Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Hi ya,<br><br>I've had lower-back probs since my mid-twenties (after giving birth to giant baby boy..lol) and I notice that it can really get aggravated after doing yoga (particularly alot of the inverted, fingers-grasping-toes-type postures). Any suggestons?? Please don't say, "keep doing it"..maybe I'm doing something wrong??<br><br>Robin M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 General advice on protecting the lower back in forward bends:<br><br>- John Scott recommends bending the knees slightly<br>going in and out of standing forward bends<br>- uddhiyana bandha is very important for stabilising and protecting the lower back<br>- only go as far as you can with your back reasonably straight. Keep the drishti - gaze point - directed towards your toes rather than getting the illusion of a deeper bend by rounding your back and burying your head between your knees<br>- do you tend to arch or sag into your lower back when standing upright? Again, attention to the bandhas is important here to straighten & protect the lower back - engaging the bandhas had the effect of bringing the coccyx down and tilting the lower pelvis slightly forward, which lengthens & straightens the lower back.<br><br>"inverted, fingers-grasping-toes-postures". I'm not clear what you mean by this. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any fingers-grasping toes inversions in primary series. Except the transition into urdhva mukha paschimottanasana near the end, which you shouldn't hold anyway. Or do you mean forward-bending standing postures?<br><br>What does your teacher say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 another comment on low back pain.....<br><br>i used to deal with this too. One more thing that helped me was adding more/deeper backbends to the end of my primary. I don't know what level of back bending you are at, but some extra rounds of wheel (or deeper wheels) or even full backbends could help? I dunno. They helped me.<br><br>good luck and namaste<br>jess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Just got a really good book which should help with all kinds of back problems:<br><br>Back Care Basics by Mary Pullig Schatz, M.D.<br>subtitled - A Doctor's Gentle Yoga Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief.<br><br>This book is widely available, you can get it from Amazon.com or any large bookstore. It is written by a doctor who used yoga to fix her own back problems and then studied further in order to help others use yoga for their back problems. She studied with BKS Iyengar in India. You could practice her program or just get ideas from it to use in whatever yoga practice you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 The book by Mary Pullig Schatz is excellent - one of the best "medical" Iyengar-Yoga books out there. It's also available here in Germany in a very readable German translation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Thank you so much for your advice! I usually try and keep a neutral spine but I will try tilting my spine in a bit.<br><br>As far as having a teacher is concerned I don't. I will take a class in the fall but for now it's just the video thing (Richard Freeman's Primary Series). As far as the grasping toes pose- I guess that is what you've described it as, yes. It's the one you follow with your hands under your toes and ball of foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Oooh..not to any backbends at all..are you speaking of backbends like I imagine them? hehe..like gymnist type backbends? Or the move that opens the heart and sort of archs the back with your hands at hips? I will try your suggestion- thanks a bunch!<br>Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Thank you so much! I will check this book out next time I am at the bookstore near me!!<br><br>Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 hi<br>if you are new to back bending start with the bridge pose....it should be in the richard freeman video...then you can move to wheel and full backbend. Yes, like a gymnast backbend but eaiser to start. If they're not in richard freemans video they should be...they're in the david swenson practice manual...or i bet they are somewhere online///<br><br>jess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Thanks, Jess, for your suggestions! I will try out the backbend!<br><br>Robin M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2001 Report Share Posted July 5, 2001 viparita dandasana in all its variatons, feet against the wall, is an excellent backbend that makes it easy to open up the chest, upper back and shoulders without straining the lower back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2001 Report Share Posted July 5, 2001 In spite of the fact that I have had a distinct feeling that all of the people on this message board are actually one person playing games with the several rest of us, I will reply to this bobbithang person anyway... backbends are part of ashtanga and are called urdva dhanurasana. Not WHEEL. WHEEL is an annoying Americanization of the sanskrit name for the pose made popular by the Kripalu cult. The Kripalu Cult and other commercialized forms of so-called yoga love to give cute, American names to yoga poses presumably because we Americans need everything simplified including our yoga (power? yoga?)poses. Because, I don't know, we aren't worthy?Aside from people recommending books, I wouldn't take any asana advise without being seen by a qualified person.<br><br>FBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2001 Report Share Posted July 5, 2001 Thank you so much..ya'll are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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