I need some advice. I have been growing in and loving my practice for the last two years. About a month ago I started feeling some numbness in my middle two fingers coupled with a dull nagging pain in my right shoulder joint with attendent weakness. I finally went to my Internal Medicine/Chiropractor physician for a check-up. He said I had a nerve impinged in the shoulder and sent me for an MRI of the neck. I am in healthcare and reviewed the MRI results on viewscreen with him myself. I was shocked… I have a herniated disk in my cervicle column and two portruding disks (one on each side of the herniation). He has ecouraged me to get back into Yoga as soon as I can but I am not sure that I can contain my ego at this time and limit my practice. At the same time I miss my class and the growth I experience with my practice. I cannot pinpoint when my injury occurred since I have been in martial arts and many sports over the years coupled with numerous work related skeletal injuries when I worked i n the oil fields as a youth. I am 52 years old now and the pain and numbness is responding to rest,Ibuprophen,and chiropractic/tenze/heat treatments. I hope I can secure some advice from practitioners that have experienced an injury like this. PS> my Doctor says that bridge poses and head stands are out from now on… ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED!
Hi Soonerpaul,
Really sorry to hear about your injury. Good that you have had a professional diagnosis though, and at least your doctor has encouraged you to get back into yoga ASAP.
I was diagnosed with herniated discs in my lower back last year - this creates a whole different set of problems than your facing so I can’t comment on that specifically - but I did face the same issue of containing my ego, and if I’m honest I often still have problems with this and often feel frustrated that I have to limit myself and not do some postures that the rest of the class is doing. However, as a result of going through this process of trying to be more mindful and less ego-driven when practising I feel my practice and my whole approach to yoga has changed for the better. It is less about the physical and more of a spiritual practice and on a good day it feels great to say, ‘so what if I can’t do what he/she is doing - this is me now and I’m grateful for that.’
Good luck! 
Hey Soonerpaul & JenW,
THERE IS HOPE! Yoga was my last resort. I was suppose to go in and have four of my vertebrates fused together, I had three discs that were shot and more were going. Having been on pain pills for 10 years I tried everything. Finally I started with Bikram yoga. I committed everyday for three months - it was hard and painful! But the pain started going away after the three months, then after a year I had ZERO pain! I am stronger than I have ever been in my life. I started taking advanced workshops in power yoga and teacher training (Baron Baptiste & Ana Forrest). Yoga saved me! I have learned how to really tune into my spine and give those areas the attention needed.
YOU CAN HEAL YOURSELF!! Be patient and stay committed and know the difference between good pain vs bad pain. I am 47 and I can do anything!
Namaste my friends
:lol:I really appreciate your thoughts. I have had a sense that this setback may actually strengthen my practice by making me ever more mindful and grateful for each movement. My body awareness has grown and I am focused on healing. Your comments came at an opportune time and I am grateful that you took some time from your lives to share with me. Every creature in nature has to adapt to face adversity or change (a flower rotates toward the sun). I think this could be an opportunity for growth. I will embrace it!
A good journey to you my friends,
Namaste,
Paul
Hello Paul.
For some people having a diagnosis is helpful in visualizing healing. For others it seems to direct their thoughts in a negative spiral. I hope you’ll find a way to place your thoughts in the first category. The mind is very powerful and certainly necessary in any healing process.
Controlling one’s Ego (transforming it in the heart center) is something we must do ourselves. Often we get the same lessons in life over and over again until we are both ready and willing to embrace the learning and move on to the next lesson. If it has been your ego that has brought you to this precipice then perhaps you once again have the opportunity to learn. These kinds of injuries are very loud calls from the body to make changes in living, deal with those things we’ve avoided dealing with, hear and engage in the dialogue between the soul, the body, and the mind.
Pragmatically speaking, if you are looking to wield your yoga practice as a healing modality then please understand that there are protocols in yoga for healing and those protocols are very specific. Wandering into a class branded as “yoga” here and one there will likely be akin to wandering into step aerobics or tae bo. One can go to many restaurants and get “food” at all of them. However we now know that some faster food joints offer that which leaves unwanted residue in various parts of the body. So it is only appropriate yoga that will serve efficaciously as a complete healing.
Ultimately you’ll have to find out if the growth you’ve experienced in your current yoga practice includes a level of self care that would qualify as an embodiment of ahimsa. If we are not able to care for ourselves it is very difficult to sincerely care for others or the planet. How far have you grown my friend??
I have thought about your comments. I am presently practicing a form of Yoga that stresses alignment and static poses more than some other forms I have experienced. I believe my injury occurred as a culmination of things. Job stress, getting too free in my inversion and coming out too fast, an inbalance in my personal life which I feel was reflected in my injury. Sometimes I feel that the deeper I probe the more childlike in my ignorence I become. I am returning to my practice next week after recuperating. My numbness is gone and I feel that I will approach my practice in a more balanced manner now that I got “off the ride” for awhile. I look at my practice as a journey. I want to positively learn from my injury and improve my practice. I appreciate any insights that are aimed at improving my self reflection and growth. Thank you for being open in your thoughts.
Namaste!
PS> What is Ahimsa… Feel free to expound. I do not understand many Sanskrit terms but am willing to learn. It might benefit others as well…
Paul
To oversimplify…himsa is harm or doing harm to. When the “A” is placed in front it signifies an opposite (though some chose to interpret it as not harming) therefore it is the sense of love or peace or the absence of a harming thoughts, words, deeds, actions.