Reappearance of old ailments

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I have gone from being very inactive to practising Sivananda style yoga 2-4 hours a day in the last 3 months. My initial pratice was in an ashram enviroment so the schedule was demanding and i noticed many changes in my body very quickly. I started to feel amazing for the first month then the last 6 weeks or so (home practice) i find old ailments are being presented, neck ache, tight shoulders and sometimes headaches too.

I have been concerned at the early introduction of headstand and unsupported shoulder stands within the system i am following, which may suit people with no previous ailments, but i wonder if they are exacerbating my old conditions which have been quite longstanding and painful in the past. The way i have been taught yoga is pretty much “one size fits all”, and whilst i intend to remain loyal to the style i have chosen i have dropped headstand practice and reduced shoulderstands, (i only do with support now also) so within the Sivananda style i feel by missing those two asanas i am missing a large part of the practice.

unfortunately i do not have a yoga teacher nearby so i cannot work closely to establish what may be triggering the old ailments, i feel like im just guessing. would it be possible that the old ailments need to be presented and worked through, or should ones yoga practice avoid any kind of discomfort or reappearance of old conditions?

I have very tight shoulders and would appreciate any suggestions on how to loosen them so i may be able to continue with headstand practice.

#2

Hi!
If you are experiencing pain - then please stop doing what you think is causing it. A practice and its results should be Sthiram Sukham, stable and comfortable! Shoulderstands and headstands can easily aggravate problems areas in the neck, even if they were previously dormant.

If there is a Sivananda school near you, or you can reach the one you went to, email them and ask what they recommend you do, because there may be ways it can be modified to better. In the interim, don’t worry about being loyal to a practice which may be causing you damage, your concern is vary valid. If you can’t reach anyone through the lineage, speak to any experienced yoga teacher in your area and ask them to evaluate your practice and advise you.

Good luck :slight_smile:

#3

happy for you that you have experienced such positive experiences on retreat.It s normal and almost expected that we get in touch with or reconnect with old injuries,unhelpful tensions,or holding patterns from physical or emotional experiences in the past.So I would say that your experience is helpful and indeed when we plunge deeper into a yoga practice , realisations of these patterns comes to the surface of our awareness ,thus we can work in appropriate ways to free ourselves from these conditionings or lovingly accept them,according to our nature It seems that you are working with awareness and kindness towards yourself .
With regard to headstand,certainly as a teacher , and in the tradition I teach in ,you wouldnt be taught headstand unitil you had practiced for two years ,having said that there are a few people who have the awareness , control and understanding of the body
that im sure they would be safe not to wait that long.Also some schools introduce the headstand straight away but this wast my experience so cant make an imformed comment. For Shoulderstand I personnally would recommend with support but Im not diehard about it. ive practised both ways ,but if you do have shouder issues perhaps sort this out, opening and freeing the shoulders , but it sounds like youre being skillfull around this.Shoulderstand and headstand are important Asanas according to the wise . if I injured my neck I would hang upside down from rope with no pressure on neck.
Obviously I dont know your circumstances ,age, weight ,medical history,so everything comes with this understanding,
Where are you in goa? I used to volunteer at the International animal rescue centre ,long time back.There are some good yoga teachers in goa , no?

om shanti

#4

Hello Anula,

First, there is no issue of loyalty to a system in yoga. All students should be encouraged to seek that which resonates with them particularly and such encouragement may either draw students toward this thing or toward that thing. It requests that we, as yoga students, work to cultivate the skill of discernment so that we can “feel” what serves us. Rarely if ever is it everything. And usually it is living, growing, changing, and developing over time - just as yoga should.

Second, a robust yoga practice should absolutely be churning up stuff for the student to look at. It is only here in the West that we allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that the result of yoga is to be blissed out and euphoric. Generally speaking, things that continue to come up, over time, are begging for you to look at them and deal with them. That dealing must transcend but include asana. Furthermore, reoccurrence is typically a sign that a thing has not been fully addressed. When we address these issue ONLY with asana they may abate but they will surely return.

I personally do not believe in a yoga system that is not malleable to the human being - this since no two human beings are identical. Such a practice is not for me or my living so I do not gravitate to such practices. But this is up to the individual. Nor do I believe that sarvangasana should be done without props. There are about 40 requisites in the human body which could allow for doing it that way AND not lead to something undesirable. However there are very, very few people who meet the criteria. We must bear in mind that we live in a modern world and do not practice for 8 hours a day. Ergo it is not appropriate to measure the practice (for us) based on those who do.

Sirsasana can be properly instructed to level one students presuming they have the mandatory actions present in their bodies - an assessment that should be made by a skilled teacher on a case-by-case basis. Many students neither have the requisite actions nor do they have the benefit of safe instruction to get there especially when it comes to clasping the hands, supporting the head, and grounding the foundation such that the skull bears very little of the body’s weight.

Both of the posters above me make valid, yet different points. Painful things should be watched carefully if not modified or avoided altogether. Uncomfortable things may be appropriate but depends on the practitioner in question and the nature of their discomfort.

Gordon

#5

Om Namah Sivaya, Anula,

It’s good to take breaks from asanas now and then. Give your body a chance to adjust to all the work you have been doing.

Were you on retreat only, or did you complete the TTC?

Were you also taught half-headstand? Did you practice half-headstand and dolphin pushups adequately before moving on to full headstand? These may not have been stressed to you in a practice class. Are you able to support your weight on your arms completely after walking your hips up, before going up into headstand? Remember that headstand is really an arm stand and there should be very little weight being taken on the top of the head, it being used more for balance than support. You may also be holding these postures far too long for your ability. Or perhaps as you say, there is an existing ailment.

You are correct in postponing practice of these asanas. You may do so for a period of weeks or months before returning to them, and then begin again with half-headstand, until you can squeeze your weight off the floor and balance. Then you will know you are ready.

I am a Sivananda TTC, practiced and teaching for more than twelve years, but I have had to take occasional breaks. I can share some advice with you that took me years to accept: when your practice is weak, or if you have not practiced for several days, do not practice headstand immediately after returning to practice. If you have missed practice for several weeks, do not practice headstand again until after you have practiced regularly again for at least two to three weeks. A good rule of thumb being, for however many days or weeks you have not practiced asanas, then practice at least as many days or weeks again before returning to headstand.

These are serious asanas with long-term consequences. There is a difference between learning them and practicing them: know-how does not mean one is ready. This is being your own teacher and it may take some years for you to learn your limitations and respect them, as it did me.

peace,
siva

#6

Thankyou for all your replies, they are really helpfull!

Siva, I just went for yoga vacation for one month. We learnt dolphin and practised that for 2 weeks before headstand was introduced. I should have detailed that I am not able to do full headstand, i am working towards half only! I am able to support the weight on my arms only for 5-6 seconds at which point my neck starts to feel very uncomfortable and get some tightness around the rhomboid areas. Usually i get stiff neck after holding for 5-6 seconds so it suggest to me i should just stick with the dolphins, for now.

I am abit concerned as im going to do TTC in February and i am sure it is expected of us to work towards full headstand. Maybe the issue is a personal one, that im not having enough patience with myself!

I think i am considering the possibility that without specific work on my shoulders the ailments will remain, this will be something i can discuss at TTC i think.

Charlie, I am a volunteer at Animal Rescue, i think there are some good yoga teachers here in goa but majority practising Ashtanga which i dont feel very drawn too with my level of fitness! Can you recommend any teachers? Thanks again,:lol:

#7

Anula,

Ahh. I see.

Make sure you are not lifting your knees in half headstand. Keep them into the chest, hanging from the tailbone. Extend the elbows strongly into the floor. That keeps all your weight on your arms and the serratus muscles and lats engaged. If you are not able to support your weight there, then yes, more dolphin pushups. If you find the pushups aggravate your condition, then shorten the stroke to almost nothing and go slowly. Feel every degree of movement with the breath. Don’t slump. Stand tall in the shoulder.

Don’t be concerned about when you will be ready for headstand. It will come. Take the time necessary. You won’t be expected to do anything you can’t do at TTC, but you will learn how, so that when you are ready… It’s what I meant about the difference between learning and practicing. You see? You can perform the headstand without holding it for purposes of taking instruction, but then just come back down. That way you will be seen and your technique confirmed, but you won’t be hurting yourself. Besides, if you practice half headstand properly until February, there’s a good chance you will be ready. By the time you leave TTC, for sure.

Good luck! You’re going to do great. You’re on the path.
Tell them all Siva says hello.
Om namah Sivaya,
Om Shanti,
[ ( + siva + ) ]

#8

[QUOTE=anula;25493]i find old ailments are being presented, neck ache, tight shoulders and sometimes headaches too.

[/QUOTE]

If these aches are chronic and reoccurring, I’ll bet you something in the nervous system is telling your motor nerves to tighten up. It’s part of the fight/flight response. The things we stress about will always skew the autonomic nervous system, causing our survival response to get triggered at inappropriate times. I see this all the time with my patients. Once they face their inner wounds, their symptoms leave since their nervous system is back to homeostasis. This causes the motor & sensory nerves to be in sync with present time as oppose to being stuck with the wounds of the past.

So think about the first time these aches started appearing. Was there a stress you were occupied with? Did this stress get triggered by a similar event?

Sometimes these emotional issues are subtle or buried in your unconscious. In my yoga class, there was a receptionist who had terrible back pain & could not do yoga. I figured out she had rejection issues with her parents. One week later, she was 100% better. It’s always the emotional stuff that gets us off course.