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in reply to: Knee pain below kneecap #6094
Hi Liz
Thanks for the detail! It does lead me to me to ask you about what body work or physiotherapy you have undergone or more importantly, currently undergo, that may be addressing your hip issues.
If your hips are tilted and if as you say there could be a femur locating issue in your sockets then there would be flow on effects in your legs down to the ground (affecting knees of course). And although you haven’t mentioned it, there could be some issues in your spine (for example more of a pronounced lumbar curvature and maybe even limitations in deep forward bends). It basically means that there is an imbalance that could be playing out in your difficulty in getting postural alignment and therefore optimum function in your body!
Sometimes that kind of help would involve some manipulation and some specific exercises aimed to address the imbalance.
Would you be willing to tell me what you did or do now?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: camel pose – strongly emotional #6092Hi Jeffrey
I can’t tell if you’re doing it correctly either. 😉 It can be the most uncomfortable of poses for many (lots of fear with doing a backbend and not being able to see any part of yourself, an unconscious primal fear of being exposed and unprotected and so on).
As I mentioned in my last post:
people experience a myriad of emotional reactions from nothing at all through to all kinds of strong responses
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi
Thanks for the supportive suggestions Bonnie.
focus or rather lack of it and not locking out standing leg is the cause
Muteperception, there are plenty of possible reasons why you’re finding it hard to balance. What your teacher says is only a suggestion. There is a lot more that it could be. It is unlikely (or an amazing coincidence) to have ataxia like Wallflower. If you are willing to step us through exactly what you do for a particular pose I can ask you questions to drill us down even deeper and we can work out if it is medical or technique related. Choose any pose. Whatever makes sense to you. Would you also please see if any of the free videos help (in this thread there’s a link to the one about feet and legs). Provide detail such as whether you stand with toes and heels together, whether you have a challenge balancing in poses like half moon or is it only when you are on one leg. Anyway, you get the picture!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi
Next port of call is trying to change what you eat and also try to get in some good food more often. This is an easy experiment that will simply take a little research and planning. I sent you a private email with a suggestion. It seems you could routinely be eating a fair bit of processed flours (bread, sandwiches, cakes possibly because that’s what’s around!). It’s possible that your eating habits are not fulfilling you nutritionally and this is worsened by your need for quick fix meals and grabbing what’s there. A handful of nuts and dried fruits (or even an organic living food bar)) would be a good choice and easy to access every couple of hours. Maybe you can schedule more regular eating into your day. My guess is that you eat when your body is screaming out to you (I have been in the same situation) and that is probably way after you should have had something to sustain you through to your next meal.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: camel pose – strongly emotional #6080Hi
As Kelly says, drinking before Camel is not a good idea. Drinking afterward should also be avoided.
Your job in this pose where people experience a myriad of emotional reactions from nothing at all through to all kinds of strong responses, is to remain totally dispassionate, neither caring or not caring, and certainly not judging what happens. If you do then it can set up habitual behaviors or responses for the future. Being equanimous means you can really know what the phrases “it is what it is” and “being in the present moment” mean.
If Camel is easy for you it could actually mean that it is …. well, easy! If you’re having interesting emotional responses then this could be totally normal for you too!
However (and I am not suggesting that either of you is doing anything that needs fixing) in both the above cases it pays to delve into your process and your technique. If it’s easy check that you are not leaning on your heels. So many students are passive in this pose. If your emotional reactions are strong check that you are able to breathe, that your head is fully submitting to gravity, that if you feel that discomfort during the pose that you are not physically reacting to it by tensing up through the neck and shoulders or coming out leading with your head. Stuff like that!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Knee pain below kneecap #6070Hi Liz
Knees are curious creatures aren’t they?
Without more info or without seeing what you are actually doing, or asking what else may be a contributing factor it is difficult to know where to start…
You may have some issues with how you align your feet, ankles, knees and hips. It is possible there is some stress in those areas because of pronation. Or you may have damaged your knees at some stage in or out of class.
A good place to start would be to work out what exactly is bothering you – which structure. You say it is on the inside of your knee. You are also having difficulty kneeling. Can you tell me what position you can get to? Are you able to kneel in the regular fashion: Knees, heels and toes together? What about the first part of Supta vajrasana (Fixed Firm)? To what point are you able to move into that type of kneel?
If you place a small towel like a face washer just behind the knee when it is bent (say in Tree pose or when kneeling) does that cause further pain or does that bring relief? This will help us work out (possibly anyway) if it is perhaps a medial or cruciate ligament problem if at all.
How does your knee or how do your knees feel in other poses? Have you seen the video Great Posture From The Ground Up because it could start a self-diagnosing process – recognizing patterns in your posture and your poses generally.
It would be great to get your thoughts
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Wallflower
I am grateful that you bring this to our attention. I am fascinated to know more about how the ataxia affects other physical positions (in or out of yoga). Is there anything else you can tell me regarding other poses? Are you OK in 2 leg balance? Just list the poses and I may have some suggestions to cope more easily (beyond using a wall!). I also assume that you have looked at the possible B12 connection.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Stephanie
Thanks for posting here. I am sure that others will have some interesting opinions. I think that your friend is on track. I can also recommend Vitamin B3 as a high does supplement for you.
I wonder how big a part your diet is playing on your mood. Are you willing to talk about your food? Your profession may mean you have a propensity to eat certain things that could be aggravating your problem.
I have recently interviewed someone about the role of certain brain chemicals in mood control and shape change. It’s the whole serotonin connection. Let me know if I should post more about that! I am still acquainting myself with the information.
You’ll find a fantastic resource on food and the whole vitamin discussion when you watch the movie Food Matters. I really love this flick. It has been very helpful and informative. As you know, I only recommend products that I can stand behind. So here is the link where you can find it available on my own website: https://www.hotyogadoctor.com/store/food-matters.html. For their other products you would go to https://www.hotyogadoctor.com/foodmatters.
I have other things to say about food prep and eating and shape change and brain chemistry in the coming months. So stay tuned.
I hope that this is helpful for you!!! Merry Christmas
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Getting elbows below calfs #6064Hi Cory
You are definitely on the right track. I would do the same thing with a slight difference only. Use the 60 second set to stay in part 2. Keep the body upright, focus particularly on the upper foot flexion and how you can release your calf muscles and continue moving your heel away.
I suspect you are doing all the right things by the way, so keep no tension in your arms at all, but rather focus on the traction in your straight spine and lift the chest and drop the shoulders down and back so your back arms and upper leg form a triangle.
An added dimension for you is to learn enhanced balance here by ‘waving’ your leg around a bit. Learn how to correct and re-correct your balance in any position. This is really excellent practice for when you bring your elbows down and even better for when you learn how to put your forehead on your knee. Your balance will be handled and it will be so much easier.
Then second set, set up as efficiently and quickly as you can so you can spend about 25 seconds with elbows bending (still keeping your focus on that foot and calf).
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: How much does everyone sweat? #6062Hahaha Anthony 😆
You either have (or know) kids or watch too much television! I loved the joke. Thanks and Merry Christmas (or happy holidays)
[PS there’s more to triangle balance than inner thigh strength: Foot weighting is worth looking at as well as what you are doing with your arms. But I guess we can explore that at your option ‘over at’ the triangle section of the forum!]
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Flexibility and Kicking Out #6055Yes Kelly, do that. See how it goes.
You see, you are continually creating traction on the floor in the way you describe. In the standing pose, I think your body has been trying to get from part 1 to 2 and missing out on the continual traction that helps you create your balance while you extend.
So keep that lovely traction occurring as you lift and straighten your back and lift your heel. As your heel approaches correct height if your arms still feel that length and your foot is still flexed, your heel (pushing away) will naturally start to extend your leg. In this way even if your leg doesn’t straighten completely your position is safe and you can confidently work on your balance and extending your leg in an efficient and beneficial way!!!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: So what do you wear? #6053Hi green apple
The truth is that it is a very rare person who would actually come up and say “I think your clothing is inappropriate”. For some reason, even if it offends, the offended person has got 2 choices; to let it go, or to carry that with them energetically and continue to be upset by it. They may even talk about it to others and not the person wearing the item in question. This is obviously not a great use of their energy. Their reaction is not the wearer’s problem. 😉
If there are no guidelines as to what you should wear or what you are not permitted to wear at your studio then what you choose is entirely up to you.
As I have written before, I think that no one should ever wear anything that requires a modesty check.
Skimpy high cut pants and low cut bras are out for me. I have a personal preference against women wearing swimwear (particularly the pants). That’s just me. For men I think a well covering bike-style short or swimwear of whatever length (short or mid thigh) seems to be an item if made out of the right material works well to move with the body and doesn’t reveal intimate shape. Everyone has nipples and bulges here and there. You can’t hide them, but you can do your best to make sure they are not the feature that attracts attention. This is yoga. There is beautiful gear around, so balance your needs to look great with your requirements for practicality and modesty.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Click in the Shoulder… #6048Hi Andrew
You know that I am all about precision alignment. So if you are getting into best alignment and you feel you are not damaging anything then go for it.
My concern was about the timeline of events and the necessity of the activity. You mention that it happens at the beginning but not at the end of the exercise. So my thought was to not push so hard to ‘get there’ early on, but warm up and ease in. Then it may never happen at all. Would that work?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Flexibility and Kicking Out #6045Hi Kelly
My guess is that you are probably trying to kick out by simply lifting your heel up to hip height by extending the lower leg. Is that correct?
HERE’S THE KEY: The action of your leg extending will feel the same as it does in Floor Head to Knee. If it doesn’t, then get back to me because we will work out the missing link. If you don’t feel that pleasing extension happen in either or both of these poses (on the way to full expression) then we have some detective work to do.
Here’s what you can focus on: When you start to kick out lift your chest up and your leg at the same time without kicking out until your heel is at hip height. It’s a pivot around the hip. Then start to extend the heel forward toward the mirror. Don’t worry if the leg gets straight or not to start because in this position you are keeping your back safe from strain. Keep the foot flexed backward the whole time and keep your arms straight and relaxed and in traction.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Keeping Wrists straight? #6044Hi Cyberry
Here’s the thing. When you are in:
>> part one your wrists are straight. There’s a pretty straight line from shoulder to hands. I’m good with that!
>> part 2 you are ‘hanging from your foot’. Your toes are flexed back and you create this great traction through your arms. No problems – your wrists are straight.
>> you start the pose with your hands in a position and for the rest of your pose your grip position does not change. This is where one of the alarm bells is ringing for me. I don’t understand how what appears to be from your words, a good pose has to change because of an one-size-fits-all command that doesn’t seem to fit your body geometry.
I am more than happy to receive photos from you. Send them to my email address.
Many people will have straight wrists. But what if you have very long arms (or long hands). Or what if you are less or more flexible and get your elbows at varying positions relative to your calf muscles?
What I would be focusing on is your ability to:
>> keep the shoulders down and back and not using power from them to position your elbows but rather to help you get your elbows down
>> use the biceps as the energy source for arm position
>> keep your hands relaxed, pulling back on your flexed foot
>> maintaining the traction in your leg by continually pushing the heel away while applying pressure of fingers against toes.If your wrists bend a bit let them. It may be because they have to because your elbows are low (see above). If you have to change your hands, what’s that doing to your grip? From what I am reading you don’t seem to be learning something that is actually helping you progress.
Last thought: I could be wrong here, there could be some element I haven’t understood, or some basic technique you haven’t grasped that hasn’t come across in our words. I am pretty sure I have the information that I need to be confident. If this doesn’t make sense then send me the pics!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Trixiebelle
Freiamaya is correct! Start from the ground up! I would like to ask you if, when you stand with your “toes and heels together” whether your feet touch along the whole length from toes back to your heels?
If the answer is yes then the first place to start could be to straighten up your feet and introduce a small space between your heels so that your feet and knees and hips all face the same direction!
Your feet need to stand on their own. Sounds odd I know but if your toes and heels are together it is very likely your ankles are also together and you could have a false sense of balance and stability when both feet are on the ground because of the way they support each other.
Anyway get back to me. If it has less to do with your feet and ankles then we can take it from there. In the meantime I am pretty sure that looking at the video Great Posture From The Ground Up is worthwhile viewing.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Getting elbows below calfs #6042Hi Cory
May I ask you what you do in first set and what you do in second? How long in each set are you doing which activity?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Diet – flexibility connection? #6039Hi Cyberry
If you’re only drinking 1 or 2 coffees then that is very moderate and the large break from midday til class is probably fine. If you are drinking more than that or if they are very strong then maybe there is an effect. So reduce or remove the coffee.
Having said all that I can tell you that in 1988 I gave up coffee! Yep I can remember because it was an imprint experience. I grew up on coffee. My mum’s French and somehow we had coffee while we were young (not infants OK, but probably from 10 years on – I’ll have to check with her and see if she can put a date on it!). I could drink coffee without effect for years. I could go out and drink a coffee at 2am and still get to sleep easily.
Then one day one of my friends came for dental treatment (for those who don’t know, I practiced as a dentist). We had time following his appointment and we went down to a great cafe and we had breakfast. We had 2 coffees each.
I resumed work. I had to cut a crown preparation for my next patient whose name I will always remember! The crown prep (which at that time this was work to the value of a couple of thousand dollars) thankfully was really great but we could both feel my hands were shaking. Luckily we had a great rapport and the work was good and we could laugh about it! It was a frightening experience though to feel my body react in such a severe way. I was shaking and my tummy felt quite sick.
Remember, I was used to drinking coffee practically all my life. What I am saying is that sensitivities can occur despite your longstanding habit. It is possible that your body is reacting differently to the caffeine. Ever since that time I have only ever been able to on very rare occasion have a coffee in the morning (so that the effect did not keep my up at night!). If I go somewhere and if I order a decaf and they accidentally give me the real thing, my speech rate increases and I can sometimes feel that ‘urgent’ feeling in my belly. Robert particularly notices. He will say, “did they give you caffeine?”
So my yogini friend, how about trying either or both experiment of giving up the caf or simply trying decaf for a while?
I am positive that there is real value in the green juices, just as there is value in eating whole green leafy vegetables. No one really markets whole vegetables so the marketing is going to be a whole lot more persuasive for a ‘product’. In other words there may be a hype component to the marketing. The green juices help promote dietary alkaline conditions. So as a starting point you may like to go and Google a list of alkaline to acidic foods.
OK, back to my brief holiday!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Keeping Wrists straight? #6030Hi Cyberry
I am pleased that you are limiting the pose participation where you feel the need. If your face is strained or you have more than regular tension in your leg then don’t do the pose at all. I am also pleased that this episode of interaction may be inspiring you to get back to your therapy! :cheese:
I would like to examine more about your grip… When you are in first part of the pose, does your foot rest on the entire area from mid-palm to mid-palm resting also on your fully interlocked fingers? OR When you interlock fingers and thumbs is your foot largely supported with the interlocked thumbs like a bridge suspended over your fingers?
And another point of clarification (and I know these will really help me get some deep understanding) you are really talking about a straight line that your instructors are asking you to work on seen from the side angling down from the foot to the elbow… Right? I am assuming it is not that your wrists are bending wide out to the sides.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi lycanthrop
Firstly I would make sure that if this child were to do the yoga that it is their choice. I am not suggesting that you are forcing this person but merely suggesting that forcing anyone is never a good idea – even if you think it could help their problem!
Second I would make sure that the temperature is kept to reasonable levels: Around body temperature only.
Allow them to gradually develop their abilities, their stamina and their focus without expectation. They will take 2 weeks to acclimatize to the heat and the series like any adult. Regarding their focus: They will rise to the challenge by behaving appropriately in the room if they practice where distractions are minimized. 2 young kids next to each other or even siblings may talk and comment through class. Place them where it will support them the best. Maybe they feel more encouraged being next to a particular person. Balance that against the focus they can develop in that situation.
Recognize that there is no hard and fast rule as to their capabilities. While a 7 year old may have excellent balance on one leg a 12 year old may not. It is changeable. It is at about that 11-13 year old bracket where kids all catch up and get the balance thing. So with that information you will see that all kids are more likely to have more ease with the floor poses rather than the standing ones.
I have had quite a number of children at my studio. Some stick with it, others don’t. Surprisingly some of the younger ones approached their practice with a tenacity and motivation that older ones did not.
Please let us know what you decide and how it goes.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Trixiebelle
Would you please tell me if your difficulty is with your standing leg only? I wasn’t entirely sure! Or is it the lifted leg? In full extension?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Keeping Wrists straight? #6025Hi Cyberry
I want to answer this soon. We are not at home and the laptop I am using has a temperamental U key. It is taking me too long to formUlate my messages!!!! Yikes. Stay tUned. :cheese:
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Positioning of hands #6024Hi Cyberry
I made an assumption that like most students you came down with hands in prayer, placed your hands on the floor beside your feet and then placed them in prayer position out in front of your feet.
The reason for this… most people have to make adjustments in their hips to swivel them or make sure they are in optimum alignment before bringing hands in prayer again.
If you have perfect alignment on the way in and that continues then there is less reason to place your hands on the floor. The other reason to put them there is to get maximum leverage on the spinal compression and may allow you to climb your forehead further up your leg. Most students approach it this way placing hands out afterwards (sometimes is because of balance difficulties).
Re tension in neck and shoulders: There is a set distance of the length from knee to toes, and also in the length of your arms. If your forehead is on your knee and you are trying to get long arms to contact 15-20 cms closer in then I am simply suggesting that you could be setting up an impossible scenario where you have to create tension in your arms and upper body in order to create what I consider to be an unreasonable position – for your particular body.
Traction is what you are trying to create in your arms. A one-size-fits-all target of fingers to toes does not make any sense to me at all. And no, you are not slow!!!! We’re both simply only trying to get some clarity. 😆
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Slightly confused about Rabbit #6023Hi Cyberry
As for your shoulders move them up away from the floor. It’s an active position but it encourages shoulder and neck relaxation…
Because you are upside down moving your shoulders up means away from your ears. Wabbit and I have said the same thing. Sometimes I find students get a little confused because of their inverted position. It’s very normal.
So yes, shoulders are relaxed but they are actively up away from the ears. If you have tension in them they are generally much closer to the ears and the floor.
If you pull without positioning your shoulders in the optimum position then there is the possibility of creating strain in that area.
I specifically address all the details of each pose in the Hot Yoga MasterClass manual so you will find it there. 😉
I look forward to hearing how you go, because at the very least that ‘grumpy’ feeling should disappear. If not, there may be some other pointers we can explore to help you find the ‘ease’ (along with challenge) in this pose. I like to call it ‘the sweet spot’.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Cindy
I have some additional ideas for you Cindy.
OK, if you know sun salutations or are willing to learn them, then doing a few of these in the morning when you get out of bed really does feel great – especially when you hold the ‘down dogs’ for a while (30+ seconds). I know that this advice has really helped people feel that delicious stretched out and invogorated feeling without fighting the mental anguish of forcing yourself back to class. 😉
Here’s something that is a quick pick-me-up for those off the wagon: Get out of bed, do Pranayama exercise and then one or 2 sets of Half Moon. Instead of counting seconds, count breaths. Choose 10-15 breaths for side bends and 7 or so breaths for backbends and 15 breaths for hands to feet. If you feel motivated after that then do a sun salutation or 2. You could switch it around: Salute to the sun then Half Moon with or without Pranayama.
And finally, when you have the time with your growing inclination!!!!!!!! pop on the DVD (you don’t need to watch I’m sure) but practice to the soundtrack and do the 60 minute class. We do it at home from time to time. It’s challenging and satisfying without wearing you out so much!!!
Please tell me/us how you’re going
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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