Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Well done for trying, Allison. If you’re still hesitant then your results will reflect that – naturally. So do it in ‘baby steps’.

Try first to soften the arms and drop the head back and then just hang out there for a little while (maybe even a few classes). Get comfortable. Just try gently pushing the hips forward a touch.

Come back and tell me how you go

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Allison,
This is super easy to fix. When you come up from your left hand side Half Moon:

>> Bend your arms a little. This will soften your neck. The arms only need bend enough to feel your shoulders move down and your neck lengthen. You can feel how everything is free there. Waiver: If you have a sore neck then you will need to tell me so we can work on that because other contingencies apply.
>> Keep your arms bent while you drop your backwards.
>> Look backward. The tendency for people who have issues with this pose is to look at the ceiling or the hands, or worst of all – and because of fear – forward. This strains the neck.
>> When your head is safely back and you are looking in the right direction (!) first make sure legs are locked, then push the hips forward, then inhale and lengthen your torso and lengthen the arms (still with head back).
>> Then go into your backbend as you exhale.

While you’re going into and while you’re in the pose you will visualise tracing that line backward across the ceiling with your fingers. Where many get caught is by following the fingers with their eyes. Just imagine those fingers tracing that arc as you look backward (not up).

When you’ve managed to go back as far as you can and you feel any resistance in the neck, simply stop, bend the arms for a moment as you feel your neck relax again, lengthen the arms gently and continue on your path.

Come back and tell the world you did it! Hehehe :cheese:

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Rob

Thanks for being patient! 😉 So, there is a point in that dialog where they tell you to inhale and then “hold it” while you are there with arms over your head. The best thing you can do is to not hold your breath in this circumstance. Inhale (and perhaps in this case) you need to take a slower inhale breath so that by the time you’re hearing the words “hold it” you are finishing your inhale and ready to commence your exhale, just as you start to stretch your body over to the side. Please let me know the results of that.

The thing I have to ask you is this: When you are breathing in Pranayama, are you making that singing noise in your throat, or some kind of vocal sound? Is it just the sound of rushing air or has it got a note?

Finally, (for today anyhoo!) would you also try this for me? When you are breathing in Pranayama, and particularly for the inhales, keep those shoulders down and back in a relaxed position. Only bring those arms up as far as you can with those shoulders down. The temptation is to get the arms as close to the head as possible. If the shoulders raise up one little bit you are actually causing real physical AND physiological impediments to breathing. You simply will NOT be able to breathe as deeply. The why and how takes some explanation but for best ease i believe just knowing what to look for, the practical approach with a physical thing to look for is a better approach. Feel for tension, avoid it if it happens. Your arms may very well be at a V instead of in an H, (hope that was a reasonable visualisation) but more importantly, your neck will feel long. Your breath will feel more free.

If you own my book, or for anyone reading here does, then just this specific issue for these poses is dealt with on pages 43, 64 (Pranayama) and 74 (Half Moon). All this pages have comparative photos of poor and corrected technique. This is a common recurrent problem with many poses so it’s a translatable skill that will yield great results elsewhere.

Dial into your sensations in your neck and shoulders. If your shoulders rise that’s not good. If your chin drops that is equally just as bad.

Looking forward to hearing of your progress. Please get back to me with the sound you’re making in Pranayama.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Bunni

😆 I have to admit, I haven’t yet ventured onto YouTube for bible cyst videos, but now you’ve made it a tad tempting.

There does seem to be great potential for practising the Bikram at home especially now that you may have another big(ger) purpose to doing so. If you’ve got the right resources** (audio, or audiovisual), the right mirror* and some adequate heating*** and especially humidification (so that you don’t have to heat as high) then you should have a better chance of enjoying it.

You could think about finding someone else who would practise with you say, once a week or more. And methinks the motivation of helping your wrist may also be a positive factor.

* The mirror doesn’t have to be enormous. How big was the one you were using?
** There are apps and CDs and videos. What were you using?
*** Insulation is essential with fan heaters to hold the heat in the room. I have no personal experience with infra red heaters at home but there is less need for enclosing the space. You can even find ceiling mounted panels that look attractive (plain) and that will heat you directly.

Hoping you can get some joy from the situation soon and get rid of your cyst with ease!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello energyup

Thank you so much for your detailed post. I do have a few questions for you before we go further. I want to know what in the physical environment I have to take into account so … Can you please tell me

>> Where is the thermometer in the room
>> Where are the temperature sensors in the room?
>> Is the temperature sensor the thermometer?
>> How humid is the room? And how do you know? Maybe you can tell me if you do sweat a lot and whether you are feeling hot in the room.

Over to you!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Bunni

Can you clarify for me that it happens when you do your power style poses for which you place all or much of your weight on your hands and wrists but if you rest it doesn’t happen?

You obviously love your yoga and the joy of those upper body strengthening poses that are missing from Bikram and non-power, non-vinyasa styles.

Has there been a time where you only do the static style hot yoga poses and you have consistently enjoyed problem-free conditions in your wrists?

It’s fairly obvious what the conclusions might be from that, but I still think it’s worth clarification and then exploration.

For the sake of completeness, what have you been told, or researched about the surgical method? Cost? Recurrence post-surgery? Time to heal? Rehab? Ability to do any yoga pose afterward?

I know the idea of surgical intervention is unappealing to you but would you consider it if it were the only sustainable option? And by sustainable I mean, that it fixes the problem completely, tiny to no chance of recurrence, allows you to have a completely normal life and the yoga practice of your wishes.

Curious to know the answer to my many varied questions! :cheese:

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Sandra

Some people have given feedback on their heaters in the sections called “Practising at Home or Traveling” and “The Heat”.

Other places you check reviews is always to consult Amazon or Dr Google!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Funny story! Well, I would love to say informed as to your progress. Have fun

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi bunni

Thanks for giving the specifics in your answer to Kanaa. :cheese:

Now as for that locked leg contention:

There are folk out there who think you should never (yes, NEVER) lock your knee. They talk about standing still with legs always bent just a little. Some physios and yoga teachers and more have their opinions on the web.

Here’s where I think the place from which the contention arises. People are mixing up the effects of locking the knee with muscles as opposed to locking the knee joint with little or no muscular involvement. They are also making reference to activities that may involve BOTH knee bending and straightening the knee for the same leg in quick or reasonably quick succession.

When you are reading online about whether others recommend locking, be aware of the CONTEXT within which the recommendations are being made and then compare that to the functional needs of the joint and the muscles. I did go and check on the current hashed, re-hashed and plagiarised nonsense around the web (hehe) and discovered that there is not enough of DEFINING what is meant by locking the knee. It is understood by most as a blanket term with NO distinctions beyond the leg being solid. Very little talk of muscular involvement and no talk of function and dysfunction.

The fact is that I would need quite a lot of space here describing the natural reflexes that are being engaged if you lock your leg out with the wrong activity. Notice I contextualised that because there are contexts and manners in which locking the leg is important. But definitely locking without muscular involvement does nothing for the joint and that usually happens when you’re bearing weight which compounds the potential injurious effects. So don’t just lean on your locked out leg or legs without engaging your muscles that create space in the joint.

A point to emphasise here is that while one talks of lifting the kneecap up with the help of the quadriceps, there are other muscles that will assist. Don’t JUST use the quadriceps. Looking in the mirror you’ll see different muscles activating. You’ll feel them engage and strengthen over time especially some of those laterally activating bellies.

Many people confuse the action of locking (without muscles) with the notion of balance creation. Stacking joints and possibly leaning into the leg. Again, wrong. Don’t do it. Make it an active mechanism and don’t do it if it goes against your natural reflexes. Balance itself is extremely complex and there is a lot going on that defies normal disseminated opinion. Eg, how many times have you heard from your own B yoga teachers that if you lock out your muscles on the front side of your leg, then the muscles on the other side completely relax. Well, is that the case when you’re standing? If it were, then I would be able to push you over with a feather! 😉

So be really clear on what you’re researching, or being told so that you can define the terminology because it appears to me that important benefits can be being lost because of the application of a legitimate problem (say, to avoid locking the leg at the end of a squat) and generalising it out to all functions in every body in all circumstances. Not feasible and not helpful either.

Here’s an example to illustrate what one of your natural reflexes does. You can conceivably lock your legs when you’re walking. Get up and lock your legs as you walk. After you plant your forward foot, you can lock the leg (remember to ALSO use your muscles) and you COULD keep it locked until you lift your now back foot off to start the next forward cycle. But notice how when you land your foot your leg naturally bends. It’s a reflex. A protective reflex. It’s the same reflexes that cause your legs to bend when you land from a jump. This is not an indication that you should never lock your leg. Try the exercise again and keep the leg locked the whole time! Haha! That feels awful. You won’t want to do THAT again. You feel like you’re jamming your joints – and you are.

In Bikram and hot yoga, we talk about locking the knee in static poses or where you reach a point in the pose where the leg is then locked for a period of time from seconds up to a minute. Standing poses such as Head to Knee or Bow you lock that supporting leg for the duration. We are not doing squats or lifting weights or walking or doing things in a dysfunctional way. Yes it’s not normal to stand on one leg for 60 seconds but it’s an asana. If we were talking Vinyasa or Power yoga styles the answer would evolve to make considerations for the type of non-static or dynamic poses. Of course you can imagine yourself locking the legs in downward facing dog, for example.

You wouldn’t stand still for ages with locked or unlocked legs. My daughter fainted on stage at a rehearsal, after standing for ages. I doubt her legs were locked out with her muscles. But she was standing still so her leg bones could have been locked. We won’t be sure on that one. Hot lights? Needing hydration? Tired? Unwell? The main point is that with yoga we’re talking about intermittent locking in a functional way.

Phew! 😛 I didn’t envisage talking so long about that.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi tashacricket

Welcome to the forum! There are thankfully loads of posts that answer the questions you have asked that can already be found on the forum. Have you taken a look at using the search facility up the top? You can type in the word challenge and see which relevant threads come up.

In a nutshell:
Commit to 6 classes per week. Never 7. (That’s NOT to say you can’t do 7.) The commitment to 6 classes allows you to take a day off when you decide AT THE TIME, IN THE MOMENT, that you need to take a day off. This is yoga, not a competition, not a sport. The whole ideology of ‘listening to your body’ can be thrown right out of the window if you decide to ‘power through’ an issue you have that is harming you. Those issues most commonly include heat exhaustion, back aches, shoulder and neck aches, sciatica to name a few. These issues rear their ugly head time and time again for the people who have the artificial goal of simply doing 30 classes in 30 days.

Bikram NEVER said to do 30 classes in a row. He said to do 6 days a week and rest one day a week. Somehow this has morphed into a ridiculous commitment of 30 that somehow has the rule that one should do doubles on days to make up for lost classes. I know there is damage being done by the sheer mass of people who come here complaining about aches and pains and exhaustion (heat and physical) due to relentless practice.

Practise YOGA and take a day off. Allow your body to rest and recover (a real NEED not just a whimsy).

NOW, you CAN actually practise EVERY DAY if you really want to. But ONLY do it, if you get to your day off (or any day!) and you can say to yourself that could be something such as, “Yep, I am ready, my body and mind are feeling fine and I can sense I don’t need a day off” then go. Give yourself the opportunity to be in the moment and work out what you need.

You’ll know whether your mind is sabotaging your efforts if you find yourself making excuses. Equally if there are no excuses and you assess at that moment that you could possibly do a second class on that day (whether it is a back-to-back or other) then go with that feeling. Just don’t PLAN those specifically. Allow yourself the possibility to practise a second time and be prepared by having a second towel ready, or water, or extra yoga gear so that you don’t have any impediments and it’s an EASY decision to make and is not made out of obligation to a non-sustainable artificial or unrealistic goal.

I have never changed into dry clothes for a back-to-back but I have used a clean towel if the first one was too wet. But drink as needed (that’s a given).

My recommendations are to allow yourself to retro-morph 😉 your 30 day challenge back into a 6 times per week challenge so that you’re practising somewhere from 25-6 classes to 30 (and possibly more) over the 30 days (and possibly 30 days straight). Lock yourself into more infinite possibilities and limit your personal risk (personal, physical) and really practise yoga!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Stacy

A few more questions for you:

1 > Would you please explain exactly what you mean when you say you are “compensating into my hip on the single leg postures”? A few ideas: Are you leaning into that standing leg and hip to take the weight off the hip? Are you bending the leg? Something else to compensate? Do you avoid locking your knee?
2 > Are you practising at home only? Or do you also practise at a studio?
3 > How many times do you practise per week?
4 > Are you talking about both the separate leg postures – the intense stretch one and the head to knee one? When is that pose or those poses giving you that vulnerable feeling? Ie what are you doing at that moment? For your intense stretch pose are you locking out your legs, or are they bent, or are they straight and not locked, while you are trying to get your head to the floor? For the head to knee pose do you have your hands in prayer in front of your foot or not?

Stacy, it’s been less than a week since I gave you a couple of ideas for your practice. Please continue as suggested to give your knees a chance to recuperate.

With Final Twist you can extend the lower leg out in front of you. Then bend up the other leg with the foot flat on the floor to the outside of that lower leg. If you feel anything untoward in your upper knee, just slide the foot an inch or 2 further away from your hips. Grab the outside of your straight leg with a long arm, wherever your arm reaches to (not necessarily the knee itself).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Stacy

That’s a shame that you feel that your knees are feeling worse for wear at the moment. I think there are some things that you can do to consolidate the strength and good use in your knees. You of course will have to monitor these things.

First thing that you will find obvious to avoid at least for now and until your knees improve are the twisting poses.

The obvious ones are those that you mention in your post: Suptavajrasana and Tadasana (Fixed Firm and Tree)

Of course you don’t want to just do nothing so here are the things you can do in their place:
[strong]
Suptavajrasana:[/strong] Sit in a classic kneeling position with knees, heels and toes aligned. Sit up straight and just rest your hands on your knees or thighs with relaxed shoulders (down and back). Do let me know if you are unable to rest in this position and I will give more details.

I do have photos of this and other mistakes and problems and how to fix them in Hot Yoga MasterClass. So if you happen to know somebody with the manual then take a look at page 238.

For first set just sit there. IF you feel like it, (and only if you feel that you don’t get this stretch anywhere else, because you may indeed get this stretch in Camel) you can lean back on your hands (situated behind you on the floor) but ONLY IF you can keep your bottom on your feet. However I would suggest spend a couple of weeks just sitting upright for both sets in this knee-restorative position.

[strong]Tadasana:[/strong] Don’t bring your foot onto your opposite hip. While we’re at it, don’t do Toe Stand either.

Have you seen the other type of tree pose where people bring their foot to the inside of the standing thigh? You can definitely try that. Don’t put pressure against the standing knee itself. Either go below or above the knee. Work on your alignment of your symmetrically open hips. Work on lifting up from the standing foot so that you avoid pronating (collapsing) your ankle.

[strong]Check into the following poses too.[/strong] You didn’t mention these but I ask you to be very mindful in your next classes and do a couple of experiments.

Eagle: I would possibly NOT hook the toes around the back of the standing calf muscle. Test the knee out with this pose.

I would like to know if you have a straight back AND straight legs in Sep Leg Intense Stretch or whether your back is rounded.

Final Twist: Is everything ok here? At the moment it could be an idea to test the feeling of extending the leg out in front of you (at 12 o’clock) until your knees feel better. As I am saying above, it may not be necessary.

Let me know if there are other poses that pose (!) other niggling issues. 😉

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Willie

Yikes, forgot to respond!! I hope I can make amends.

Arms are under belly and little fingers touching as per dialog can be one of your problems. Possibly your main problem.
>> Usually is when we look at people having issues with this pose. What you will find when you look at the Salabhasana threads on this forum is that I strongly suggest you externally rotate the arms instead of rolling them in under you to get them to touch. Externally rotating the upper arms seats the shoulders in a more effective way. It will have your arms landing underneath you at the same time as positioning your shoulders further apart and forming the crucial platform across the chest against which you will find lift. You will be able to ground the area effectively by using your arms and the lift will become easier.

With the use of your arms, your hands, your fingers:
>> Rather than pressing fingers into the mat, try pressing your arms and shoulder/chest platform into the mat. It IS different to what you are doing. Shifting the weight is not this conscious rolling movement to the front. It’s more that you focus on using the leverage in your arms and not your hands. Your arms end at your shoulders and the shoulders are spread outward.

If you have my book to refer to then take a look at the photos on the bottom of page 217 because they show on the left what most people do, and then how you should look with your shoulders and arms effectively placed for best leverage (in the right image).

Shoulders on the ground:
>> Aim for that solid platform from shoulder through chest to other shoulder.

A common mistake is to just lift the single legs up because it’s pretty darn easy to do that. However, what I always suggest is that you use the single leg lifts as a technique check on the double leg lift. PRESS the hands and arms into the floor even for the single leg lift. Also you’ll find that you really can remove the use of the non-lifting leg from the equation and only activate the lifting leg. Without using your arms you will be involving the other leg.

Using your breath
The breath is a mystery for you here so then Willie I suggest for the single leg lift use an inhale to lift your leg. Keep breathing and lower the leg on the exhale.

For the double leg lift inhale as you squeeze the bottom and lock the legs and point the toes and start to press your arms and hands and shoulders into the floor. That’s the set-up on the inhale so then consolidate the position and EXHALE TO LIFT. The action will help you to activate your core and focus your energies to lift much more easily. Let the legs stay straight and long no matter what. Don’t worry if it’s not high. The main thing is to work on the technique and lift. They’ll get higher over time. Don’t be surprised that with the new focus on technique that for the first time you don’t go as high. You may very well have been compensating for poor body geometry and leverage points by bending and rocking up your legs. It’s very common.

I hope the detail makes up for the tardiness of my reply! 😉

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂