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I've been practicing Ashtanga for about 7 months.

Over the last couple of months, I've developed this

pain along the outside of my lower arm. It feels like

shinsplints in my arm. Any suggestions? It's kind of hard to

avoid using your arms in Ashtanga.

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I've had what you describe. After a few weeks

(during which time I wondered if I was becoming an

astanga casualty) it just went away.<br><br>I"d suggest:

anytime your hand is on the mat, pay very careful

attention to what you're doing with it. If you have the

habit (many new to yoga do this) of putting your weight

away from the thumb-side toward the edge of the hand,

then that's causing an imbalance and is putting much

undue stress on the forearm ligaments -- resulting in

"splints."<br><br>At all times, your weight should be distributed to

the first two knuckles and the pad of the thumb; that

is, away from the other edge of the hand. The palm

then should be flat on the mat, not tilted to either

side.<br><br>Something else that's bad for the wrists and forearms:

using your fingers to raising the palms up off the mat

(e.g. in jumpbacks and jumpthroughs). Again, many

beginners typically want to do this so they can gain

clearance in spite of their lack of ab strength and

flexibility. They cut short their yoga careers as a result.

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Ok. I had the "do no harm" part figured out. I'm

trying to figure out if there is a way to continue

practicing Ashtanga without further harming my arm. I'm

hoping to find someone out there that has also had

"shinsplints" in their arms to see if they have any

suggestions.

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The three responses you got yesterday were good.

All of the posters (whose names all start with ma,

how about that?) basically said this happened to them

too and it will go away. Could be. Yoga practice can

bring about all kinds of changes or openings which may

need to be "integrated" - sometimes things things have

to get worse to get better. I've had all kinds of

aches and pains that came and went. But the "do no

harm" advice is also very good. The simple way to look

at it is take a break, give it some rest. But this

may not do it.<br><br>I would suggest getting a book

called Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other

Repetitive Strain Injuries, by Sharon Butler. This may not

be CTS or any kind of RSI but the book may still be

very helpful. It is a collection of stretches that can

be used to help with all kinds of problems in the

hands, wrists, and arms. I have tons of great books, but

if I had to give an award to "the best book in the

world" this would be it. I can't say enough about it.

Most people may have no use for it, but if you have

sore arms or hands, check it out. Sharon Butler is a

saint.<br> <br>You can also modify your practice for the

time being, omitting any postures that are

painful.<br><br>Also, you can start at the beginning, tadasana, and

very slowly raise your arms up over your head. If you

do this very slowly, and with great awareness, you

may feel some stretches that you need to work with.

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Thank you, Mr. Slade, for posting the book

information. I am struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome and

have been splinting it, taking vitamin B6 (when I

remember to) and monitoring my hands and arms in vinyasas,

especially downward dog. I sometimes take no vinyasa because

my hand and wrist get tired so easily. I too have

had mysterious pains that come and stay for a few

weeks or a month or so and then mysteriously vanish.

The positive side of some minor pains is that they

give me an opportunity to stay inwardly focused and

present in my body while I practice. I'll definitely

check out that book.<br>Namaste, K

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Kejemijo -<br><br>I am always amazed at how many

people have problems with their hands. I went to get a

faucet part last month and a plumber showed me how his

ring fingers lock in place. He's going to see a hand

surgeon. I have been able to look at my hand problems as a

blessing in disguise, as it has led me way deeper into

exploring yoga and all kinds of healing methodologies. It

has been very interesting. I to the

Sorehand mailing list. Man, you can really hear some sad

stories there. <br><br>Just to continue harping on Sharon

Butler - she sometimes posts to the Sorehand list,

mainly in response to people saying they tried her

stretches and things got worse. She counsels them to back

off, be more gentle. This is greatly emphasized in her

book but it is a hard concept to get. She also

revealed in a post there, that after healing herself of

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, she purposefully caused various

upper-body repetitive strain injuries in herself just to see

if her methods would fix them (which they did). She

is working on a website and a new edition of her

book. I know she is an angel.<br><br>Also, I gather

from reading Sorehand that wearing splints is not

normally recommended except maybe<br>at night. The more

enlightened thinking is that motion is good and splints cause

muscles to atrophy. B6 may be good, but can be toxic in

high doses. This is a mechanical problem so I don't

put much faith in dietary measures for it. Of course

a good diet is important for good health. I take a

multi-vitamin and figure that's good enough.<br><br>Another

really good book on the subject is Its Not Carpal Tunnel

Syndrome! by Jack Bellis and Supra Damany.<br><br>Just be

careful about going to see doctors. Many people have

surgery and later have the same problem. A few more

surgeries and then they really have problems.

<br><br>Basically, yoga is the cure. Its just a matter of practicing

yoga in a way that is appropriate for you at the time.

This is one of Sam Dworkis' main ideas - appropriate

yoga. Also we may need to expand our ideas of what yoga

is. (Its ALL yoga!)

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LOL -- sorry, did not mean to appear flippant,

but i can see how that happened. tried to be concise

and helpful. pain can be a blessing, to remind us of

the importance of observing the fundamentals of our

practice, as laid out by gurudev patanjali.<br><br>my

practice has over the years been a therapy to relieve pain

and heal injuries from the occasional ballet mishap.

it took me a long to time to learn there was no

sense in compartmentalizing dance (or any other part of

my life) away from yoga.<br><br>contemplation on

ahimsa, doing no harm, and on the other yamas and

niyamas, can bring a beneficial - big picture - resonance

throughout our practice. <br>i had a student in one of my

midnight men's classes, a physically accomplished young

guy, who was fretting over not being able to find his

balance for very long in the scorpion pose, although he

certainly had the physical strength and perfectly

fine-tuned body for it. in order to bring us back to a sense

of satya and samtosha, truth and contentment, i was

prompted to say to the class, "oh, who really gives a shit

whether you can stand on your head or whatever, it's not

like you're auditioning for cirque de soleil tomorrow

or anything.but i am," the young man replied. we

all had a good laugh and the boy's concentration

improved.<br><br>the almond joy of yoga is learning that the greatest

accomplishment derives from giving up any sense of

accomplishment. from letting the ego dissolve so that it ceases

to be a vexing obstacle. from performing all acts

without any expectation of reward, including

self-satisfaction.<br><br>hope your arm feels better soon.<br><br>=)<br><br>jai

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