Hi. I started doing Sarvagasana, the shoulder stand, over a week ago. I did it twice a day for a minute, and afterwards I would do the cobra pose.
I stopped doing it after a week (which was on Monday) because I started feeling weird. I started feeling dizzy, lightheaded, out-of-it. I haven’t done it since Monday night, yet I still feel weird like this and its very bothersome.
Does anyone know what could be going on? I was doing the shoulder stand for the thyroid benefits.
Say hypothetically you have slumped shoulders, doing a pose that slumps them more? if you have slumped shoulders doing an opener in the area for twice or three times as long may benefit after doing this pose, or maybe right now this pose is not beneficial for you. only you can completely answer this, maybe have guidance yes, but only you know the answer.
we are what we think we are
brother neil
namaste Mahasiddah,
I am sure there would be someone who would know what is going on, on this Forum, however in order get an answer that will benefit you, we need to know more. For example, how old are you, do you have any medical conditions like high blood pressure, high cholestrol etc that might affect you, more about your lifestyle, are you over weight or under weight perhaps? Then aspects such as are you a beginner, how long have you been doing yoga now, are you with a teacher or is it home practice? These are questions that begs an answer for a proper response. And if you can add more, please feel free to do so.
Looking forward to hear from you.
I’ve answered Steve’s question, to the best of my ability, on another board. But I think it’s important enough to post that text here. And occasionally someone gets a bug up their bhujangasana about links.
There are two things to cover here.
The first is a description of how you are doing sarvangasana (shoulder stand). That includes the setup, entry, actions and alignment in the pose, and exit. I don’t want to presume but I do want to state that this pose should not be done flat on the floor. In order to preserve the cervical curve a few neatly folded blankets or foamy pads wrapped in a sticky mat is appropriate. Additionally, beginners do not do the pose in the center of the room but with the feet on the wall and the knees at 90? - until such a time as their bodies are ready to do the pose with integrity in the middle of the room.
The second item is your “sequence” though it’s only two poses. While it is ok to do Bhujangasana (cobra) after savangasana please keep in mind that sarvangasana is a yin pose. It is not a fiery pose but a calming pose. Bhujangasana on the other hand is a yang pose. Making this a bit more sketchy is the fact that many students perceive cobra as being a pose mandating that the head be tossed back. And so they do. Physiologically, sarvangasana opens up the neck. Tossing it back in the following pose may be asking too much of the nerves.
The two poses that I believe must be taught to students by a skilled teacher are headstand and shoulder stand. Please consider seeking out such instruction so that you may do the pose on your own at home with safety and integrity.
Relative to your symptoms (I am not a medical doctor, so please see yours if you even slightly have concerns and do not confuse my information for a diagnosis or medical consultation) it is possible the atlas at the top of the cervical spine may need adjustment. That may account for the symptoms but I am taking a shot in the dark. If you fancy chiropractic or have a good osteopath this might be a good time for a visit.
I’m 24. I had elevated blood pressure before I starting doing this. The reason why I was doing it was because I have a thyroid issue which causes my body to have elevated blood pressure, and the position is supposed to be good for the thyroid.
I still feel sick. I’m worried I have a hemorrhage or an aneurysm. I may have damaged something now. I am such an idiot and should of known better.
If you cannot clear your mind of the worry then you simply must go to whatever health care practitioner will do that for you. It is not likely you have an aneurism nor is it likely you are hemorrhaging. At this point you are likely wreaking more havoc with your mind and thoughts than you did with the pose.
I’m curious why you did not respond to my post though? But perhaps you responded to it elsewhere.
Mahasiddhi,
I agree with IA, your mind is at the moment the driving force and you rather need to get to a doctor whom you trust to help you. From there, once you have all the facts and have calmed the mind and yourself, go to a yoga teacher for proper guidance and support.
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;13930]
I’m curious why you did not respond to my post though? But perhaps you responded to it elsewhere.[/QUOTE]
I just wasn’t feeling that good, still don’t.
I was using the directions I saw in a book called A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
I wasn’t using props, I did sarvangasana starting flat on the floor. I would slowly raise my body and the legs up, trying to mostly use my abdominal muscles. I think I was breathing out as I was raising my body but I can’t remember exactly. I wasn’t really retaining breath either if I remember correctly, especially at the final pose. Anyway, I had my legs all the way up and the buttocks, I had my arms supporting the lower back and pushed the chest forward so that it would press against the chin. I stayed in this position for 1 minute. When coming out of the position I would fold the straight legs over my head so that the feet were above and behind the back of the head a little bit and then place my arms flat on the floor, lowering the buttocks and gradually rotating the legs over the top of the head and lowering them to the ground slowly. As the book explained “The legs should touch the floor in the same way that a falling leaf would touch the ground.” I might have been doing something wrong because sometime my lower back would hurt.
I did Bhujasana afterwards because the book said to do a counter-pose after doing Sarvangasana. It said that Bhujangasana was one I could do. When doing Bhujangasana I did bend my head back, but the directions in the book said to.
Hopefully I explained decently.
Thanks guys for responding btw. I won’t be doing yoga again anytime soon unless I get direction from a qualified teacher instead of just books and video. I think I might still do Ujjayi breathing though because I find it relaxing and it doesn’t seem dangerous at all.
Thank you Steve. That is a very comprehensive description.
I suspected as much, that the pose was unsupported and done in the middle of the room. And I’ve already beat that drum above so it needn’t be sounded again.
I trust you will be feeling better soon and there is no doubt you will be a very, very mindful yoga student from here on out.
I understand the need for using dvd’s and/or books to learn or begin or maintain a yoga practice. Unfortunately the by-product of such a choice is not always a rosy one. Perhaps your next book could be the Bhagavad Gita where your practice could be safely rooted in the pages within.
I looked at the Satyananda web site and the book reviews on Amazon. The web site does not give me any reason to believe the asana practice is a safe, alignment-based practice. But it could be. I’d have to actually take the training or some classes to say anything more definitively. The book had some good reviews despite its very high price. It does come across as a bit woo-woo but of course my WooDar is pretty sensitive.
I think I figured out what is going on. There were some other symptoms I was having but didn’t say as I thought they weren’t important, and one particular symptom wasn’t showing up until a couple of days ago (black, dark mucus in the nose).
I think I have a sinus issue going on. It’s possible that doing the inversion caused this. The pressure around my eyes and head, it’s all where the sinuses are. My eyes also tend to water more than they did… and again, the mucus is dark in color.
I went to the doctor but they couldn’t really figure what it was. They asked me if I had pain in the sinuses but I said no, not really (I for along time only thought the sinuses were just on the sides of the nose, but I just read that they are all over actually, since I didn’t really have pain on the sides of the nose I figured it wasn’t a sinus issue). It wasn’t until I left the doctors that I figured it was a sinus thing I think.
I have a neti pot actually that I bought many months ago, and I am going to see if there is anything I can take naturally instead of antibiotics at the moment. In any case, I have a strong feeling this is a sinus issue, perhaps a nasty one.