Having some problems doing The Plow

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I like this pose. Or, I used to like it, back in the day when I was younger and did it daily. Now I don’t do it that often and when I do it I often get a pain in my upper back. Right below the shoulder blades. It’s not in the spine, it’s in the muscles, it passes in a day or two if I don’t do that pose for those days.

I do remember that back when I was younger and did it after having taken a shorter break from it I used to get a similar pain for a few days that then passed. Is that what I should do here, just keep doing it for a few days and see what happens? Or would I be taking too big a risk?

My neck is fine, my lower back is fine, but the lower part of my upper back hurts still today (did the pose yesterday) and hurt quite a bit yesterday. It feels like a tension thing.

#2

Have you tried half-plough with a prop? Feet on the seat of a chair. This could be a preparatory pose for plough in which you experience pain.

Pain is to be avoided in asana. In athletics the mantra is “no pain, no gain”, but in hatha yoga the mantra is “no pain, no pain”.:slight_smile: Meaning: You should not experience pain during the asana, nor afterwards. When you do experience pain, you should modify the asana or skip it altogether. Not only because of the discomfort and risks that you mention, but also because pain stops you from being aware in the pose. Doing yogasana without awareness is not yoga.

I hope that you are using a blanket under your shoulders and the bottom (C7) neck vertebra to protect your neck. But this is another topic altogether.

#3

I have a slightly different view on the nature of pain in the practice. Some students, due to varying factors, use the same terms for pain as they do for discomfort. Second, there are various levels and sorts of pain. Third, we are receiving feedback from the body’s systems during the physical practice and some of these messages indicate “stop it right now” while others may indicate “please alter the doing in this or that way” and finally “you’re fine doing this in this way but please use your breath more effectively and calm your mind”.

As Willem points out, and I completely agree, doing the pose flat on the floor for most (99.7%) practitioners is a recipe for damage. The pose should be done with pads or folded blankets AND the student’s hamstrings and shoulders have to be open as well as the spine being mobilized to move into the front body in order to “do” the pose.

What we did yesterday or moments ago, or tomorrow is simply not relevant to the current moment or doing so as a frame of reference it has very little bearing - though it does have some.

gordon

#4

Thanks for the adivce guys.

I do not do it with a blanket under my shoulders. I have tried that but it felt strange, a little scary even. I feel no pain in the neck but of course I could try this as well as a chair or something to not come so far down with my feet. Also, perhaps not do this as the first asana in a given program. I tend to do that because I learnt it that way.

The pain is pretty sharp when it’s there but it doesn’t come so much while I do the pose as it comes afterwards, and then it goes away in a day or two, if I let my back rest from that pose. It’s not a pain that stays there continously, it comes in certain positions (slightly forward bent, twisting).

I have noticed that I’m getting older :slight_smile: and that I can’t do what I used to be able to do, at least not right away or at the extent I used to do it before, almost 20 years ago.

#5

I personally cannot fathom doing Halasana as the opening posture in any sound asana sequence. But clearly someone else can :slight_smile:

#6

I can see your point. Now. It felt ok at the time, but again, that’s over 20 years ago perhaps, when I first learnt this. The two teachers came from some school in Bihar and Swami Satyananda was the guru. Felt traditional enough for me then but at the time they were pretty much the only yoga teachers in my home town so what did I know?

So, to sum it up then… use a blanket for the shoulders, maybe a chair or cushion for the legs, do the pose at the end of a program that has involved a lot of stretching of the thighs and hips, right?

#7

OK, tried it with a blanket (two actually) under my shoulders and while that helped some I think my main mistake, one I often do now that I don’t practice yoga as often as I did when I was young, is that once I’m in the position I stay there too long. Not really being aware of or actually feeling any discomfort and just staying in it out of habit, forgetting completely that it took me months to work myself up to being able to stay in for instance halasana for a few minutes.

Becasue I had no pain yestaerday and no pain today and the main reason for that I think is that I stayed in the position for just ten deep breaths. And I was warmed up as I did it. I’m gonna give it a rest today anyway and try it tomorrow.