? Again your blood test will help you with that. I am not your medical practitioner but when you do go for a work up, if you want your Vitamin D levels checked I do believe you have to specifically request that.

Please come back and let me know your thoughts

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Joan

I have a few questions for you! 😉

>> Do you try to straighten your arms when they are over your head?
>> Are you squeezing arms to head?
>> Can you tell me what your arms are doing when you’re standing in savasana?
>> Can you tell me exactly what you do with your arms when you’re lifting them over your head?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Jessica

OK, that’s good that we can rule out other things. So now I need a little help. More description about what happened if you know, when it hurts and in specifically which poses. If you are willing to tell me how tall you are and how many pounds overweight you are, that could give me a better picture of what’s going on. For example, there may be certain poses which are a particular struggle because of body shape (for eg large breasts making it hard to hold the foot in seated positions). It doesn’t take much to make it a struggle to stand comfortably with the classically instructed “toes and heels together”. That’s very common. So go with the flow and tell me as much as you can. If you don’t know names of poses, go to the pose gallery on this website (see above “Yoga Poses” for photos and names).

See you soon!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Thank you so much Sharon! :cheese: Did you find the size 3 ball? They should be very easy to come by.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂