Hi guys,
I need your experience about use of Kapalbhati pranayama and other yaga asanas to treat Hernia or for the people who have hernia but want to do yoga for other benefits. please send me all that you can share.
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Hernias are caused when organ tissue or muscle ruptures through the wall of some cavity of the body, such as the stomach wall or the rectum or - anywhere. I wouldn’t suggest a practice of kaphalabhati or bhastrika, which is repetitive pressure on the abdominal area, to anyone who had a hernia. I would also not give asana-s which had put pressure on the area is question, but that is as much information as I am able to give. If I have receive a student with this problem, I would ask my own teachers what poses were safe to give, depending on which area of the body the hernia occurred in.
Agreed Suryadaya.
These are therapeutic issues. Therapeutic issues certainly range in degree of severity. However, generally speaking, therapeutic issues for which a student chooses Yoga for support should be conveyed by a teacher trained in therapeutics.
We do periodically exchange information here but it is always with the caveat that the student-teacher interaction is essential, including but not limited to an assessment.
So no magic asana pill or pranayama bandaid.
There are several types of hernia and I would absolutely not do pranayama that places increased demand on the diaphragm when a student has an inguinal hernia.
Though I asked my student to do conscious inhale-exhale , kapalbhati (very lightly) and anulom vilom (lightly) and kept on observing for few days. There is no complaining from him in these days. As you said rightly that depend on the severity of the ailment.
What I was thing that if this person keeps on going with this pace of breathing which is not harming him, then let him continue. So that he may have good cleansing of breathing and it will boosts his immune system for other diseases as well. This light practice will also help him in future in the cases when he might get cough/ cold and therefore sneezes because by then he may have developed some improvement in the abdominal muscles strength that will help him to absorb sudden sneezing and other shocks. But I will also keep track of his reaction to these light breathing processes regularly. Other than breathing I have included few basic asana to his regular fitness like trikonasana , paschimmotanasana , bhujangasana , uttith padasana and light twisting but everything in very gently and light way.
This is just my thought but other views/experience/suggestions are equally welcome.
Will it be helpful if after inguinal surgery a person does Kapalbhati and Bhastrika Pranayam holding and giving firm support to abdomen to get the benefits of Pranayam.
Komal Kishore
yes pressure should not be high
I found this conversation because I first developed what seems to be an epigastric hernia after doing lots of Kapalbhati breathing. I thought I'd developed an interesting muscle know from the exercise. The theory is that most epigastric hernias are pre-existing, maybe developmental, but that sometimes particular conditions/actions bring them "out" (literally). I just felt some curiousity about it for some time. It is not painful but I am curious about any contraindications, and exercises that benefit/don't benefit it! Thanks for the conversation.