Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
in reply to: How much does everyone sweat? #4439
😆
I KNOW I can count on your to rise to the challenge.
Always a pleasure, Bonnie
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: osteoporosis #4438Hi Amy
Thank you. I am so grateful to have this connection with you! 🙂
Life is full so sorry for the delay. But I HAVE been thinking about you and working through your problem. With the issue at the top of the spine I have been considering your movement in general.
Does your specialist say that normal spinal movement around your shoulder blades is OK or are you trying to immobilize the area? I hope you are allowed some movement. I would be worried about keeping muscular tone, nutrition to the area that you get with that movement, cleansing and particularly keeping neural tone as well.
Your mods for Standing Sep Leg Head to Knee seem good. Another one you can make is:
* Arms over head
* Pivot to side
* Then once you have squared your hips bring your arms out and behind you and grab onto your elbows
* Extend chin and descendThis is great for the shoulders (great for child carrying Moms! ;)), You will feel a great opening in the whole spine. You can even do one set chin extended, one set chin tucked.
Rabbit is a more difficult proposition when you can’t round the back. It is hard to feel that intense satisfaction without really opening up the whole back of the spine. And you can’t limit that opening to just the lower spine! 🙁 But yes I have tried this out and you can feel that great traction in your arms and if you do everything but get your forehead to your knee it is surprisingly OK. I found that I could do it with a concave back (arching lower spine) and also with a slightly rounded lower back.
Standing Head to Knee
If you are avoiding the full on rounding in that pose then there are a couple of things you can do:
* Use Part 1 as a doorway (that you are in for a second or 2) to Part 2.
* Part 2 is very safe for you and you can really work on ankle flexibility
* Part 3 is clearly a risk for you but you could bend the elbows until they are in line with the top of your leg (body geometry permitting)The other thing is to do an Ashtanga pose called Utthita Hasta Padanghustasana. I did this in place of Head to Knee when I was pregnant. It is really satisfying to work through this dynamic balance pose which opens hips, legs and is a strong core strength developer.
I hope that helps you Amy
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: March 30-day challenge #4435Hi Annie
I was thinking about it today: it takes great determination to start and finish a challenge. It takes tremendous courage to stop for the right reasons, before you have finished what you vowed to complete. I am not sure if you are saying that you would stop your challenge right now, but I would certainly be considering it. Yoga is not about hurting yourself – rather to nurture your whole being. I hope you find your answer (and personally I hope you find some space in your schedule to recover and feel good in your body again!).
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Back bend problems #4433Hi Becks
Yin yoga is a style of long duration stretches that really help to open up the body. It is a great complement to the ‘yang’ style of yoga that we love (that with a more energetic slant!).
A good place to start would be downloading Lucas’ At Home Stretching Guide. Then you can always enhance your repertoire. But first try the free guide in the Resource Center. There are definitely stretches for your legs in there.
Long duration stretches help your body recognize safety in the stretch and you will notice during the position that your body is noticeably opening up. It helps you learn how to surrender and also use the breath.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: March 30-day challenge #4432Hi Annie
I was going to write something about your poses and your back. Firstly however I want to know if things are the same or getting worse.
Please let me know. I know these challenges are important for many reasons but I am truly concerned. Are you in need of a rest, some recovery? Is all this a sign to back off?
I await your response.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: standing on one leg #4431Hi Amy
You might find for example that in Standing Head to Knee that you can start with your standing leg buttock clenched, but when you round over you will have to surrender it somewhat! On the other hand in Standing Bow using your butt cheek will help you keep your hips aligned plus the adductors of your kicking leg have to engage to draw your leg into alignment and therefore your hips.
Anyway when you standing there in set-up phase you are aiming to get good stability and solidity of hip position. Then you aim to maintain that solidity so that you have less big changes to make, just nice finessing!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Back bend problems #4425Hi Becks
I am wondering whether you should just go back to that place before your leg hurts. Keep the alignment and strong legs. I would concentrate more on letting go of shoulders and neck while staying strong in the legs!
I am also thinking that some long yoga stretches (yin style) could help you iron out some of the problems there.
Let me know if that resonates for you.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: How much does everyone sweat? #4424Hi Sarah
I am going to tell you a secret … ssssh …
The way to stop your hands from slipping is by … practicing yoga – without wiping. Over time you will develop sufficient finger and hand strength so that no matter how wet your hands are they will still grip. Really!!! :cheese:
We used to practice with little cloths. Then one day we stopped and that is the day our yoga changed. If you can, avoid the washcloths and just put up with the slippage for a while.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi David
You bring up a great deal of good points here.
I wonder about the intended audience for the 8 glasses a day thing. I don’t think there are many people who haven’t heard that one. But perhaps it is geared towards the type of person who eats a diet of fast food, dense processed foods, or lots of meat products. There are millions out there who rarely see a raw vegetable let alone eat one. They are probably not going to be the ones who read this kind of forum.
Sure, I think you do have to consider the types of foods you eat when you decide how much water you are going to ingest. If you take a ridiculous example, if you only ate watermelon all day, would you still need to have 8 glasses of water? I think not. But if you ate steak and fried potatoes with or without a salad your needs for drinking would be much greater.
I have also heard it said that if you wait until you are thirsty to drink then you are already dehydrated. So yes there is a certain amount of learning that we have to make about our own bodies that goes with the territory.
Ever been so busy that you forget to drink? I have. What I do do regardless of that is:
** drink a liter (about 2 pints) of water or warm herbal tea every morning within an hour of getting up.
** check on urine color (never let it get too yellow or dark)Drinking a good amount of water every morning is a very important way to keep hydrated. While you have been sleeping your body has been losing fluid. So drinking the first thing in the morning replenishes lost fluids. Even more important if you are doing hot yoga.
As for that doctor who hasn’t drunk water in 20 years: he can’t possibly be practicing hot yoga :cheese: and he certainly can’t be living in warm or subtropical climate. In summer we often experience temps of 95F (35C) and the temperatures often reaches 105F (40C).
Excess water is relative. I think you have to consider your climate, your activity and your diet, not just your diet. Being prepared by drinking extra water so that you don’t dehydrate is not really drinking an excess it is prudent. The 8 glasses per day is arbitrary and is applied across the board and I guess just to make sure people take hydration into account. BTW: what is a “normal amount of drinking during the day?”
There are other schools of thought that say that drinking plain water is not as good at hydrating your body as drinking it with small amounts of juice (I think apple juice was one type recommended).
As usual no argument is cut and dried.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: standing on one leg #4422Hi Amy
Depending on the pose you are going to contract different muscles. Sometimes you can tighten the muscles through your buttock as well. Also how you hold your other hip (or rather your hips in alignment) is going to affect which muscles contract. I would like to know what pose, because it is a different proposition if you are in a forward or backbend.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Breathing Sounds #4421Hi Robert
Welcome to the forum. It is really common to hear people making humming and buzzing noises at the larynx. Using your larynx does nothing to improve air flow to your lungs. But still some people use believing it as a way to learn how to control some of the muscles in their throats. The muscles you use are higher up however, at the back of the mouth, top of the throat.
For quite a comprehensive explanation of breathing you could go and check out my video on breathing which looks at how you can draw more air into your lungs by effective throat constriction, posture and other useful tips and techniques (so I am told :cheese:). Here is the link: Effective Breathing In Hot Yoga
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: my studio is SMELLY! #4414Hi Lubi
It is a shame that dogma can sometimes take the place of good commonsense. To me it makes perfect sense that you sweat on the towel. It takes a HUGE amount of pressure off the studio owners (let alone financial commitment) to keep the studio clean. Students take the sweat home with them and bring back a clean towel. In order to keep the room fresh the studio only has to be aired well. I hate standing in other people’s sweat. That’s not just because it feels icky, but it is unhygienic and smelly when it has been sitting there for ages. I understand that you would feel a little reticent to change your towel position when it is ‘not permitted’.
If your studio owner is approachable maybe they can be directed to the forum! There is nothing offensive in here…
As far as the inner thigh story goes: well it is (unfortunately) true (but not in all cases). Sliding feet can be a sign of weak inner thighs and it can also be other things too. For example:
** Your feet can slide on any surface if the surface is slippery (even sweaty wet carpet 😉 )
** And your feet can slide if your technique is not quite right. It can sometimes take the tiniest tweak to move from ‘sliding feet’ to ‘strong pose’.Are you saying that your right knee can’t lock in triangle or at all? If you would like help with these poses then I request more specific info regarding where it hurts, when in the pose, and of course which poses.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Has Bikram yoga NOT worked for you?? #4411Hi Annie
I am reading your post and feel it is a real plea – perhaps a desperate one because you are not getting what you perceive to be fast enough results for you. I know and am familiar with this perception from years of teaching other students with similar practice aims and even in myself when I was wanting to tone up after our girl was born.
You so want to hear that it will work for you. Perhaps you are looking in the mirror each class and wondering “when is it going to happen for ME”.
Maybe others have said it is THE way to lose weight and shape. Please remember that everybody is different and every body is different. We are made up uniquely and respond to our environments uniquely: what we eat, how we move, what we drink, when we drink it, etc etc etc. Perhaps however, one of THE most important things is What You Believe.
Maybe you are one of millions who believes that whatever you eat goes to your hips. Maybe you believe that you are pear shaped and nothing will change that.
A little tool for you to try in your practice that may help you reprogram your thoughts and beliefs is to; say stuff like this to yourself in class (or outside ;): ‘my fat is melting away, ‘I can feel the fat breaking down’, ‘this is making my body healthier and leaner’, ‘today I am leaner and healthier than I was yesterday’. I can see that I look better in the mirror every day!!!!
I wrote this last paragraph to a woman in a personal email just a couple of weeks ago. She gave me permission to reproduce her words. By the way this woman is 50 pounds overweight (from memory):
Yes, visualization tool has been helping me. Mine is, I am lean, long, fit and strong! I am beautiful. Capable. Healthy and prosperous! And before every practice I ask the universe to use my body, my mind and soul to work a miracle. And it does! 🙂
I wonder if you are thinking stuff like that or maybe your mind is awash with frustration and fear that you may never change. If I could finish with this: let go of your negative feelings, just observe them. Don’t get so attached to losing weight. As others have said before, notice how great you feel after class, notice how you look better, feel better in your clothes. And as I have often said even elsewhere in the forum, go as often as you can, make it 4 times minimum and aim for 5+ per week. You may see nothing happen for a while and then one day you will wonder how you couldn’t see your shape change creating your new beautiful body.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: How do you breathe when you are in this posture? #4409Hi Becks
The first thing that popped into my head was that perhaps you are experiencing some strain in your upper body. I was wondering if it was at all possible that you are applying a little too much effort from your shoulders? Then I awoke this morning to find that Amy and you have been exploring that together. :cheese:
In my experience I have found that although there is challenge in this pose and one works really hard, that with the legs straight there is a sort of ease in the breath. Would you try this pose even at home and see if and where you are feeling any sort of strain.
If abdomino-diaphragmatic breath is not working for you in this case, then you could try diaphragmatic chest breathing (holding the tummy in and allowing the lower ribs and chest to expand somewhat).
The other thing is that you could see if you can more consciously let go of your hip muscles and your lower back muscles as you lift your hips up. Sometimes the focus can be so strongly on the legs locking out that people forget that there are muscles that you have to let go of.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: teacher training #4404Hi Emily and Jeff
Thanks Jeff for the low-down on the current training prices.
After our emails to each other Emily: in the particular area where you live there are lots of studios and LOADS of Bikram yoga teachers. You may find that competition is quite fierce to get a teaching position in many studios.
In fact in your area in particular I believe that many of the studios do not allow free yoga to teachers because there are simply so many certified teachers around. You are right though Jeff, there is an unwritten rule that teachers get free yoga but it is not true 100% of the time and is up to each yoga studio owner to decide.
You may find that your home studio is interested in having you teach. The more popular this yoga becomes the less you are able to make a living teaching full time (because of over supply of teachers). On the upside: many new studios are opening up.
You may want to ask a few questions of the teachers that you meet. You may be surprised at the results when you ask how many teach full or part time, own and run a studio, have a full time job and then those that only teach one or several classes per week.
The classic issue that full time teachers have is teaching enough to earn their money (unless they own the studio) AND practicing enough to keep up their own regular practice. You may not know how you want to apply yourself until after the training and see how all these things fit into your lifestyle.
Many trainees do the training and expect to teach and never do, others only want the experience, never expect to teach and end up teaching a lot. You won’t know until you get there (wherever ‘there’ is! :cheese:). I hope you keep us posted. I would love to know what you decide.
So in a nutshell, I am not sure you can make the decision to teach purely based on the financial aspect. Owning and running a studio is different to teaching in someone else’s studio and the ability to earn is strongly related to that. When deciding to go to training, passion is your most important ingredient! How you use that passion is up to you.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: 30 Day Challenge ending with Back-to-Back Double #4403Congratulations Cindy
What a wonderful result :cheese:
Thanks very much for your thoughtful and detailed account of your experiences. I feel happy to read of your celebration. It is great that you recovered so well and were able to adapt yourself and get your outcome!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Back bend problems #4397Hi Becks
Just confirming: is it a pain in the knees (in the joint) and not the thighs at all? Is there muscular pain involved along the quadriceps?
I await your reply! :cheese:
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: osteoporosis #4396Hi Amy
That was not the best of news! Please tell me if your physio is only worried about your neck at this stage. When your physio says no to compressions are you only referring to Rabbit or are there are other poses? I am familiar with dealing with neck fragility such as this one. But we can get to that later.
What is your treatment plan from your medical team or has that not been decided upon yet? You may already have done some research about what you would like to do and that is worth hearing. It is YOUR body and your life.
This is a delicate situation so it really warrants more information before any kind of advice is given… I have some ideas about the direction I would go but I have only the 7 lines of information you gave me and clearly there must be a lot more. I hope we can come up with something that works for you holistically and that satisfies you physically and emotionally.
Amy, you can PM/email me directly if you want.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Where is your butt? #4393Hi Barb and Chris
By your response Chris it seems as though you don’t need any more help! I guess I am assuming that your bottom is on the floor. Is that right? There are lots of techniques and tips in the Suptravajrasana postings. Let me know if I can help you with anything else.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Initial Weight Gain and Appetite changes #4385Hi GalaYogini
I remember my first months at yoga and how it completely changed the way my body operated. I think it is really normal to experience appetite changes. And you may have noticed that the types of foods that you have chosen have changed too. For many it is about your body re-balancing and finding new or better ways to function. I am guessing you were rather surprised that you put on that 15 pounds.
But still it is worth saying that muscle weighs more than fat. It is likely that you changed shape and it didn’t come only from increasing your fat (if at all). If you work really hard you are likely to increase the size of your muscles as well as weigh more. It does seem however that your body has normalized and you have got back to your comfortable shape so if it were me I don’t think I would be alarmed by the drop in appetite. If you are in the habit of weighing yourself then you know that when you weigh yourself is crucial in working out your real mass. Eg before or after a class, drinking or eating, before or after you evacuate your bowels, at the beginning or the end of the day.
As long as you have a balanced diet, you are drinking enough water, nourishing your body correctly then all is well. It is better that you check into how you feel, how you fit into your clothes and your happiness quotient (among other things) rather than looking at the number on the scales. What most people notice is that they make the switch from just eating, to eating for fueling their bodies without excessively consuming ‘comfort’ foods. Lastly: there is no ‘normal’ response. If your swings continue to happen and it is alarming you then go check it out with a professional. My guess is that you have probably reached your state of normal now.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: March 30-day challenge #4382Hi Annie
Wassup with your hip and lower back? I know that as a physio you will probably have some answers.
Is it a technique thing we can nut out? Here to help :cheese:
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Teacher Training #4355Hey guys
Just don’t tire yourselves out before you go. It is already enough of a physical and emotional drain without sapping your energy BEFORE you get there. A regular practice plus passion – and some dialog preparation – is what you need. Take it easy! Rest a bit! Use some of your yoga credit so that you can arrive fresh. :cheese:
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Joint pain and swelling #4352Hi Janayah
It seems as though you have simply had a viral infection. In our opinion the hot yoga would certainly not be responsible for causing the problems you describe. Hot yoga generally helps the body to be more resilient to many infection types. When you feel physically more able, I can’t see why you couldn’t head on back into the studio and practice.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Joint pain and swelling #4350Hi Janayah
I am sorry to hear you are not in tip top health.
I would like to ask a question: you mention that you had a viral infection which caused your joints to swell. And then you asked if it was possible that the yoga caused the swelling and pain.
So I guess I was a little confused on reading the post and would really appreciate knowing a little more. I would love to know what has you actually linking the swelling to the yoga and any other points that you feel are relevant.
Looking forward to your reply
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂in reply to: Going back to yoga after a cold? #4349Hi Nicole
Only you can tell whether you have enough energy to get to class. That is on one side of the coin. Another thing to consider is whether you are in fact infective! In such nice warm conditions it is possible that things spread more easily. There is a point where you can go back to class when it is OK for you and safe for others too!
Depending on the illness too much exertion could make it worse for you. You wouldn’t go back to yoga too soon after a real influenza or pneumonia and expect that it would fix you because sometimes these things ride against even the best hot yoga logic (or claims as a cure-all) and your body is simply not equipped to deal with the extra stress. If it is a cold and even a bad cold then you are probably OK to go back when you are feeling better – as you report.
From my experience, when I have had a cold and there is still some of that ‘gross stuff’ around, I have found that the emphasis on breathing in the moist air has been like a tonic for my lungs. Plus the inversion in Standing Sep Leg Stretching has on a couple of occasions over the years been the point where I have felt an amazing physical shift and I felt no longer clogged up. It could be different for others and I imagine we will hear different stories.
I wish you a very speedy recovery and much ease on your return – which I intuit will be tomorrow! :cheese:
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
AuthorPosts
