Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi cleo

You mention that this has not been bothering you the whole time, just the last 3 weeks. So, let me ask you: are you aware of any tightness in your neck or shoulders at any other time in the yoga class or indeed outside of class? It is only on one side but still I will ask if perhaps you strain to get your head comfortably on the floor: you may have a bit bust (but really that would probably affect both sides but it is worth mentioning just in case the comment inspires a response).

My thought is that you may be hunching your shoulders in many poses including but not limited to the ones where your arms are up over your head. Or in poses like Standing Bow or even Rabbit you could be holding on through your shoulder instead of allowing traction to stretch out that area.

In the meantime you could rest your head on one of your bent arms to see if for the moment it stops it bothering you. Then we can get on with the business of working through your technique elsewhere in your practice.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello icart and Jeff

I wanted to add a little more explanation to this topic because for my liking, the article which had some great and worthy comments didn’t gel for me in when it comes to regular folk (ie those that are not regularly exercising athletes) or hot yogis. Let me explain. And by the way, I AM NOT the definitive expert on this but I wanted to lend my reasoning to this from a physiological perspective and also the hot yoga perspective.

I firstly thought about stomach size. Let’s look at 2 extremes for the sake of illustration. If you are a large eater then your actual stomach size is large. Think about how much training one of those people has to go through in order to FIT 60 hot dogs in for that amusing July 4 hot dog eating contest. Their stomachs have to be very large. Now think about someone who may even be experiencing famine (and you can add to that some dieters). Their stomachs can be tiny.

The person in the competition could chug a HUGE glass of water and it may not touch the sides! And the receptors in the wall of the tiny stomach will definitely register distension when a large volume (or even a smaller volume) of water is drunk.

So the argument put forth in the article will not hold true for the vast majority of people (who are not avid exercisers). What is a gulp anyway? It is less than (or approx) an ounce of water. You may need to swallow quite a bit of water to do what the article suggests.

Now let’s consider what’s in the water. If you drink PURE water then the theory holds true (taking into consideration stomach size). But if you add electrolytes or other additives then this changes the gastric emptying rate.

Now if you are in a marathon this is where you would want to chug down a lot of water. You definitely want to encourage moving that water out of your belly and you may need to take a fair amount. After all the demands on the body are great.

And now for hot yoga?
Can you really take big gulps of water before half moon, backbend, standing head to knee, camel or rabbit? What about just before full locust or floor bow pose? Sometimes the pressures are so uncomfortable that it can make you nauseous.

The rate of gastric emptying is extremely complex. For example, the presence of fat in your small intestine will delay gastric emptying. Maybe it will even prevent fast emptying of the water in your belly. If you have food in your tummy from a recent meal, then the water will mix with the contents, not bypass it. So there are loads of things to think about.

Any comments about your experiences, anyone?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello finalspinal

I read your post and was feeling so elated and inspired. I got to the end and felt a bit deflated but certainly not hopeless.

I can’t tell if you have actually made it back to class yet. My guess is that you have not yet returned.

This is what I can tell you with 100% honesty, and with tons of support and love. Whenever students come back from an unintended break, and I am talking about me, Robert and hundreds of people I have talked to over the years with this ‘affliction’, this is what they all INVARIABLY say (in one form or another):

>> “Why did I wait so long?”
>> “What was I so afraid of?”
>> “It was hard, but it was easier than I expected.”
>> “It is so great to be back. I feel fantastic.”

Go on! Allow yourself to feel fantastic again. You owe it yourself to get back to the real you. What are you waiting for?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi icart

Maybe I should leave all questions so that you fabulous yogis and yoginis can use your own innate intuition to find the right answers. :cheese: Seriously though! Sorry that I missed seeing your question.

I don’t know why some spasms occur. You seem to have made the connection between the old injury and its healing process. That is probably correct in this case.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi tamadrums

Although some people say that the aim is to touch the floor it is actually to get the best stretch you can through the backs of your legs and all the way through your straight back.

Touching your forehead to the floor is a goal that is rather more indicative that you could be doing the right thing. Generally it indicates that you could be getting the right stretch through your body. Be careful however, because as with anything, with the wrong technique you can do this so that it is not useful.

Once you get your forehead to the floor it is time for you to readjust so that the stance of your legs is less wide. In other words you draw your feet in closer to each other. This will mean that your forehead is no longer at the floor.

If your forehead is contacting then you lessen the ability to get that delicious allover stretch. So either step out less far the next time you are in the pose, or even adjust your feet while you are inverted by walking them in a little bit so you can once again work on that fantastic stretch.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi David

Wow, what a revelation. I do recall from some of my distant continuing medical/dental knowledge that minoxidil was used in lower concentrations than those used for hypertension, to treat baldness (as it was discovered that subjects had this side effect). Don’t be so hard on yourself about your choice of treatment.

It is great that you worked out the connection and then did something about it. And what’s more important is that you are now improving. I guess I am wondering whether your use of minoxidil came up at all in your appointments before you made the connection.

As for ‘toxins removed from the body’. I really DON’T like to subscribe to that theory. The whole idea that everyone is filled with toxins that you have to do something special to remove is to me totally ludicrous. Oh, I can just imagine how much controversy is going to ensue from that comment. :cheese: And please, if you do comment on the toxins comment, please read it carefully.

Your body has the ability to get rid of ‘toxins’ through the liver and the kidneys and the digestive tract primarily. What the yoga is good at doing is tuning and fine-tuning your body to function better so that your excretive systems your filtering systems and all the ways that you get rid of your wastes, work better. And yes, your body is healthier as a result. There are many misunderstood ideas disseminated that may not be based on fact or truth. So I invite you to do your own research.

But I digress. David I am as sure as I can be that the yoga you were practicing helped sustain your good health all this time. And it is entirely possible that whatever reaction you were having to the drug overrode your attempts to counter it. That is just me reading into your words based on your experience, and what I know that practicing the yoga can do. But as you know it can’t fix everything.

You must be feeling such a sense of relief to be on your way to recovery.

Dope eh? That is funny really. I want to point something out here. Are you paying close attention?
>>>>> YOU were the one who worked it out. <<<<<
In my books that is on the other SIDE of dopey. 😉 I wonder if you could reframe that to be something more supportive so that you can let it go and get back to the business of FULL RECOVERY?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Ilyzium

Yes, that is a hard one. But ultimately it depends on you (and your own personal development). You see, at present you are reacting to this instructor as a naughty child would react to a parent. In order to not engage this dynamic between you 2 you have to rob the dynamic of power and be completely equanimous with the situation. And this means that you have no charge whatsoever to the situation. It really is an extension of your yoga practice. One of the great developments in the studio (and in life) is to learn Pratyahara which loosely defined is to direct your attention inward and focus on what is going on in your own body (what you see, smell, hear etc) and it is a way to be less distracted and enter a state of higher awareness.

You may notice for example that when you first started your practice that many, many things disturbed you: including your thoughts, your sensations, and equally what other people were doing and saying. When we talk about the effects of others you can consider these distractions to be things like someone moving, falling over, making sounds, leaving the room 😉 etc. Do you remember how susceptible you were to the mention of your name? There you were balancing in Eagle pose and the teacher said “beautiful pose T” or “T, line up your joints” and then you fell over!

After a while you were able to listen to the information, hear your name and simply apply it and not react, just respond.

So, I am wondering if you can draw any parallels here in this situation? I wonder if there is something about your own internal reaction to this affront to your senses that you could in some way let go of.

In my experience it is about working out what needs of yours are not being met in this exchange with your teacher. Perhaps you are feeling embarrassed, self-conscious and even pissed off. And what you are really value or need is some respect, understanding and compassion. Please let me assure you that I have challenges with certain situations that ‘plug me in’ and can take some time to acknowledge what is really going on inside myself. But sometimes the mere acknowledgment of my own internal responses and needs is all I need to diffuse the reaction.

So, I would assess a few things:

1 >> Do I have the ability to really be equanimous with this situation and simply fulfill my needs, go to the toilet and come back (not seek approval, nor take on the judgment) and continue my practice with peace and calm in my body and mind?

2 >> Is this a lesson in the mastery of one’s own being in learning how to respond rather than react?

3 >> Perhaps you can realize that this instructor has very deep unresolved issues of her own, some feelings and needs that she herself is not acknowledging and can therefore not demonstrate her equanimity at all. Are you just reacting to her reaction?

4 >> Is it feasible to tell the owner that you will continue to do what you are doing and you would prefer to not have any reproach about the situation and you will do your best to stay equanimous and manage your own behavior? Often (and this is a biggie) we go and complain about something but the one vital missing ingredient is the request for something to happen. Is it at all possible that your request for your mid-session activity to be ignored has not been made?

5 >> Do you like this studio enough that you want to stay here? Are you willing to vote with your feet? (One way to look at this is this: if every instructor you had was like this at every studio, would you a) stop doing yoga completely or b) continue to do yoga and pee when you need to? In other words, what would you do if the same thing happened in another studio?)

6 >> Robert and I were joking the other day about how you should just bring a chamber pot into the studio so that you don’t have to leave the room. Maybe then they will get the message. 😆

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Mark

Thank you! :cheese:

You know, this is the first time that I have ever been asked about this syndrome. And I imagine that it is one of those things that people will increasingly complain of, given the provenance of this condition: keyboard use etc! wink

It seems that the strength training (of your forearms particularly) and the stretches that your practice provides should be what ‘the doctor orders’ to help you rehabilitate.

I guess it would be worth doing some stretches outside of the room if you are up to it. You obviously want to avoid aggravating it. Does your computer work continue to aggravate it? How about particular poses? I was wondering if Eagle pose was bothering you.

It seems that the repositioning of the nerve slipping over the medial epicondyle at the elbow can be the culprit. This is sometimes in the realm of a talented body worker or masseur who can help you get form and function to work together.

Just wondering what other info you can give me if you think anything else is relevant.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Jeanette

Thank you for your comments about my website! Welcome to the forum.

I have read your post a couple of times to digest it. There are lots of issues in there. Delving into where things happen and the poses it happens in makes me believe that the key to your ‘fix’ is in your technique. I am almost 100% sure it will be stuff that you can do in your practice and not any special extra stretches. For example:

I think the problem started with having difficulty in locking the knee and also I pushed too hard in maybe Rabbit pose or (24) Head-to-Knee pose with intense stretching.

There are 2 completely different issues going on here. If you are pushing too hard into Rabbit and it is affecting your legs then you are DEFINITELY needing help with your technique. Pushing too hard (for want of a better turn of phrase) into Rabbit might give you a neck ache or pain around the shoulders but it wouldn’t give you a pain in your legs. If your legs are hurting behind the knees for this pose then we have to really look at the technique from the beginning. Maybe you aren’t talking about Rabbit pose.

I was probably over-extending it at first and then over-compensating by keeping my knee slightly bent. I realise that I now need to pull up on my quads.

What I encourage you to do is to go to the posts on Head to Knee Pose and review them carefully. When you do you will see that what you describe as over-compensating is actually the key to doing the pose correctly.

Also please review Opening Up Your Hamstrings With Hot Yoga as this also helps explain one of the very important techniques which is related to the Head to Knee technique.

Please explain what it is that bothers you in Awkward pose. Is it the back of the knees? Does it hurt for all 3 parts?

Re Eagle pose: what you are doing is fine. Just keep your hips square.

Re Triangle pose: I am not sure what you mean by “when I hold the weight on the one bent leg”. Do you mean that when you bend and lunge down that you put most of the weight in the bent leg? You also mention that you have not just a sore knee here but intimate your back is hurting. Please tell me where it is hurting.

Re Tree pose: is your knee hurting here? Is it a twisting sensation or is it the back of the knee again? It really IS important to know what hurts, where and when. 😉

I really appreciate your efforts to get back to me with some more specifics. At the moment I think I have give you enough homework. :cheese:

Later!!!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Sally

I hope you have had time to look around at the stories that so many others have already shared. You will find our most read thread here: I Am Quite Overweight And Doing Hot Yoga. Check out many inspirational stories, advice and others’ experience in this section of the forum: Weight Loss and Hot Yoga.

It is my opinion that if you go at least 4-5 times a week and maybe even more, you can lose shape quite fast (does depend on the person – but it can happen VERY fast) and you don’t have to do any other exercise. It is your choice. When you settle into a maintenance routine then you can introduce other types of exercise.

There are definitely differing opinions regarding what to do. Let’s see what others suggest.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Corinne

Many people feel some kind of uneasiness, nausea or inability to function ‘normally’ when they first start hot yoga. The reasons for this listed could be really huge! Fortunately after a relatively short amount of time your body and mind tend to cope extremely well and function at a much better level of normal. 😉

By the way, in the middle of writing this response Robert responded and gave a couple of great ideas. Simultaneous stereo yoga advice. :cheese:

I don’t really want to go into the other whys of nausea because what the yoga is teaching you to do is observe and not judge what is happening. What you are describing is within the normal range. And although you say you have had enough of feeling that way, it has only been a few classes.

Barring some medical reason that is not obvious from your question (and maybe you do actually need something like electrolytes or need to modify your pre-yoga eating habits), you should be quite surprised and delighted soon that you feel empowered, strong and vibrant and the nausea just won’t be there any more. It could be a big part of normalizing your systems and reaching all parts of your body. It won’t be long before you will be able to read the signs your body is giving you and also be able to look on without wanting to ascribe a reason why something is happening. With more hours connecting with yourself through yoga you will more strongly allow your innate body intelligence to ‘have a say’.

Enjoy your practice

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Jo-Anne

There is a very simple formula for that (which is discussed in my manual and also pictured step by step in the Private Members’ Pose Clinics).

>> Bring your arms up over your head
>> When you lower your arms to cross them start with your palms facing inward (your thumbs will be closest to your body
>> Just keep the direction of your palms constant and don’t change them even as you cross your arms
>> In other words your, no twisting of your hands, and your thumbs stay closer to your body the whole time!!!

Voila! And you don’t even have to think about it.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂