I started hatha yoga about a year ago using a beginners guide. I thought I was doing quite well until a few weeks ago when I started to get a sharp pain in my upper arm. I’ve temporarily stopped and the pain is subsiding but I’d like to ask if this is normal or perhaps the result of something like bad technique?
Hi dalai,
no, sharp pain is not normal. Well, I guess most who practice Asanas know sharp pain, so it is somewhat “normal”, but it is not wanted. What you want is some amount of blunt pain, like being a little sore (or a little more than just a little). If you do an Asana, you can orient yourself … at/with/on/by the nature of pain. As long as it’s just some stretchy pain, you’re fine. That type of pain, then, will slowly morph into the sharp pain which should be avoided, so you have to find the point to back out of the Asana, or the point that you should not exceed.
B.K.S. Iyengar has a very insightful chapter on right and wrong pain in his very insightful book “Light on Life”, it’s free to read here, but worth to buy too.
Hello Dalai,
Welcome to the community.
Could you provide some additional information for me please?
That information is most helpful (to me) then it is two-fold; one part about you and your practice and the second part about the pain, it’s location, nature, frequency, etcetera.
Since you say only “upper arm” shall I presume it is not pain the shoulder joint? Is there pain in poses where you are bearing weight using the arms, in a particular pose? A bit more please.
gordon
sent a message
Message received, thank you.
I’m not familiar with the nuances of the DVD you have been using, though from a brief look it is obviously not an alignment-based practice AND I suspect is rapid in its pacing. And this may be a completely appropriate practice for you and many others. However in this particular case there’s an injury stemming from that practice - based on your feedback.
If your sharp pain is not in a joint (in this case the elbow or shoulder) I would be slightly less concerned relative to damage. Your post is entitled “pulled muscle” and that is certainly possible. Part of the process or growth in asana is self discovery; the process of examining who we are, what we do, the nature of our approach and so forth. So this is not a setback unless one only looks at the performance of posture. With patience and self-exploration you can have a profound quantum leap in your practice.
Without looking at technique (of which the three primary components are intention, alignment, and action) I could not determine in what way(s) it has contributed here. As a teacher with therapeutics training I tend to asses the student, modify the poses that are problematic, and avoid them if said modifications do not facilitate effect and safety in light of the (arm) issue.
gordon
ok thanks Gordon. can I ask what is an alignment-based practise?
The alignment-based practices I am aware of are Iyengar, Viniyoga - Ashtanga and Anusara to some degree, and Purna Yoga.
More broadly, an alignment-based practice is one where the body is placed in just such a way in asana so as to maintain the musculo-skeletal integrity (not harm through mis-alignment or strain by placing load on connective tissue et al) and foster the optimal flow of energy balancing the concepts of both safety and effect.
ok thanks for your help, I’ll look into that.
Since I started yoga later in life (57) and was never particulary flexible, I wondered if a sort of transition stage was reached where muscles start to get slightly longer to accomodate the stretching and this stage could be painful?
I have yet to meet the person who has not had pain.