Heart palpitations from shoulder stand?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Is this a common problem when overdoing it? Cause maybe I’ve been overdoing it a bit, gradually building up to standing for about 5 minutes it’s much, much longer than I’ve ever stood in this asana before, but it’s been feeling ok.

In fact I’ve felt fine while doing it, apart from some minor fatigue in the lower back towards the end of it. No heart palpitations while doing it, none directly afterwards but the last five days or so… it feels as if I’ve been running fast most of the time. Not that I’m out of breath but my heart is beating harder than usual.

I also do headstands for about 4 minutes. Also this feels fine as I’m doing it. I’m gonna cut back on these two and see what happens but I still ask if this is a well known problem or if I should look for the cause to the heart palpitations elsewhere.

#2

I used to get palpitations sometimes from too much caffeine. Oddly enough, more from tea than coffee. I would certainly cut down a bit on your shoulder stands and see if that helps. If it does, you may even be able to build back up again, but very gradually. Anyway that’s all I got, hope it helps.

#3

OK, I see another possibility… recently I cut down on my coffee intake, from two large cups a day to one medium cup in the morning. Instead I drink a little tea in the evening since perhaps two days back. Maybe I should go back to the coffee because I wasnt’a actually expereincing any problems with it, just cut it down cause I thought I was drinking too much.

#4

Hi Terje,
Looks like over-activity of the sympathetic branch of nervous system (the one responsible for fight-flight response). Do you also feel increased rate of heart beats then? And do you feel other symptoms like sweatiness or dizziness?

Sometimes palpitations may be a symptom of some problems and if you can provoke palpitations so easily maybe it would be good idea to check it with a doctor.

#5

Well, it’s better now. Don’t know if it’s the fact that I stopped drinking tea but that could be it. Several years ago my tea drinking gave me heartburn. Coffee doesn’t give me any problems, really. It’s just that sometimes I get the idea that I drink too much and try to cut down. Replacing it with tea seems like a really bad idea.

I didn’t do shoulder stand yesterday but I stood on my head this morning and did a bunch of sun salutations and I feel just fine. The sun salutation eventually got my heart going a little but it went back to normal after some relaxation, just as it should. As I said, the idea that it’s the asanas that are creating the problem is just a theory because actually it doens’t feel that way as I’m doing them.

I had no dizzyness or sweating and I think the heart rate was about normal, maybe a little faster. I wasn’t aware of doing aything that provoked it. If the problem still comes back I will of course check with a doctor, you are very right about that.