Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Oh yes Beverly I did realise that! That is why I mentioned it! :cheese:

It is best not to use a stretchy strap. That won’t do what we need.

Let me know. Perhaps there’s a strap at the studio. Failing that use a hand towel (or light towel even if it’s a little big).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Shannon

Sorry for the delay (family bereavement). So can I ask you if you’re OK and if you still need help with your wrist, please?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Doug and ‘jonny’

I had a student with missing kneecaps and he used a rolled towel under them where necessary (kneeling etc)

Would that work for you? Would extra padding from either a towel or mat do the trick?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Beverly

Humble apologies. We’ve had a family bereavement and my rate of reply has been dismal.

Can you please give me an update. I just answered another one about standing bow with information in there that could help. There’s more to do but I just need an update and to hear if you’re still ‘in there’

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Beverly

Have you tried using a strap? It seems to me that you simply need a way to create traction that is easy for you to accomplish. You have injury that’s longstanding so you may really need to progress slowly.

Get hold of a strap. Grasp it so it has a loop. Place the foot in the loop and hold the strap with the inside of your wrist and elbow facing outward, just as you would if you were doing the pose as per directions. Make sure you are allowing the weight of your leg to pull traction in your arm.

You may need to be next to a wall to start or have someone assist you the first several times. You will be amazed how quickly the body can open up when you work with it.

You don’t need to do anything but stand up straight. arm extending right up to the ceiling and press your leg back just enough to feel traction from your shoulder and arm and that stretch in your quadriceps of the bent leg. That means just moving the knee behind the standing leg. I don’t know how ‘deeply’ you can go into the pose, but your first job is just getting your foot in the grip.

Let me know how you go

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Noj

The first part of the question was to see if you COULD do it theoretically speaking, temporarily of course.

It is possible that your body is out of balance through its weighting. If you are most of the time weighted on the back foot and your body ‘twisted’ in order maintain equilibrium then this could actually be the root of your problem, or at least your worsening problem. I can almost guarantee it’s more likely to be that than your yoga practice.

My suggestion is to give up skateboarding FOR A WHILE and then focus on a strongly aligned yoga practice. Then you can see if have some progress.

(Send me an email)

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Sharon

It really is useful to stand and lie on a towel. It’s usually what everyone else would be doing. In this case it is good to be a ‘copycat’.

If you want to diagnose which poses your hands slip then zip on over to “yoga poses” (see above in the menu) and you can look at the photographs

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Guillermo

Congratulations on finishing your challenge. The person that I think you should see is not a doctor per se, but someone who is a physical therapist. Someone who can see what the problem is and give you some exercises or techniques that could open up/strengthen that area. A diagnosis would be very helpful. Can you come back and tell us what you discover?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Stickymat

no, probably not! You’ll get used to and it’s possible you’ll sweat less. Do you happen to notice lots of other people with yoga socks or gloves on? I would be interested to know

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Yippee Eileen

That’s great news. Thanks for letting us know of your progress.

After a quick glance at your initial post I realised I had said nothing about the scoliosis issue. A strong focus on alignment is crucial. There are lots of specifics I have shared on other posts around the forum. Pop the word “scoliosis” in the search facility and you’ll literally dozens of threads in which scoliosis is mentioned.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Eileen

Welcome to the forum. It appears you have some rather painful and unresolved tension and pain in your head, neck and shoulder region. Luckily, the problem you have has nothing to do with hyperextension. It has to do with the erroneous instruction to squeeze your head with your arms and lock your elbows and glue your palms together – no matter what and without question. This can only be the correct instruction for people who have no neck or shoulder tension.

Your problems will start to dissolve the moment you stop listening to the instruction and listen to your body. THOUSANDS upon thousands of people have this issue. They slam their arms to their heads and straighten them because the dialog tells them to.

This is an instruction that is by no means ‘one size fits all’. ANY yoga movement that causes pain and strain and tension in the body needs to be assessed. This is your body telling you that something is not right. Yoga is about listening to your body, right?

There are actually many, many posts on this forum with the exact same problem (that are either posted under “Injuries”, “Neck, Shoulders, Arms and Upper Back” or under specific poses. Take a look around!

The signs are clear. When you do this beyond where you should then you will find pain in your neck and shoulders and you will also notice that your chin will drop even just a little in response to the tension. You may also notice that your face looks stressed and pained rather than neutral.

Try a micro-bend in the arm and make your utmost priority to keep the shoulders down and back. Take a look on the FREE VIDEOS page at my first video called A Transformational Technique For Your Practice, For Your Life (by scrolling to the video at the bottom of the page!

Let me know how you go

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Wendy

My heartfelt condolences

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Beverly

Let me ask you some questions please!

>> If you have access to the name of that unpronounceable part of your shoulder then it would be great to know what the specialists are saying about the location. In other words can you please access the diagnosis for our use?

>> Can you please indicate if the tendonitis/ the pain/ the limitation of movement is exactly related to the place where you broke your arm all those years ago? Or is it in the vicinity of it/close by?

>> Have you ever seen my first (yes, it’s quite old) video called “A Transformational Technique For Your Practice, For Your Life”? It’s RIGHT HERE. Scroll to the bottom of the page of these free technique videos.

>> What exactly has the chiropractor told you to do for the different movements (that you have had to change in order to continue doing yoga)? Be as specific as you can for each pose that you have a modification for.

>> When you say you have excruciating pain in half moon and even when your arm is parallel to the floor in warrior, where exactly is your arm hurting?

That should get the ball rolling!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂