Starting Yoga

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello everyone,

I am very new at Yoga. Started doing it just a few months ago. Everything started becouse I had very tiring pain in my back. Also just few days ago I noticed That my right leg is a bit longer than left. Becouse in my place medics are pathetic, and they only was able to give me some strong pill which not only didn’t helped but also damaged my stomach, I found yoga enough helpful for me. I had small book writen by Christopher S. Kilham “The Five Tibetans”. I performed exercises described on it and few weeks ago pain in my back became a bit lower. However it is not enough, pain hasn’t gone, maybe this is becouse of my short left leg which makes my back curved. So I keep doing thouse five tibetans but I want to improve my yoga. I decided to attend yoga class but nearest time I will be able to do that will be upcoming autumn. Till that I want to work on it on my own. Tomorrow I will go to library to find some useful literature. Maybe you could recommend me some authors I should search books of. Also any advice on my situation would be very helpful. I need to know won’t I make any harm to myself training on my own? Maybe someone from you has faced similar situation.

Thank you in advance for any opinion and advice.

#2

Welcome to yoga and the board, of course.

The Tibetans are not particularly meant as a theapeutic. They are chakra balancers. The breathing duuring the tibetans, except during spinning, is opposite of yogic breathing. So when you do transition to a separate asana practice please do not carry the breathing patterns over with you.

You asked for books? Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health by BKS Iyengar.
If you follow an Iyengar tradition and do not allow your ego to push you too far forward (thus doing basics first) you will mentor your own safety (as best as one can without a teacher).

Relative to your shorter leg, have you had an xray? Shorter legs can be from an genetic issue (and actually be measurably shorter) or an alignemnt issue (pelvis). The ways to handle each are very different.

There are specifics for treating lower back isssues but again it is critical to assess them first. Ootherwise it’s just guesswork and the term “lower back” is very generic and targets nothing at all except a region.

I have a section on Frequently Asked Questions on my web site. You aare welcome to browse there for additional feedback.

#3

For me the question is if there is really one leg shorter than the other or if behind it there migth be a scoliosis, which often causes one side of the hip to be higher than the other.
Than it looks like a shorter leg but it isn`t allways shorter.
There are physiotherapists that are able to correct it for example with manuel therapy. Usually it must be repeated a couple of times but it helps a lot to get rid of the pain.
There is a nice book from Dhirenda Brahmachari but I only know the german title and ISBN ;; Yoga hilft heilen" ISBN 3-7626-06707-2.
But I?m sure in a good bookshop it should be possible to find the englisch original.
This book includes how to find out if the leg is really shorter and has also a lot of sugestuions what to do than.
All the best
Lars

#4

Hi and welcome to yoga and the forum! My right leg is a bit longer than my left leg and it was causing me some problems too, but yoga is definitely a great way to go!

Good luck!

#5

I agrre with xela
My right leg seemed to be shorter to but finaly I found out it was my scoliosis
which only made it to look shorter.
Not only yoga cured all pain and problems, it also looks that an other 25 to 30 years more of yoga the scoliosis will also have disapaered.
All the best
Lars

#6

Thank you very much for anwers! Actually I am not sure about my leg. If the right one is a bit longer it is not very measurable. I also noticed that my right foot is a bit biggers than left- about <0.5cm. Thats how I realized that my left leg could be possibly bigger too. Do you think it could couse my pain in the back? It is on the right side of a spine.
Its to bad I cant start practising yoga right now. So I stick with tibetans. Can’t wait autumn to start taking yoga class.

Regards

#7

Hi
Ican?t take a look for your back but I think definitley yes it can cause the pain your having. If there is an in balanced static in your body the muscles on one side can become shorter than on the other side and loads of things more can happen.
But for direct advice what to do best and which exercises will help the best you need a Yoga expert that can take a look at you which appears allmost impossible over the board.
Greetings
Lars

#8

Completely understand and aggree with you , Lars. Thats way I want to take yoga class so experts could help me

#9

Ok go for it.
good luck
All the best
Lars

#10

The majority of people, if not all people, have one foot larger than the other.
And once again, without more details you do not provide enough data for a reasonable conclusion. Conjucture, yes. Rational direction, no.

[QUOTE=pleak;5569]Thank you very much for anwers! Actually I am not sure about my leg. If the right one is a bit longer it is not very measurable. I also noticed that my right foot is a bit biggers than left- about <0.5cm. Thats how I realized that my left leg could be possibly bigger too. Do you think it could couse my pain in the back? It is on the right side of a spine.
Its to bad I cant start practising yoga right now. So I stick with tibetans. Can’t wait autumn to start taking yoga class.

Regards[/QUOTE]

#11

Hi Pleak

i also had one leg longer than the other, at least that was my perception. in reality it was that my sacro-illiac joint was misaligned due to a very bad ankle sprain. limping for 2 months and avoiding weight-bearing on the injured ankle created a situation where one side of the sacro-illiac joint became tighter and shorter, as a result one leg swung further forward than the other when walking and a whole host of other problems were created, one of them being lower back pain!

i’m not saying this is your situation, but that the appearance of a bigger or longer limb may not be exactly what it seems. though most people do have one foot that is bigger than the other.

my situation was sorted out by chiropractic and physiotherapy, and my yoga practice is keeping the joint in the right place now.

sarah

#12

A great beginer article is Yoga Basics, its really easy to follow and have’s all the essentials you’ll need.

#13

I agree that if you want yoga as a therapeutic cure then expert advice is required. But you shouldn’t necessarily be discouraging from trying yoga by yourself.

If you are just looking to get started in yoga (with the potential side benefit that you may get some additional relief from your back pain) then I would just get a book, or a video for beginners and try it out. (just be careful with forward bends, because if a slipped disk is the cause of your back pain then you may make it worse)

Try to find a book or video that provides a sequence of poses

  • rather than just telling you about the poses and expecting you to make the sequence yourself - because the sequence is important.

remember that if you’re not already very fit, then you may find many of the poses challenging. Don’t be discouraged - keep practicing and challenging yourself, without causing sharp pain, and your fitness and abilities will improve.