The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Hot Yoga Facts
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in reply to: Calf cramps during floor bow #7527
i take it about hour before class.
yesterday, the cramps were horrrrrrible. i only made it halfway through the twenty seconds before i had to bring my legs down.
it’s very frustrating. i’m trying not to push too hard, but this cramp just won’t go away.
My arms are not locked out, they are slightly bent, pulling on the heels.
Some days, it feels like I do this pose “right,” I get that great stretch in my spine and not too much pressure on the head. Some days I don’t feel much at all. The difference seems to be in my grip, I’ve noticed. On good rabbit days, my grip is strong, but more often, my grip is sweaty and slippery, and I don’t feel what I think I should be feeling.
My feet aren’t up off the floor, but they aren’t pressed down onto the floor, either. They are sortof resting lightly.
I’ve ordered a couple special hot yoga towels that will hopefully help with the sweaty grip problem.
Thanks for your advice.
in reply to: Calf cramps during floor bow #7519I hold my feet opposite the arch. I take two packets of emergen-C with water before class and hydrate a lot, so I don’t think that’s the problem.
The cramp is always, always in my left calf. I don’t get them anywhere else or at any other time in class.
Thanks
in reply to: arms behind the calf muscles #7484Thanks for the advice!
I’m still trying to perfect this, but by pulling less hard and allowing the stretch to come slowly…my nose starts at my knees, by the end of the stretch, it’s a few inches lower…my arms are staying more behind my calves…at least half of the time. When I feel them drifting to the sides, I know I’m pulling too hard.
The dialogue says here that “pulling is the object of stretching,” so I was literally pulling with all my might (which isn’t much, but still) …
I guess this is an area where your advice goes against the standard Bikram school of thought…because when I was pulling and pulling, with my forearms out sideways, I achieved the face-to-shins with no gap and could lock my knee by the end of the posture…and doing that got me recognition in class from the instructor.
I’ll keep working on this proper form and let my progress come slowly
Thanks again
My arms are just pulling on my heels as hard as possible. I see a lot of other students starting the pose with locked elbows, and I’m not sure how to do this with my hands gripping my heels. They are locked out once I get into position, though.
I tried keeping a slight distance between my head and knees and it actually feels a little better, I think. You were right, I was untucking my chin, and that has definitely helped. It makes the stretch feel even better to tuck my chin up and I haven’t felt as much neck pain since I’ve done that. Maybe my neck pain is decreased because I am finally getting the full stretch.
I’m really trying not to have my feet lift off the ground…it’s not so much a lift as just they want to barely hover half a centimeter off the mat. This just seems to happen the more I try consciously to avoid pressure on the neck. Maybe I just need to put all these steps together and really focus harder on what I am doing.
Thank you so much for your help, this is a great site
in reply to: Water during class #7433For me, going from literally zero exercise to a daily yoga practice is already taking me to the limit. Just staying in that hot room, focusing on the asanas and giving them my all is a big step for me. I will try to decrease my water intake during class, but I am not going to feel bad about using it as a mental crutch when I am struggling just to make it through the 90 minutes. That little reward can take me from being ready to call it quits to knowing I can make it through the next few asanas. Just like I’m not going to try to kick out my leg in standing head to knee until I feel comfortable locking my leg and balancing, I’m not going to add the challenge of ignoring my desire for water breaks until I stop wishing for death after five minutes in the hot room. One step at a time.
in reply to: arms behind the calf muscles #7430I don’t have a problem getting my arms back behind my calves initially, but as I pull and pull they drift out to the sides of my legs. Other than that, my stomach is on my thighs and my head is below my knees. I’ve even had the instructor say “good job” to me as I’m doing this…as my arms are drifting out.
I guess I just need to develop more arm strength?
All the sweating certainly doesn’t help keep my arms in place, either, but nothing I can do about that.
Do you think it is more important to have my arms stationary behind my calves for the whole pose or to be pulling down as hard as i can throughout?in reply to: Balancing in Standing Bow. #7427I’m 3 weeks into my Bikram Yoga practice, and my alignment is definitely not what it should be. During standing bow, I found that when my right leg is up, it cocks out to the side…definitely not where it should be. For some reason, this doesn’t happen on the other side. Yesterday, my instructor helped me adjust. She told me to start out with just a very slight turn as in spine twisting pose away from the standing leg. That helped. It got the shoulder of the arm holding my leg rounded more back and my lifted leg was actually vertical instead of at a 45 degree angle. So…I start slightly twisted, then I think I kind of naturally come back facing more forward as I go down.
Is this right? Honestly, I got adjusted so many times yesterday that I’m not sure I remember everything correctly.I also find my standing knee just naturally bending a tiny bit during this pose. It actually seems to make it easier to balance. When I push it back, I wobble and fall out of the pose.
in reply to: Feet cramping & vertigo #7426I get foot cramping during the standing balancing series. It’s especially bad with standing head to knee and standing bow pulling. Balancing stick is ok, doesn’t really make my feet cramp, but it’s a little hard to get into when my feet already hurt. The cramping is in the front of the foot, balls of the feet and especially the toes.
I’m also a beginner, today begins my fourth week of practice, and I know that my alignment is not always correct (the instructor had to adjust me three times yesterday!)I’m not super concerned, because the cramping doesn’t last and my feet feel fine after those poses, but it does make it even harder to stay in them. Anybody else feel the same thing?
in reply to: Hairstyles for Bikram! #7425I have long hair, too. I find it works very well to, as another poster suggested, wrap it into a tight bun (not too tight!) at the base of my neck. This keeps it from getting in the way during savasana.
I’ve been taking Cytomel for depression for about 8 months (my THS test has always come back in the normal range, but I have hypothyroid symptoms, a family history and drug-resistant depression, so my psychiatrist gave it a go). I take a high dose of antidepressant, but the depression was not really responding. A few months ago we increased the dose to 75 mcg/day. That really helped. UNTIL I started Bikram yoga.
I’m still very new, I’ve only been practicing for 3 weeks, but have only missed 2 days in the last 2 weeks. Today will be day 10 of my 30 day challenge.
Anyway, I noticed some light insomnia (I can sleep, but I’ve been waking up a few times during the night, and my sleep doesn’t feel as restful) and irritability since I’ve been going to yoga every day – symptoms of hyperthyroid I’d never felt before. I took a thyroid test at the doctor and guess what…all of a sudden my levels are too high and I have to decrease my Cytomel. I’m thrilled!A big part of the reason I started yoga was for the mental health benefits. I take way too much medication and I hope to wean myself off much of it as I go further with yoga. I just didn’t think I’d see results so fast…
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