Dizziness and "the spins" after yoga class?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi everyone,

I just took my second yoga class on Saturday, and I’ve been really loving it so far… mainly because of the calm and supportive environment. (Over the past several months, I lost 48 pounds with healthy vegetarian diet and some cardio, and I’ve felt a little bit self-conscious about group exercise).

Anyway… during my last class, toward the end we did a pose where we started out lying on our backs and then sort of peeled our spines away from the mat so our legs were up over our heads with our butts in the air - like, I was lying on my back but looking at my knees. (Sorry, I’m not familiar with the names of all the positions yet).

Afterwards, I felt like I was spinning and when I tried to get up off the mat later, I kind of blacked out (for a really short time). I’m concerned now because it’s been 2-3 days since the class and I’m still having some dizziness - kind of stumbling when I go from lying/sitting to standing. I was wondering if this is normal for newbies or if I should be concerned about it?

I think I’m generally in pretty good shape - you know, good cholesterol and blood pressure, I eat well, I run - so I’m not sure why I’m experiencing this?

Any ideas or input would be much appreciated :slight_smile: (I’m hoping to go back to class in a couple days).

Thanks!

#2

I believe the pose you’re talking about is Salamba Sarvangasana or Shoulderstand. There was another thread about someone feeling a bit awkward afterwards as well.

Check this out:
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f16/was-doing-sarvagasana-now-feel-weird-all-the-time-3603.html

– PS…welcome to the forum! I’m so glad you enjoy your yoga practice and CONGRATS on losing all that weight!!!

#3

Greetings!

If you’re still having dizziness a few days after the class, I suggest you head to the doctor for a thorough examination. Hopefully it’s nothing so don’t get worried, but it’s always best to be safe about such things and the peace of mind that comes from a clean bill of health is worth the time. :slight_smile:

hugs

#4

Hello raisinG,

Sounds like Halasana.
There are several things to mention to you here as you are just beginning your practice.

In Purna Yoga, the yoga in which I am trained, practice, and teach, we hold the concept of safety as THE top priority. And at the same time we are working diligently to bring the marvelous effects of the poses into the student’s body. It can be a very challenging rope to walk:-)

Halasana is not a pose that should be used by beginning students. Simply put, the student just coming to the practice does not have enough asana (poses) yet in their body, enough action, enough understanding, enough opening, enough stability to do such a pose with integrity.

When a pose is done without integrity it is merely gymnastics or contortionism. Those are not bad things. They are fine. But they are not yoga. Yoga must have integrity as a core principle.

Halasana, much like Sarvanggasana (shoulder stand) should be done using folded blankets or a foam pad supporting the shoulders and the 7th cervical vertebra in order to preserve the cervical curve (neck). This is something we have learned over time in yoga and is one of the ways we have to grow yoga so we can keep our students healthy and reduce rather than facilitate injuries.

Therefore even when the student is beyond the beginning level the propping is still used. Translation: even intermediate students do the pose this way in an asana practice that emphasizes safety.

Bear in mind that I am not a medical practitioner and therefore you should not misinterpret my feedback as medical advice or consultation. That having been said, you will likely be “ok” but David makes a strong point which I will alter a bit to suit my perspective - please see the health care practitioner of your choosing if you are at all worried. Worry is NOT helpful:-)

That particular pose, when done flat on the floor as I suspect you did in the gym you are attending (assumptive, I know) can place strain and pressure on the neck. So you may simply feel wonky from that and it may easily pass in a few days. Please consider not doing that pose and/or not at all even thinking about it until you are un-wonky.

If you are interested in having a lifelong yoga practice please weigh the value of a well trained teacher and then act accordingly based on that process.

#5

The concept that propping sarvangasana is debatable is entirely my point.

Which is why I stated a practice that has safety as its primary function would act accordingly, not just to embody ahimsa but to respond to what is actually going on in the bodies of students doing asana today. However I study and practice in a “tradition” that molds itself to the student rather than one that demands the student mold themselves to the practice. So this may be a look at the forest from a different bunker.

I would be remiss if I did not also respond to the point about pictures of Iyengar in LOY. Light on Yoga was published in 1966 and was not intended as a primer for beginning students to learn the practice. Additionally, Guruji’s body is not the body of most nor is Guruji’s practice the practice of most. I have not even mentioned the fact that Iyengar practiced asana for 8 hours a day. So while that is a good piece of evidence it does not an entire case make.

Should a woman in seattle who’s had two asana classes (of what sort we do not know) without the prerequisite learning of Yama and Niyama be doing Sarvangasana flat on the floor? A non-dogmatic answer is “perhaps - but I doubt it”.

It is true that many students practice the pose flat on the floor (in other “traditions”) and many or most do not sustain injury (though we do not know even that). My assertion however is that ONE injury may be one too many and it is mentally inflexible of us as teachers and students to not acknowledge the rise in yoga related injuries AND to respond to it.

#6

I got bad vertigo after a fairly intense yoga session. I am fine when standing and moving around but lying down and getting up from a lying position causes destabilising vertigo. My doctor here in France tells me it is not caused by loose debris in the ear, apparently the most common benign cause of vertigo. Also he has ruled out all the more serious possible causes. He has prescribed Tanganil, an allegedly safe French medication which is known to treat vertigo. The doctor tells me the vertigo will disappear within 48 hours, but I should continue to take the pills for 10 days: 3 500mg tablets a day. I am to stop yoga for 10 days. My wife - a yoga practitioner - also got vertigo last year & Tanganil fixed the problem quickly. It has not recurred. If I have read information on the Internet on Tanganil correctly, the profession does not know how Tanganil works, they just know it does. I am only into my first day of medication so I will try to remember to post further on the outcome.

#7

It seems to me that you are not experiencing dizziness throughout the day, rather change of position i.e. while practicing yoga and switching from one to pose to another especially from inverted poses (upside down poses) to lying on back, lying on back to sitting poses and sitting to standing.
I am a naturopath and Yoga therapist with 15 years experience. If you are still experiencing spells of dizziness and spinning. You need to see a physician who will assess and may advise some tests to find out cause of the problem before advising some treatment and preventive measures.
The problem of dizziness can be caused low blood sugar post practice, low hemoglobin, cervical spondylititis or cervical spondylosis, ear infection, enlarged/infllamation of abdominal organs,etc.

#8

The dizziness only occurs if I lie down, get up from a lying position, turn over in bed or turn my neck. So no, I am not experiencing dizziness through out the day. Today I have noticed the condition has improved i.e. I seem to be less sensitive to the movements described above. Maybe the Tanganil is already working. You mention that there should be more thorough investigation by the Doctor before he prescribes. Well he has a pretty good idea of my general condition as I recently had an annual check up.

#9

I decided Tanganil was not being effective and I became certain I was suffering from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. I tested myself using the Dix-Hallpike maneuver and established it was the right ear that had the loose crystals lodged in the balance sensitive part of the ear. I then followed the Epley manoeuvre for the right ear. The results were immediate and my vertigo disappeared completely. The two maneuvers mentioned can be found on YouTube. If you do either the Dix-Hallpike or the Epley maneuver be prepared for very acute vertigo while doing them. Also don’t be put off from doing them yourself. The Epley manoeuvre worked for me while I was doing a practice run. It was a pretty poor reproduction of the YouTube video instructions. Yet it worked without any need for repetition. By the way I have no medical training and received no medical advice or assistance in all this.

#10

My first response dated 31.3.12 was given for the query raised by “raisingirl”.
In your case, your doctor in France has advised you certain medicine after having taken your case history and assessed you. So, it was okey in your case to take advised medicine for the vertigo. However, I am not sure the same medicine will work all the cases of vertigo-positional or non-positional.
As a therapist, I do not like and so emphasize other to shoot an arrow in the darkness. So, diagnosis is important before treating an illness. It gives direction to a therapist.

#11

[QUOTE=armchairlife;72499]I decided Tanganil was not being effective and I became certain I was suffering from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. I tested myself using the Dix-Hallpike maneuver and established it was the right ear that had the loose crystals lodged in the balance sensitive part of the ear. I then followed the Epley manoeuvre for the right ear. The results were immediate and my vertigo disappeared completely. The two maneuvers mentioned can be found on YouTube. If you do either the Dix-Hallpike or the Epley maneuver be prepared for very acute vertigo while doing them. Also don’t be put off from doing them yourself. The Epley manoeuvre worked for me while I was doing a practice run. It was a pretty poor reproduction of the YouTube video instructions. Yet it worked without any need for repetition. By the way I have no medical training and received no medical advice or assistance in all this.[/QUOTE]

“It is as useless to follow a advice, without having taken diagnosis (process of identification of an illness), as it is shoot an arrow in the darkness”

#12

[QUOTE=RaisinGirl;14197]Hi everyone,

I just took my second yoga class on Saturday, and I’ve been really loving it so far… mainly because of the calm and supportive environment. (Over the past several months, I lost 48 pounds with healthy vegetarian diet and some cardio, and I’ve felt a little bit self-conscious about group exercise).

Anyway… during my last class, toward the end we did a pose where we started out lying on our backs and then sort of peeled our spines away from the mat so our legs were up over our heads with our butts in the air - like, I was lying on my back but looking at my knees. (Sorry, I’m not familiar with the names of all the positions yet).

Afterwards, I felt like I was spinning and when I tried to get up off the mat later, I kind of blacked out (for a really short time). I’m concerned now because it’s been 2-3 days since the class and I’m still having some dizziness - kind of stumbling when I go from lying/sitting to standing. I was wondering if this is normal for newbies or if I should be concerned about it?

I think I’m generally in pretty good shape - you know, good cholesterol and blood pressure, I eat well, I run - so I’m not sure why I’m experiencing this?

Any ideas or input would be much appreciated :slight_smile: (I’m hoping to go back to class in a couple days).

Thanks![/QUOTE]

“It is as useless to follow a advice, without having taken diagnosis (process of identification of an illness), as it is shoot an arrow in the darkness”

#13

You say you have become vegetarian, you say you eat well but do you get enough proteins? if you eat pasta and veggie sauce to it , it will not be enough.

You say good bloodpressure and good healt, but.
Did you check your blood pressure.
Do you get enough proteins? proteins you must eat cant be converted and if you eat pasta with veggie sauce it is not so much protein in it. So there will be need for more.

if nothing wrong above then you can go and see a doctor to sort this out.

#14

hi, I have joined this forum because I am searching for information on yoga and vertigo. I have practiced ashtanga yoga for at least 7,8 years now. In the last year and a half I have developed vertigo, BPPV. I did lots of research, have been doing yoga on and off and have seen lots of doctors in the last year and a half. I have experienced severe vertigo attacks during this time on and off. After I have spoken to the specialist a few times about this and have tried yoga on and off, we have determined that all positions that have my head upside down or inversions, will cause the vertigo. Please keep in mind that this si a medical condition caused in some people by yoga or also car mechanics get it, because they keep their heads backwards for extensive periods of time. This can go away in time, or it can stay. They do not have a lot of research about this. I want to spread the news in the yoga community that yoga can cause vertigo, which is a medical condition. This is BPPV, which the crystals in the inner year travel outside in the ear canal. This causes vertigo because these crystals are responsible for the body equilibrium. So if you get vertigo, try not to do any positions that have your head hanging or have your head backwards in inversion. Not all people get this, just some, but yoga can cause this. It can go away or be persistent. In my case I do ashtanga yoga, but I eliminate everything that has y head downwards or backwards. Maybe it will go away in the future maybe not.