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| I suggest this:
Take private class from 3 different experienced teachers, and two visits with Orthopeadic doctors.
Then, just talk to them each in the class, and donot have to do any exercise at all. Just show them your condition while doing poses, and without. And, collect their opinions. Ask them questions, etc.
And, make your own decision with your own responsibility. That way you shall better than just guess or discuss superficially with others. |
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| Sorry if this changing the way the thread is going, but am I the only one who finds it a *lot* easier to lift both legs using core strength rather than kicking them up?
I was working on kicking them up and could only get it right about 50% of the time. I took a few classes with this brilliant teacher who finally made me understand what core strength *really* meant. I was shocked by how easy it became. You can actually start from dandasana, moving to handstand instead of chaturanga. It's fun 
Then again, I've never had any issues with my wrists - it was the balance that gave me trouble. |
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| so tell us, what was the trick this teacher taught you? what is real core strength? |
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| Hi,
The pain on my hands and wrists practicing handstand was something I needed to overcome. I work with computers a lot. So a year ago I started practicing this posture several times a week. With long pauses inbetween, sometimes several days in between. Giving my hands and wrists time to recover. Kept on practicing. When time passed the pain became less and my hands and wrists started to feel much stronger! Started practicing one time every day.
My teacher once told me to spread fingers, placing the middle fingers exactly parallel to eachothers, kind of 'grab' the floor with the hands firmly before coming into the pose. Sometimes a rope placed tightly on my ellbow corneers helped me finding the right direction on my arms and ellbows. Consistently correct placement of the hands and arms appeared to me to do the trick.
Also try increasing the distance between the wall and shoulders. Really lifting, extending from the side ribs. Certainly not 'hang into the wall' for this I can imagine it could increase wrong pressure on the wrist and hand joints.
Sometimes in handstand I lift my head and look at my toes, very interesting :-) this move also feels very good on my shoulders.
Nowadays I can enter the posture easy, stand very straight, feel light, and hold for minutes. It gives me so much energy for doing the other postures. And.... no pain at all in my hands and wristst anymore.
Best Regards
Merijn
PS. Other postures I feel that helped me a lot are the dogpose and wheel. In dog pose I try placing my hands and arms exactly the same as in handstand. Urdhva Dandasana really opens up my shoulders and forces me to right-place my hands and ellbows. Another one. Last week I practiced handstand turning hands 90 degrees in or 90 degrees out (fingers positioned as usual, flat on the floor), very interesting to see what happens on the arms/shoulders. |
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| It's great to read this thread, the safety of this asana has been on my mind for a while. I recently started working on lifting into handstand with both feet after a workshop with Ana Forrest where we workshopped the articulation of the movement. Although I don't have the core strength to do it without a spot, I am amazed at the change in the asana. For me, utilizing the core to lift the feet (rather than hopping) gives the posture both a lightness and a security. I have weak wrists and I often found that my wrists struggled to adjust to the rapid change in weight-bearing when hopping, when lifting with both legs that issue is completely nullified. I also find that rather than my usual tendency to slightly overshoot and let my legs graze the wall also encouraged an overarch in the lower back which I would have to then correct after gaining balance at the wall.
The only concern I have about practicing Adho Mukha Vrksasana this way is that in this "training wheels" version of the pose, I lean my hips all the way to the wall behind me or onto the thighs of my spotter, which is hard on my wrists. Once I engage the core lift into handstand the strain disappears. Thoughts? |
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| Hi Nature girl. I also had inuries from Ashtanga . Anyway, Since then I've started taking Bikram a few times a week (at first I only did Bikram for about 2 weeks or so and then slowly went back to Ashtanga). I'm lucky in that my Ashtanga teacher is very good with injuries and tells you to take it easy and just not do a pose if it hurts.
Anyway, I find bikram EXTREMELY therapeutic. It think it's heat more than the poses, but the poses are very soft on the body and I've noticed also that you do get every verterae in your spine worked out in a calmer way. Since doing Birkam I have had no backaches to speak of and I really like the Bikram Ashtanga combination.
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| That's interesting. I enjoy the backbends in the Bikram series.
Well, especially because you don't get them in Ashtanga Primary .
Question? Do you have trouble sweating in Ashtanga? I wonder if you build a heat tolerance up? curious?
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Location: London, England | Hi Mae,
I don't really like the version shown in the article-I mean, I think it is un-therapeutic. I think it is best to underbalance, by bringing the spine and hips into extension, rather than the example on the wall, which is an example of over-balancing-which puts more strain on the wrists, at least potentially.
Nick
Edited by Nick 2008-06-06 1:06 PM
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| Injury is not from Ashtanga or non Ashtanga. Injury is from overdoing things which care too challenging. And, heat does not add anything to healing process. Actually, it reduces it. Yes, in the heat the poses become easier due to the reaction of the body to heat. And, that is why it should not be done in the heat. Because, you are now hooked onto heat. You shall find it after a prolonged practice.
Eteraz - 2008-06-06 12:25 PM
Hi Nature girl. I also had inuries from Ashtanga . Anyway, Since then I've started taking Bikram a few times a week (at first I only did Bikram for about 2 weeks or so and then slowly went back to Ashtanga). I'm lucky in that my Ashtanga teacher is very good with injuries and tells you to take it easy and just not do a pose if it hurts.
Anyway, I find bikram EXTREMELY therapeutic. It think it's heat more than the poses, but the poses are very soft on the body and I've noticed also that you do get every verterae in your spine worked out in a calmer way. Since doing Birkam I have had no backaches to speak of and I really like the Bikram Ashtanga combination.
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Handstand
