romymuz

Hi Gabrielle,

thanks so much for the links to heat index charts! That’s exactly what I was looking for, without knowing what to call it. I will print these out and take them in to show the studio owner.

Haven’t had any trouble lately because it’s summer here and so I’ve been doing more home practise with your excellent CDs. When I did go to the studio I always seemed to avoid said instructor, and the others are ok. Most of them use the fan to get some sweat evaporating, which is great!

Anyway, thanks heaps, this is going to help!

Cheers,
Romy

Hi Gabrielle,

Thank you so much for your reply and your kind words. It made me laugh how you picked up on my use of language: “pike out” – you are totally right with that observation. Thanks for the reminder, I did need that. Patience is not one of my virtues and I often start berating myself if I progress too slowly in my own eyes … In those last 2 weeks I’ve only been able to increase my stationary biking to 20minutes. What a pathetic effort, yells my inner critic. %-P

That being said, I guess my progress is actually pretty good, especially in terms of the vertigo, which has been reduced to a few dizzy spells I can handle quite easily.
My range of motion is up to about 75% sideways and forward extension is almost fully restored to normal! Backwards is still nearly impossible while I’m upright – my neck muscles seize up the moment I only so much as look up in preparation, my breath catches and I get kind of scared.

So I’d love to hear more about the Pranayama modification you’re suggesting. With fingers layered over the other at the back of the neck, would I try to move the head back at all, or keep it perfectly still? And when the elbows move out, is it normal for the scapulae to move up? (If I try doing it with shoulders down as I would in normal Pranayama, I can move my elbows out only a minuscule way.)

Also, how should I approach the first backbend (the standing one), the floor bow, and camel? All of these freak me out a bit, though in their defense I have to say I’ve only tried once, and half-heartedly. The floor backbends seems to be ok, since I don’t have to worry about gravity breaking my head off. :gulp:

Last question: in the belly down savasanas, what should I do with my head? Can’t turn it sideways far enough to lie on it without significant pain. Should I just turn it as far as it goes, and kind of hover there with neck muscles engaged, only part of my face touching the towel? Or is it best to leave it in the centre, putting my forehead on my arms? Or something else?

My doc says that should I absolutely do neck extension/ flexion/ compression exercises in order to break down/ prevent scar tissue on the muscles and ligaments, but to be mindful not to go too far. She does yoga as well, and compared it to that “sweet spot” in a good yoga stretch.

Ok, that’s it for now… thanks heaps for your time!
Romy

Thanks for such a quick reply Gabrielle!

Yes, tons of time … but always good to think ahead and prepare. To answer your questions:

>> Was it only muscular damage or ligamental damage too? (aside from bony injury)
I’m not sure, but probably ligaments as well. When I tentatively try to move my head a little bit, the place where the ligament attaches to the skull is still pretty sore (after nearly 5 weeks).

>> What does your specialist say about prognosis and return to normal activities and range of motion?
Prognosis is pretty good – I should make a full recovery and get back to normal ROM with time. Apparently, amongst all the ways to break one’s neck, my way was the best. Haha.
:cheese:
But he did also say it would be a slow process and that I could expect pain for months or years. Not too keen to believe that.

>> What does specialist say about dizziness? Normal? Temporary? (Dizziness may or may not have anything to do with the actual damage but the recovery requiring largely motionless head.)
I haven’t actually been in touch with the hospital and didn’t go for the 2 week check up. (Have a phobia of hospitals, which I know is rather silly, but can’t help it.) So I haven’t asked about the dizziness … too scared that more tests would be ordered, requiring me to go back in.
I had also thought of the brace being the culprit, so let’s see how I go once it’s off. Hopefully that’s it. I did fall on the side of my head and my outer ear is still sore to the touch – maybe it’s just shaken up the inner ear a bit too.

>> I presume no fusion?
No, thank goodness!

Thanks heaps for your time Gabrielle!

Romy

Hi kfiano!

For me, the backbend doesn’t cause this to happen, but if your feet tend to roll outward in this part, I’d say this is definitely something you need to pay attention to.

With my new awareness of role of feet in ALL of the standing postures, I can see that they are really the first thing we need to get right: everything else aligns up from the feet, so if they are out of whack, chances are the effect is magnified up through your body. And your knees, hips, back etc. will eventually feel the results.

Gah! No idea how this never occurred to me before … Gabrielle probably has a whole topic about the feet somewhere, but I never thought to look. Lock the knee was always as far down as my thoughts went. :cheese:

Hi Gabrielle,

finally time for an update! My injury took much longer to heal than the 3-4 weeks my chiropractor had initially guessed, and I’ve only just started going back to yoga. It’s still not 100%, and may not be for a while, but all in all I consider myself lucky – after reading how debilitating herniated disks can be for many people. You mentioned in your emails last year that you had planned one on the subject of how to do yoga with a back injury and I’m happy to wait for it, but just thought I’d share my experience so far.

I was extremely surprised to find that my yoga classes have now become easier and more enjoyable than before! And that’s even though I went back the first time quite worried, if not scared, about re-injuring myself, being singled out for modifying postures, or not being able to do it at all. But lo and behold, I breezed through the whole thing (well almost: I skipped the rabbit and the intense stretching) with a smile on my face! :cheese: I attribute that purely to your advice Gabrielle. It has helped me immensely to know that I don’t have to follow the dialogue word by word, instead paying attention to what my body tells me. Also, thanks to you, I have now lost the attitude of trying to push myself beyond my flexibility, and I don’t accept pain anymore. Somehow, this simple mental shift has allowed me to relax into the postures, with the result that I can now focus on form rather than depth and I’m sooooo much more comfortable! It’s hard to explain, but I feel a real shift in my practise. Hurrah.

As I said, I’m sitting out Rabbit at the moment. I’m also extremely careful with any forward bends, and don’t do the straight-legged sit-up (instead bending my knees and coming up with a straight back and the help of my hands) on the advice of my chiropractor. As per your recommendation, I work on my core strength using the leg raises with the basketball, and that also seems to help. I’m looking forward to any other tips in your upcoming email on yoga with a bung back! 😉

The one posture where I still seem to be stuck with pain is standing bow – perhaps you have some thoughts on that: the right side is easy-peasy now (it’s amazing how much better my balance is now that I have stopped berating myself in my head for not getting it perfect! haha), but on the left (injured) side I’m not getting anywhere. As soon as I grab my foot and position my knee next to the other, I get pain shooting down my leg into my knee and an ache at the site of the injury. It’s bearable, so I try and do at least this first part of the posture. Do you think that’s a good idea? Or is there a modification I could do to avoid that pain? It hasn’t got any better at all so far. I can’t kick back and up without significant, stabbing pain, so I have completely given up on that for now.

I get a similar ache (though much less intense) in floor bow, cobra, and spine twisting, but this seems to get little bit better each time.

As you guessed, my worries about being singled out were unfounded. I did tell the instructor before my first class back that I had injured my back and may have to do some modifications. The answer was no surprise: “Don’t modify anything! Bikram yoga is perfect!” but I think they could tell by my expression that I would do it anyhow and left me alone.

I’m still thinking about whether I should talk to them about the whole subject of pain, but I’m not sure if it would just be a waste of energy. But every time now, when I hear them talk about “good” pain, I cringe and I worry for my fellow yogis in the class. Apparently good pain is “the kind you get during the posture, but which goes away afterward” – is this really part of the dialogue? I think most people can’t tell the difference between good pain and bad pain, and there’s no way of telling during the posture whether the pain will go away afterward or not. Humph.

Anyhoo, thanks a ton for your advice and inspiration Gabrielle, you’ve made a huge difference!

Cheers
Romy

Hi msully,

Thanks heaps for your reply! So good to know that there are other people out there who have had the same problem and found a way to deal with it. Yes, ignoring the instructions will be a big challenge and I’m glad you stressed that point again.
In my studio there is a lot of emphasis on following the dialogue EXACTLY, so it will take a bit of willpower. But you are so right, it’s not worth playing the hero and then ending up with permanent damage.
Good idea about trying other yoga, too. Were there any specific poses that you found have helped or was it just the fact of having personal instruction and correction?
And what was the modification you did to standing head to knee that helped you?
My chiro is also very pleased I’m doing yoga and thinks it has helped my body deal with the injury much faster, but she did say to be VERY careful with forward bends once I go back…
Cheers
Romy

Hi Freia and Gabrielle!

Wow, big thanks to both of you for your long, detailed replies. I feel truly humbled by how much effort everyone on this forum puts into passing on their passion of hot yoga, and I feel very lucky to have found this in the www.

@ Freia: yes, I totally agree – as I said, I’m quite aware of having a history of injury in just about anything I do for exercise. So I’m not blaming Bikram at all for my injury, sorry if it came across like that. This is totally a personality issue, yes. I do realise how dumb this is, especially not having the mental presence to KNOW the boundaries of where discomfort becomes pain. To use your example, I would totally be the person in the spin class and who would still keep going as hard as I can even with my heart coming out through my mouth and eventually fall off the bike dead if the instructor didn’t stop pushing me. 😉

And the pain and discomfort related to that personality issue is why lot of people like me are drawn to this kind of yoga, hoping to find a way toward calmness, peace of mind, letting go of the ego, and healing the body.

This is a long process, however, as you say “the hardest part of the practise”, and until it becomes second nature, I just get the feeling that the way Bikram Yoga is taught may exacerbate the problem for precisely those people who go there to work on it, and who seem to make up a large part of the class (at least in my studio).

I wasn’t very clear on my mirror issue – I don’t actively compare myself to others; however, I can’t help seeing them in my peripheral vision, and the process of trying to imitate their poses is pretty much subconscious. This particularly difficult to control for someone like me, who is not an auditory learner at all, and automatically seeks visual clues.

Bikram’s stipulation of “leave your ego at the door” is certainly helpful to bear in mind, but in reality impossible to do for all but the most accomplished yogis. In fact, it makes me chuckle a bit coming from someone who wears diamond-encrusted Rolexes and gets around in a Rolls Royce. 🙂

@ Gabrielle: Thanks for your thoughtful and inspiring comments. I’m relieved that it’s not just me who has trouble with following purely verbal instructions. Come to think of it, the teachers actually do seem to acknowledge that in my studio: if there is a new student, they will always tell them to look around the room at other students if they don’t get from the dialogue what the posture is supposed to look like. I guess this may be where the trouble started for me, as my studio is very young (1year), and most students have not got the kind of form that should be used as an example.

Wonderful to know that the poses are NOT supposed to make you struggle. I really, utterly, misunderstood that part of the dialogue. Typical “type A“ mistake! %-P

Your Hot Yoga MasterClass Manual sounds fantastic – I will start saving up for it straight away.

I may also try to talk to my studio, if I can muster the courage. Although the teachers do all stick to the dialogue quite religiously, they are lovely, open people who, I’m sure, welcome open discussion. Perhaps so far simply nobody has mentioned these aspects to them, preferring to drop out instead.

If anyone else has experiences they want to share regarding this topic, I’d love to hear from you!

Namaste!
Romy
🙂