fear and trust

[Guest guest]

Ashtangis<br><br>I need some stories to help me

get past my fears in Ashtanga yoga and trust in its

healing process.<br><br>I've been practicing on and off

for the past five years and just recently uncovered a

major misalignment of my right hip and sacrum. I went

to a chiropractor complaining of nagging hip pain;

it felt out of joint. He adjusted me and now its

been three months of near paralysis down my legs,

stomach and pelvic region. I went to a second chiro for

six weeks believing that he could help heal me. After

three adjustments a week, I've developed a sacroilliac

strain and piriformis syndrome. I've stopped

going.<br><br>Sounds a mess, huh? The chiro also began adjustimg my

neck to heal my whiplash. My hands grew numb and are

still numb.<br><br>Now what? I have no faith in doctors

and believe at some level that yoga can correct my

problems. But I don't know if I am doing more harm.

<br><br>I went to France and Guruji let me modify setu

bandasana but he seems a bit on the side of bulling through

injuries. I don't really know of his experience with

physical difficulties. I think most students practice and

all does come but what if it doesn't?<br><br>Can

anyone share their experiences with me so I can build

some more faith in the practice? I am willing to give

100% but am a bit cynical at the moment.<br><br>Also,

I remember guruji commenting that some people need

to actually move bones (my case) but didn't go into

detail. I also have heard David Swenson say that if there

is pain in the joints then you are not aligned

correctly in the asana. But what if your joints aren't

aligned? How do you set up in the

asana?<br><br><br>Om,<br>Yeshe

[Guest guest]

Yeshe,<br><br>I completely feel for you. My

goodness you've been through a lot lately. You mention you

have whiplash- was that caused by an accident? Was

your initial "misalignment" also caused by that

accident? Are you still in a state of near paralysis (I'm

assuming you're not completely paralyzed after your first

chiropracter)? <br><br>My fiance was paralyzed in one leg for

three months after a back injury. He healed himself

with one week of intense prayanama and meditation-

vipassana meditation actually. The concentration on his

breath, rather than on the fact that he couldn't function

"as usual" helped release the tension, fear, and pain

stored in his back injury and somehow then released his

nerves. <br><br>As for stories of doing certain asanas to

alleviate your pain, I'd have to turn you over to a

teacher.<br><br>I wish you the best,<br>Gaby

[Guest guest]

I have been through almost the same thing, and

have usually chosen to keep practicing (unless the

pain just makes it impossible). The theory that I have

heard is that by continuing practice you eventually can

work through both the pain, and the cause of the pain

(which might be something emotional or non-physical, but

also might have to do with something in your practice

that isn't physically right). If you stop practicing

(the theory continues), the pain probably will

eventually stop (because,there almost certainly really isn't

anything structurally wrong with you anyway), but you will

be left with less flexibility in the places where

you are experiencing pain, as well as more

accumulated fear, and you won't ever be forced to overcome

whatever the real problem is. <br> This doesn't mean that

you should torture yourself; it only means that you

should keep doing what you can of the practice. If it

hurts too much you can alternate practicing and not

practicing at whatever intervals seem to make sense

(experiment). Make sure you take a good rest at the end. The

pain might come and go over a long period of time. It

also might move around to different parts of your body

in crazy ways. Whatever.<br> (Are you working with a

good teacher who you trust? )<br> Everybody seems to

like Dr. John Sarno's books ("Healing Back Pain" is

the best one, I think ; "Mind Over Back Pain" is like

a condensed version of the same thing), and they

helped me quite a bit. Other things that seemed to help

(not as much)include very hot showers or baths,

aspirin, and acupuncture. I tried chiropractors, but gave

up on them after reading the Sarno book.<br> Good

luck.

[Guest guest]

While I can't comment on your particular case, I

do feel from my own experience working thru injuries

with this yoga that<br><br>Bottom line, movement

equals life. <br><br>Lack of movement brings stagnation,

ossification, death to the living flexible tissue.<br><br>My

rule of thumb when injured is to rest when any

movement brings significant pain. When practice is

possible, to begin again with whatever is easy and work

outwards from there. Forget about "shoulds" or any

concepts of where you should be, just move to your own

edge, stay there and breathe, and try to do this daily.

<br><br>There are many stories, even outside of yoga, where the

athlete has refused to quit despite the most painful

injuries and/or dismal prognosises from the docs. One is a

friend of mine who a few years ago had serious back,

neck and knee injuries..he's now rated 5th in the

country in karate competition.<br><br>In the midst of his

injuries, i was tempted to tell him to hand it up; what did

i know? Life respects the living.

[Guest guest]

As I have said on a previous posting. I had a

terrible hamstring problem for months, I had to totally

alter my practice on my left side because of it. My

teacher sent me to see a chiropractor who is also

kinesiologist. I have been seeing him for a month now and I am

almost back to normal. I had immediate results with him

without any intense bone alignment. My yoga practice has

been incredible the past week as I am regaining my

flexibility. Before I saw him I had terrible pain in my butt

and hamstring area all the time, even at night in

bed. After one treatment I was pain free without yoga.

Try it, it is the best.

[Guest guest]

Kiranken-<br><br>Could you please email me the

name of that chiropractor/kinesiologist - I'm having a

very bothersome pain in my right hamstrings since

trying to force prasaritta paddotanasana a couple of

months ago. Thanks-<br><br>laproxdoc

[Guest guest]

Hey Yeshe,<br>My girlfriend is a registered

massage therapist and has been taking training in a

powerful technique called myofacial release that many

physical therapists, massage therapists and chiros are

learning all over.<br>Myofacial release works with the

fascia which is like a membrane that is between your

skin and muscles. It can hold amazing ammounts of

tension and pressure when traumatized and so needs to be

released just like muscles and scar tissue. If you're

interested, find out if any physios or massage therapists

specialize in it in your area and try it. I'm sure there's

info on the internet too.<br>Hope it

helps,<br><br>Brad