side twists

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam everyone!

 

I do side twists about 4-5 times a week. And evertime I do, I notice

that I breath differently. Well, not that I breath differently, but

that my breath feels slightly different and makes a different sound.

I'm not sure this is making sense.

 

I believe I'm following the directions for this asana correctly: My

arms are parallel with the ground, my hands on my shoulders with my

thumbs on my back and the fingers on the front. And I sit on my heels

when doing it. I twist my upper torso (from my waist up)left and

right in this position. I breath per the directions (inhale left

mentally saying Sat and exhale right mentally saying Nam). But my

breath has an almost wheezy sound to it. And there is a slight

tightness or pressure in the center of my chest as I do it. Neither

the wheezing or the tightness prevents me from doing it. The sound

isn't very loud and the tightness is mild enough to be noticed, but

not prohibitive. And these sensations only occur during this asana. I

do this bundled in with the flexible spine set, and this is the only

one where my breathing sounds 'funny' and my chest feels a little

tight. Am I doing something wrong?

 

At first I thought it was just that I wasn't used to yoga and my

muscles needed to get used to this. But this kriya is one that I do

pretty regularly and I'm not noticing any improvements. So I thought

I may have misunderstood the directions and be doing something

incorrectly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Christa

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Christa,

 

"I'm not noticing any improvements." -- What kind of improvements? In the

side

twists, or overall from the kriya?

 

Brad

[Guest guest]

Actually I meant improvement by my breathing becoming more 'normal'.

I had assumed (perhaps incorrectly so) that as I did this, my

breathing would not feel 'wheezy' but normal (like when I do other

asanas) and my chest would not feel tight. Again, I had assumed this

would happen over time and be gradual. I don't really like the

tightness or wheezing. It's almost as if there is pressure on my

lungs/chest area. It doesn't hurt, but it's not comfortable and

doesn't feel natural.

 

Maybe I'm not making much sense. Like I said, I only feel this way

with this one part. Overall, I LOVE this kriya. I do it in the

evenings and it totally relaxes me. I get any stress or tension in my

muscles worked out with it. So I love the kriya. But this one asana

within it just doesn't 'feel' right when I do it.

 

Christa