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 shoulderstand pressureModerators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Yoga -> Iyengar Yoga | Message format |
karmann |
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| In class last week during shoulderstand, I developed quite a lot of pressure that I mostly felt moving up the sides of my face toward the top of my head. It came on slowly and I wasn't really all that aware of it at first as I was thinking of other things (mainly, wondering why I felt as though my body wasn't as straight as it usually is during the pose and why I felt so labored.) I didn't say anything, thought it was maybe a fluke... So the next night in class, same thing only worse. And I was aware of it pretty early. So I told my teacher and she had me come down right away. I was a little alarmed because she seemed pretty concerned. The pressure feeling began to dissipate when I came down, but took maybe 5 minutes total to really go away. The only thing my teacher said she noticed was that my neck was very hard. This was Tuesday and Wednesday. Today, Sunday, I tried the pose again at home. Went into halasana first for a moment, then sarvangasana. Felt the pressure beginning almost right away and came down. Oh, and as I came down I got that tight-throat feeling like I might cough. After a few minutes I got another blanket to add to my shoulderstand foam and went up again. The pressure was there again, maybe not as bad so I did halasana for a few minutes and came down. In class both times I used my usual four blankets, which actually makes a higher shelf than what I use at home. It seems the symptoms are slightly different each time and sometimes worse with halasana and sometimes worse with shoulderstand. If it helps I'll add a bit of my background- I'm 47, female, practicing yoga for about 5 years now regularly; Iyengar lessons in the summers for the last 3 years with fairly regular practice at home. Good physical shape, walk 3 miles every day. Never any real problems with shoulderstand. The only thing I could come up with, that's been different before this happened (and I feel a little silly mentioning it, but what the heck): A couple of days before (and including the days of both incidents) I was wearing a new pair of shoes. They are the platform-type with a toe thong. I am 5' 10" and don't normally wear shoes like this but they were good-looking and I fell in love  Anyway, they are not terribly high- about and inch and a half at the heel and maybe 3/4 inches at the toe. It's probably important to mention that they did not cause me any discomfort while I wore them. Or after. So I'm just wondering if any of you think this could be the cause? I haven't worn them since Wed. and still had the problem today. Or does something else come to mind? When I go to class again on Tues. my teacher plans to watch me go up to see if something is going wrong there. I know there are probably lots of possibilities and that you'd also need to see me do the pose; but maybe this is something you've had happen and you might have suggestions.... Thanks in advance. (Oh, and I guess I should mention that I do have a fair amount of sinus congestion on a regular basis. But nothing out of the ordinary on these days and I didn't even think to mention it to my instructor at the time because it's nothing new and it's never bothered my shoulderstand before. But today, when I was really trying to pay attention, it did feel as though my sinuses felt worse. But that would make sense, since the pressure was rising in my face. In other words, I don't feel my sinuses caused the problem; I think that the problem made my sinuses worse.) | |||
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| Nick |
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    Location: London, England | |||
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | |||
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | |||
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | Hi Karmann, I forgot/didn't know you had a scoliosis. This would perhaps make a massive difference-in scoliosis patients postures like shoulderstand might be contra-indicated-the thoracic spine is already kyphotic, and mistakes made in the pose may increase the curvature. I'm very strict in my classes with shoulderstand, and am very uneasy about people practicing it, because I know that many will have already been taught it in a way that increase thoracic kyphosis-so I always teach a few things to remedy the pose. When you are lying supine on ont the floor, ready to go up into shoulderstand, the width of your back prevents your arms being brought close together. This is why you will see many practicioners going up into shoulderstand and then shuffling their elbows closer together. So obviously lying supine isn't a good preparation for lifting in to shoulderstand ! What I do is lie on my back with the palms of my hands on the floor next to my thighs, and then press down with my arms from the hand to the shoulder-the spine then lifts up into extension, so the entire spine is lifted from the floor-this means that weight is borne on the back of the shoulder and the length of the arms, rather than on the spine itself, as much as possible at least. As my spine extends, I can then bring my arms much closer together, so I retract my shoulder blades, pinching them towards the spine-an important move for everyone, but especially for you. What everyone then has to do is flex their hips to lift their legs over their torsos. This means the hip flexors have to contract-practice first with bent knees and also try with straight legs-this movement may help you to detect which of your hip flexors is most tight, or most dysfunctional. In scoliosis patients, this muscle is a major defence tool used by physiotherapists to prevent the urvature of their patients worsening-they work on tightening up the hip flexors on the side that is weak, rather than stretching the side that is tight, although that may also play a part-well it often plays a part, at least in how I work. The position of the muscle makes it very important for scoliosis patients (hope you don't mind me using the word 'patient'-force of habit). Anyway, back to shoulderstand-this new postioning will make it more difficult to lift-but that is true of other inversions-often we manipulate the posture and it makes it more difficult to lift-straight legs into headstand rather than bent knees for example. I think the fact that shoulderstand is so easy to get into, with the back flat on the floor before you go up, is one of the reasons it is so dangerous, for a number of reasons which aren't relevant here. One thing-before you try any of the above stuff-put your bum (not 'butt,' this is England after all  ), legs up the wall, extend the spine and retract your shoulder blades, and the slide, or step, your feet up the wall-sliding is made easier with socks, so lets try it with those on. It would be very interesting if this relieves your symptoms, make sure you also practice with the neck positioning hints that we discussed earlier on. If you can't rid yourself of the symptoms in this position, you aren't likely to be able to do it in shoulderstand. In many ways, I consider this to be far more therapeutic than shoulderstand for most people, because it involves contracting the hip extensors to form that bridge. Lastly, it may be that shoulderstand just isn't suitable for you-but I haven't seen your practice-if possible, I'd like a video, so give a bottle of wine to a friend with a camera if you like Take care Nick | ||
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | |||
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