Guest guest Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Dear Yogis ,In the last 6-8 months, my body after 8 years of good practice has decided to collapse, first my knee went out of position, then my shoulders developed tendinitis ,then my right groin went crazy,pulled or something, now my right scapula clonks(sharp pain) as i lift it up (surya a)or jump forward and causes my shoulder to collapse, all in the last six to eight months, i use to have a competent practice jump back and forward no problems ,now i just dont have any of it ,can anyone out ,please please give me some advice on how to overcome these problems ie physio, not chiro, massage what do i do,ilove astanga but some times ,just some times namaste phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 Scary! I have just come off a 9-month plateau and am finally making a few improvements - for the past 9 months my practice was stagnating or going backwards. I think it happens. The difficult thing is to persevere through it all. But your list of complaints sounds as though your body is really saying its had enough. Joints do wear out. Ligaments etc will only stretch so far. Can you do a practice within the new limits set by your body? If you listen to it, don't push it, be content with what you can do, surely that will give the hurting parts time to heal. As for joint problems, I really recommend Glucosamine Sulphate. I take about 1500 - 2000 mgs a day, and after about 2 months you really notice a difference. It helps rebuild the joint linings. Has anyone got any quick fixes for short hamstrings? (well, I didn't think they were short, until I started ashtanga!) ashtanga yoga, "philjone2003 <philjone@s...>" <philjone@s...> wrote: > Dear Yogis ,In the last 6-8 months, my body after 8 years of good > practice > has decided to collapse, first my knee went out of position, then my > shoulders developed tendinitis ,then my right groin went crazy,pulled > or something, now my right scapula clonks(sharp pain) as i lift it up > (surya a)or jump forward and causes my shoulder to collapse, all in > the last six to eight months, i use to have a competent practice jump > back and forward no problems ,now i just dont have any of it ,can > anyone out ,please please give me some advice on how to overcome > these problems ie physio, not chiro, massage what do i do,ilove > astanga but some times ,just some times namaste phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 16, 2003 Report Share Posted February 16, 2003 You do not need to practice with pain and joint supplements!!!!! Find a teacher that can help you practice correctly! I love my Ashtanga practice, but classes tend to move quickly and there isn't alot of time for alignment discussion; also the essence of the practice comes from its fluidity. Once a week I attend class with a Kripalu teacher who also has a background in Iyengar and bodywork. It is painfully slow, and some times we spend an entire class discussing an eploring somthing as minute as the anterior pubis and its role in backbends; however, this class has brought more precision to my practice which has liberated me from overuse injuries and overexertion. I highly recomend finding a class like this. At first it was dificult for me to accept props and concentrating on my pinky toe, but this is all about growth right? -Melissa Send Flowers for Valentine's Day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 16, 2003 Report Share Posted February 16, 2003 In my opinion, Ashtanga yoga, as usually taught, is not at all appropriate for most people. It could be adapted to anyone, but this does not seem to be commonly done to any great extent in Ashtanga. For many people it will be more appropriate to work with some of the other approaches to Hatha yoga which also flow from the same source as Ashtanga, that is Krishnamacharya. K was the teacher and guru of Pattabhi Jois, as well as of BKS Iyengar and TKV Desikachar (K's son). "Iyengar yoga" is often more therapeutic and "Viniyoga" (developed by Desikachar) teaches that yoga practice must be adapted to the individual. The injuries you describe seem to be very common among those who have decided to FORCE themselves to do Ashtanga yoga. If this yoga was appropriate for you and/or if you are practicing correctly, then these conditions would be getting better instead of worse. Yoga is about healing, not causing injury. In my opinion, if anyone ever injures themselves in any way in any yoga practice, then they could not even be said to be "practicing yoga". You may need to develop your own approach to yoga for awhile to get these problems under control. Perhaps spending lots of time on some postures and avoiding others. Maybe seek out a teacher of therapeutic yoga. Massage and bodywork can be very helpful, but I think it is possible to get the same results with yoga. Also you can massage yourself, tools such as the Theracane can be useful for that. Some strengthening exercises can be helpful, such as working with light weights. There is much strengthening built into Ashtanga practice, but much of it involves fixed amounts of weight, such as your whole bodyweight or fractions of it. With weight training you can use any amount, down to 1 or 2lbs. Very light dumbbells are very useful in physical therapy. A couple of recommended books: Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries by Sharon Butler and Pain Free by Pete Egoscue. These books will explain a LOT. I hope you will get these 2 books! A book called Bodymind by Ken Dychtwald explains a lot about deep chronic tension. It may be that Ashtanga can be all you need, but you may just need to back off a bit, modify some postures, skip some postures, spend more time in some postures, etc. It sounds like you have a great deal of pre-existing deep chronic muscular tension, which is very common. Everyone has some - the amount varies greatly. The more you have, the more careful you need to be with Ashtanga. One of the primary goals of all hatha yoga practice is to remove all tension from the musculoskeletal system. This understanding is not often taught. Instead people "go through the motions" and can make things worse. It makes perfect sense to me that someone with a lot of chronic tension can make some progress with Ashtanga yoga up to a point and then start breaking down. Some will say this is just normal and you just need to work through it. Others will say to just rest. Neither of these approaches will fix the problems. Please check out this website: http://www.extensionyoga.com This is the website of Sam Dworkis, author of ExTension Yoga and Recovery Yoga. He has a lot to say about approriate yoga practice and about injuries from yoga practice. If you just want to work within an Ashtanga framework, there are some ideas that could be useful. One is that you should never go beyond a posture you have not mastered. This can be taken as far as you want. You could spend ten years working on tadasana before working on bringing your hands over your head to start a salutation. Probably doesn't make sense to go to that extreme, as all of the asanas have an effect on each other. (working on this one helps with that one). Also there is the idea put forth by Lino Miele that the first six postures are the most important and should be mastered before going on. Some say that trikonasana is very important, and you will find this posture in most types of hatha yoga. You may just need to slow down and pay more attention. Yoga Mala mentions that postures may be held much longer (up to 90 breaths) for therapeutic purposes. Here are some pages from my website that may have some more clues: Yoga Books: http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yogabook.htm Body Books: http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/bodybook.htm Hands: http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/hands.htm Self Healing: http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/selfheal.htm It may not be quick or easy, but you can fix it all! Good luck and be careful.............. ashtanga yoga, "philjone2003 <philjone@s...>" <philjone@s...> wrote: > Dear Yogis ,In the last 6-8 months, my body after 8 years of good > practice > has decided to collapse, first my knee went out of position, then my > shoulders developed tendinitis ,then my right groin went crazy,pulled > or something, now my right scapula clonks(sharp pain) as i lift it up > (surya a)or jump forward and causes my shoulder to collapse, all in > the last six to eight months, i use to have a competent practice jump > back and forward no problems ,now i just dont have any of it ,can > anyone out ,please please give me some advice on how to overcome > these problems ie physio, not chiro, massage what do i do,ilove > astanga but some times ,just some times namaste phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2003 Report Share Posted March 6, 2003 I am very sorry to hear about the pain you have been going through. It must be a difficult time for you. A few thoughts spring to mind that I'll just put out there. When we suffer pain we look for solutions. Moving from one paradigm to another merely sets us up for the next fall. To think I shall do this in order to overcome that is such a paradigm shift which seems useful in the short run, but does nothing when we re-encounter the same problem. I understand the need to look for a solution to pain as I have been through so much pain with my left knee in the past 10 months. I wonder whether we need to experience (ie see and understand) these situations in a way that does not imply good or bad, flexible or stiff and maybe even pain and pleasure. Our opposing paradigms (and all their shades of grey in between) do not provide a long term solution to the life experience. So what am I saying? In the end their is no pill, no answer, no practise and no plan which is going to remove anyone forever from such a situation. For myself, I choose to develop my concentration and the internalising process in order to more fully understand the paradigms within which I force myself to live. A yoga practise is so good for this - keeping drishti and focus clear and watching watching the internal process. In the meantime take care and love yourself, back off causing pain and find that place inside your practise where you find peace. I hope this makes some kind of sense to you. I really do sympathise with your situation. But as is often the case we learn so much more in times of trouble. Take this, treat it with care and intelligence and who knows what you will find out. Much love Jo ashtanga yoga, "philjone2003 <philjone@s...>" <philjone@s...> wrote: > Dear Yogis ,In the last 6-8 months, my body after 8 years of good > practice > has decided to collapse, first my knee went out of position, then my > shoulders developed tendinitis ,then my right groin went crazy,pulled > or something, now my right scapula clonks(sharp pain) as i lift it up > (surya a)or jump forward and causes my shoulder to collapse, all in > the last six to eight months, i use to have a competent practice jump > back and forward no problems ,now i just dont have any of it ,can > anyone out ,please please give me some advice on how to overcome > these problems ie physio, not chiro, massage what do i do,ilove > astanga but some times ,just some times namaste phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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