How not to injure yourself practicing yoga

My family.  We've injured ourselves more times than we care to remember. This photo was taken after another of our little adventures.

I am really pleased some of my students thought to send me an article about yoga published in the New York Times recently (thanks Christina!).  I've copied the link here so you can read the article for yourself (always a good idea to go to the source).   If you can't find it then just google the title, "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body".  The title gives you an idea of what the article is about!

The article uses an interview with an experienced yogi and some selective anecdotes about people who have been injured practicing yoga.  There are stories of strokes and arthritis and spinal stenosis and thoracic outlet syndrome and you could possibly walk away after reading this story feeling like a yoga classroom is some sort of casualty ward and wonder why I don't have a medical team on stand-by for you all! 

Of course you can injure yourself while practicing yoga, just like you can injure yourself doing a million other things in life.  I have injured myself doing yoga and am quite open about it in classes, hoping you might learn from my mistakes!  I think I have shared with many of you my famous story of me starting out doing yoga with an obsession to be able to do the splits (hanumanasana), which utltimately lead to a hamstring strain.  But have I told you about how I once fell off a rock climing wall and dissocsiated a bone in my wrist? What about how I fractured my hip running?  How I fell of a slippery dip when I was about ten years old when I tried to walk up it backwards and broke my arm.  What about when I walked into the dark garage bare-footed and stepped on a maddock (a very sharp garden implement if you've never seen one)?  When I was about three I once fell asleep on the toilet (my family has pictures to prove it).  I count myself lucky I did not fall in and drown.

I am not "proud" that I seem to have hurt myself so much, although it does seem to run in the family (my dad, for instance, has been pinned to a tree with a tractor, fell 3 metres out of a tree while trying to prune it, drilled a hole in his hand, broken his thumb when a weights machine he was using broke on him, tripped on a ladder while running at full speed trying to chase 'hoons' who were doing burnouts and generally terrorising his neighborhood.  Spiders have bitten him, snakes have attacked him, he's fought bush-fires, been in combat, and generally had a colourful life.  My sister has gotten away relatively unscathed, with just two broken arms--though she broke them at the same time when a very large 40 year old netballer pushed her out of the way to get to a ball when she was just 14.  She also almost drowned once trying to swim across a lake in a wetsuit that was too big and became water-logged and I would have to say the severity of these incidents outweighs the infrequency).  We like to think of ourselves as "active" and "involved".

Sometimes I have inflamed my old injuries practicing yoga.  But yoga didn't injure me.  I injured myself.  Usually because I was not being mindful.  Mindful to what was happening in my body from moment to moment.  Detecting the subtle changes and warning signs that could indicate I was about to do something wrong.  Either that or I was mindful and I let my ego take over.

Being alive is an inherently dangerous and, ultimately, deadly business indeed (we may not know the details all know how our life story ends).  We can hurt ourselves intentionally and unintentionally.  We can take all of the precautions we want and still end up getting hurt, both physically and emotionally.  Mindfulness is key to everything.

Having said that, here are a few things you should consider while you are practicing yoga to help prevent yourself from getting injured.  I think many of you have heard some of these things before.  I try to make a point of saying them whenever a new person joins the class and I don't think it can hurt to keep repeating them.  They don't just relate to yoga, but to trying not to injure yourself in life as well. 

Don't forget to breathe. 
This, to me, is probably the most important tool you can use to help mindfulness and, therefore, prevent injury (I associate these two things very closely).  Bringing awareness back to your breath helps to place you 'inside' your body and can help to attune you to the subtle (and not so subtle) changes that are going on. There is a dual awareness going on in yoga: the awareness of the breath that directs our attention inward, and the travelling awareness that moves throughout our bodies checking in to make sure everything is ok.

Focussing inward is important as we can often get distracted by what is going on 'out there'.  Sometimes we find ourselves checking out what other people are doing, checking out the hairs on our legs or looking at our fingers/toes wondering if we need a manicure/pedicure (yes, girls, I have seen it in class and I must confess I catch myself doing it too!).   Obviously you need some outward focus in class because you are trying to follow the teacher, but as we practice we are trying to direct most of our attention inward--noticing what the teacher is saying but always coming back to our own bodies and trying to figure out what that means for us.

If it doesn't feel good, it's not good (you don't have to do everything the teacher says)
This leads to another important point.  Sometimes what the teacher is saying or directing you to do is not going to feel good.  If it doesn't feel good, it's not good.  It is important to remember this.  You don't have to do what the teacher tells you to do (obviously, you need to take this statement with a measured intellect because your teacher will be giving you important safety information and tips and you need to listen to those).  You do not have to move into a pose that does not feel good.  Listen to your body.

Take the alternative poses--rest when you need to rest
Something important to remember is that when you come to a yoga class, there are always going to be many different people of different experience and abilitites in the class.  Your teacher will be trying to manage this and will always try to give different options--some easier than others.  You don't have to always take the hard option.  Why not take the easy option?  I like to point out in class that there is always the rest pose.  If you feel tired then take it. You do not have to keep up with everybody else (see point about ego below)!   

Back off the intensity (and find comfort in your pose)
If a pose does not feel good, then it's not good.  We've just established that.  So should you just come out of it completely?  Maybe, maybe not.  Sometimes you might need to come out of the pose completely.  But sometimes you can just reduce the intensity a little and you will find the pose feels much better.  I don't like to burden people with too many 'rules' about yoga.  But a good one to follow if you were into following such things would be to ask yourself  "do I feel comfortable and free?".  If the answer is no, then back off a little until you do.  Find a way to be so comfortable and free in your posture that you could stay there for a few minutes if I asked you to.  Just be careful not to back off so much that you fall asleep unless, of course, that is what you want to do (see my next point).

Learn the difference between a good stretch and a bad one
This is hard.  It is especially hard when you first come to yoga.  If you have not moved your body in a long time, everything can feel uncomfortable.  If you have not stretched your hamstrings before then they are certainly going to let you know when you come to class.  The rule about finding comfort in your pose is a good one.  But if you back off too much in some postures then you might end up being in relaxation the whole time!!  Of course, that is fine (sometimes I do nothing but relax in my own practice, listening to what my body feels it needs on a particular day), as long as that is what you are intending to do.  However, if you are hoping to develop more strength and flexibility this won't happen if you just relax all the time.  Your body  needs to be challenged.  It is about finding just the right amount of challenge.  You need to get intelligent about what your body needs and is feeling.  You need to feel some intensity, but intensity at a manageable level.  Be mindful that the intensity is in the muslces, however, and not the joints (see next point).

Avoid joint strain (free the joints and generate lift)
We are not trying to stretch our joints in class.  If anything is going to get stretched it is your muscles.  Be very clear on this.  You do not want to feel strain in your joints.  Particular areas you need to look out for are knees, wrists, shoulders, elbows, lower back, and neck.  Use your breath awareness to bring you back inside and continue to "check in" on your joints. If you feel any strain then back off (and find comfort in your pose).

I have observed (in myself and others) there is a tendency for people to either lock their joints (particularly knees or elbows) or otherwise to sink into them (particularly wrists, shoulders, lower back).  Your joints should be free to move as you practice (especially the elbows in cobra and upward/downward dog) and you should avoid sinking into them.  To avoid joint strain you need to free the joints and generate lift. 

Talk to me
If you are in a pose and you find you are in discomfort, tell me!  I like to know and I will try to find out why the pose does not feel good and help you to learn how to fix it!  Don't be shy.  It is your body.  You have to live in it and I'd like to help you do so.  

Another point, if you are finding some poses difficult or you don't understand them properly, feel free to ask questions.  Feel free to come up at the end of class.  Feel free to come a bit early to the next class and we can work on it for you.  If you can't do downward dog because it makes you feel sick or your shoulders are funny, talk to me, we'll figure something else out!  There is always another option.  I'd rather help you find that option so you can keep practicing yoga rather than stop altogether because you think there is no way around the issue.

Let go of your ego
Yoga mats are small and there is no room for your ego.  Yoga is not about being the best or beating other people.  It's not a competition (with yourself or anybody else).  Trying to do what other people are doing when you are not ready for it may lead to injury.  Remember you've come to yoga for yourself, not for anybody else and make sure you stay within your own limits.  It does not matter if you can do a particular pose or not.  If you never get to touch your feet on your head in a backbend or do the splits will your life really be the worse for it?

Don't forget to breathe (again)
I'll begin where I started, since it is so important.  Don't forget to breathe.  Focussing on your breath also has a calming effect on your mind, helping to abate anxiety and fear.  I constantly remind myself when I am coming into poses that invoke fear (for me this is pretty much all inversions) to come back to my breath. Fear can stop you reaching your full potential and make you avoid things that might be good for you.  If you practice with fear your body will usually stiffen and become rigid, often because you hold your breath.  Practicing yoga stiffly means you are more likely to injure yourself.  So, if fear arises, come back to the breath.  Make sure you are breathing and not holding your breath.  Also pay attention to whether your breath is becoming too rapid or shallow.  If your breath is getting out of control then you are probably too deep in a pose so back off a bit until your breath relaxes (note that some poses will cause your breath to become shallow and more rapid but you should still feel like you have control of it.  If you don't, back off). 

The end
Sometimes accidents do happen.  Sometimes we are in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It can get us hurt or even killed, no matter how mindful we are.  But injuring yourself, whether it be while you are practicing yoga or doing many of the other activities you might love, can be prevented.  Practice mindfulness, let go of your ego, find comfort in your pose, talk to me, and don't forget to breathe!

Holiday At the Yoga Cafe

I am on holiday (hopefully creating some great blogs though) from 17 December to 1 January 2012.  Last yoga class is Thursday 16 December and first class is Monday 2 January.  Wishing you all a merry christmas and happy new year!

Yoga Retreat In November in Negombo

Time for another yoga retreat!  This time it is at Goldi Sands Hotel in Negombo.

This will be a great opportunity to deepen your yoga practice and is suitable for anyone, except total beginners (although please give me a call if you are interested so we can discuss).  We will do four 2 hour yoga classes over the weekend, focusing on asana with some time for breathing and meditation and deep relaxation as well.

Dates:  Arrive Friday 11 November evening.  Depart Sunday 13 November after yoga class.

Rates: Rooms are rented on a twin share basis.  Room and full board (3 buffet meals) is Rs 26,000 per room for the two nights.  Find a friend to share with and split the cost or let me know if you don't know anyone and I will try to match you!

Yoga Cost: Rs 3,000 per person

Yoga Classes:

Sat 7-9 am and 3.30-5.30 pm
Sun 7-9 am and 3.30-5.30pm

What to bring
Playful attitude and your yoga mat. 

Book by:
This is the first time we are using this hotel and we need to show them our committment.  It is quite a popular place so we have to book and pay quickly in order to reserve the rooms.  We also need to have a minimum number of rooms for the retreat to go ahead.  Please let me know by Friday 22 October if you are interested!

samanthawhybrow@hotmail.com

Looking forward to sharing a great weekend with you all!

No Sweat Yoga, Part I

No need to break a sweat doing yoga!

When I first started yoga, I was attracted to much more physical styles.  Some of the first serious yoga classes I took were from a particularly vigorous style of yoga that that involves some great and challenging postures, invigorating breathing, and a whole lot of sweat.    At the time I was also doing a lot of running (about 60km a week) a lot of cycling (about 100 km a week) and a lot of rock climbing (about 4 nights a week), and it appealed to me to be doing a style of yoga that suited my otherwise athletic lifestyle.  I was very much in the mind-set that I needed to sweat to be doing something good for myself.  

However, within a few months I had stopped these classes, realizing that what I really needed from my yoga was something that slowed me down to balance the other activities that were going on in my life.  It was a pivotal shift in my own thinking—that I could do something good for myself by slowing down both mentally and physically. 

I wonder if there are a lot of people similar to me, who came to yoga with the idea that you have to be bathed in your own sweat puddle by the time you lie down for a few minutes of savasana at the end of your yoga class? 

Nowadays, I prefer my sweating to take place while out on a run rather than on my yoga mat, although that is not to say I still don’t enjoy getting my heart rate up in some challenging yoga sequences as those of you who come to Monday and Thursday classes will no doubt experience! 

But, more and more, my own practice is becoming quieter and quieter.  And so I wanted to share a series of blogs dedicated to lying down yoga.  I have found I can practice yoga quite happily for an hour or more without standing or even sitting up. 

The first pose I want to share is supta padangusthasana.  For those of you who are interested, whenever you see ‘supta’ in the name of any yoga pose, you can get the idea that you are going to be trying to do something relaxing.  All of the ‘supta’ poses are lying down. 

This pose is great to stretch your hamstrings.  I would recommend it for anyone who wants to cultivate hamstring flexibility and, in particular, for anyone with lower back issues.  This is probably the safest forward bend ever.  It’s a big claim, I know, but the reason it is so safe is that your spine is naturally elongated along the floor.  There is no movement or bending of your spine at all and the movement comes from your legs only. 

I would recommend that you practice this daily if you are trying to improve your sitting forward bends.  Importantly, unless you can get your legs past 90 degrees in this pose then you are probably not ready to do straight leg sitting forward bends like paschimottanasana (where you sit on the floor with both legs straight and try to fold forward over your thighs).  This is because if your hamstrings won’t allow your legs to move beyond 90 degrees in the lying down version, the only way you will come forward in a sitting forward bend is to round your spine.  In fact, if you find that you cannot get your legs beyond 90 degrees in the lying (supta) version, then you should either be sitting on a block in the sitting version, or bending your knees.  If nothing else, supta padangusthasanawill force you to be honest about your true hamstring flexibility.

The most relaxing version is to come to a doorframe or pillar, as I have done in the photo below.  I have placed my bottom at the pillar edge and lengthened one leg through along the floor, keeping it straight (if you do this at a door frame your leg will go through the doorway).  The other leg goes up the pillar (or up the doorframe).  To straighten your leg up the pillar/doorframe, you need to have 90 degrees of flexibility.  If you cannot straighten your leg (or if the leg going along the floor starts to bend) then you know you are not ready to sit on the floor in a forward bend without props or adjustments.  If you cannot straighten the leg then you can move your bottom slightly away from the wall so that you can straighten it. 

If you can take your leg up the wall then, if you want to lengthen your hamstrings more, you can take a belt or towel or scarf around the foot and start to draw the leg towards your face.  Keep your shoulders on the ground and your neck relaxed.  One of the most common things I see as a teacher is the displacement of tension into muscles completely unrelated to the ones you are trying to target and in this posture it is not uncommon for people to struggle to reach their foot by lifting their shoulders off the ground or straining their neck. 

Only when you can bring your leg back far enough that you can reach your foot without moving your shoulder away from the ground should you attempt to take your toe with your hand.

A few things to remember in this posture:

·         Don’t displace tension into the neck or shoulders;

·         Take deep, relaxing breaths;

·         Your hamstrings might attempt to escape the stretch by one of two main methods.  Watch out for these.  First, your knee might bend—keep it straight.  Second, your hip/bottom might jut out to the side.  You will feel this as a shortening of the side waist of the raised leg side.  Make sure to keep both side waists equally long and keeping your pelvis level;

·         Lengthen the raised leg heel up into the sky, creating as much distance between the back of your knee and your heel as possible.  This will increase the sensation down the back of your leg dramatically and you may feel a stretch from the heel to the sitting bones;

·         Hold for as long as you like on both sides.  Why not try a couple of minutes?

Enjoy your practice.  I will be back with more sweatless yoga poses soon!

with mettha,

Samantha

Free Your Spine in Uttanasana

Safer Standing Forward Bends

Last week I posted a photo of a lady in uttanasana.  She seemed a bit too hunched and rounded for my liking.  That prompted me to write the yoga quiz, to see whether it was to your liking or not as well, and to see if you could think of some ways to improve your own forward bending.  And that then prompted me to make a little movie about keeping your spine long in uttanasana--standing forward bend. 

Before I start, I just want to put it out there that my tips for uttanasana (or for any poses for that matter) are not the only ways to practice the pose (I also have more tips as well but limited myself for the sake of making a short movie clip that does not gobble up all of the memory in my computer!).  What I encourage you to do is try and, in practicing, ask yourself whether your spine feels relaxed, happy, and free.  If the answer is no then we need to try something else!

Watch the movie and then read some more of my tips below.  In the interests of transparency I have to also add that I was partially motivated to make this film clip this week so that I could show my sister in Australia my new haircut and glasses since my skype camera is broken (Hi Shell!).  This is why I turn to the camera at least twice and wave.

The Hunch
Below is last week's photo.  I like the peaceful look this lady has on her face.  She does look like she is enjoying her pose and that's great.  It's my feeling that she is trying to reach her toes when perhaps she is not quite ready though.  Why do I say this?  Because you can see that her entire spine has become rounded.  In particular, see how her spine rounds up from her pelvis to form a peak at her lower back and then rounds down again as it arcs towards the floor?  This type of forward bending puts your lower back at great risk, especially if you have any lower back problems. 

Hmmm, I have a hunch that something is not quite right here...





What you want to try and avoid in uttanasana is this upward peak that forms around your lower back, or what I call "the hunch".  The hunch is very sneaky and likes to creep up on people in forward bends.  Hunch awareness is an important thing to cultivate in your yoga practice.

So why is this hunch appearing on this lady's back?  Why might it appear on your own back? 

The hunch does not appear by magic, landing on your unsuspecting spine.  In forward bends such as uttanasana it generally appears when our hamstrings (the muscles on the back of your thighs) are not long enough (they are too tight), which means our pelvis cannot tilt forward properly.  When your pelvis does not tilt sufficiently any forward bending movement then comes from rounding the spine.  This is usually accompanied by some hunching of the shoulders as the arms stretch out to reach the feet or the floor, which you can also see in the photo above.  

The hamstrings are really important in forward bending poses such as uttanasana.  Let's take a closer look at how they can limit forward bending. 

Hamstrings and Pelvis
Your hamstrings are muscles that start on your sitting bones (part of the pelvis).  They go down the back of your legs and across the back of your knees where they attach to the bones of your lower leg.  The fact that the hamstring muscles are attached to your pelvis and cross your knee joints is an important thing to consider in cultivating hunch awareness and minimising its impact.  A picture might help here.  Below are some images of your hamstring muscles.  You can see how they start at your pelvis and go across the back of your knees. 

The picture on the left shows the 'normal' tilt of the pelvis, which is just slightly forward. The picture on the right shows what happens as the top of the pelvis starts to tip forward.  This lifts the sitting bones higher into the air.  As the sitting bones lift, the hamstring muscles start to get stretched as one end of the muscle (attached to the sitting bones) is getting pulled away from the other end (attached below the knee). 

Some people have hamstrings so tight that they cannot tilt their pelvis forward in any forward bends.  Some people even have hamstrings to tight that the their sitting bones are actually pulled down in normal day to day life so that their pelvis tilts backwards (as though you are a dog with its tail tucked between its legs).  When your pelvis starts to tilt backwards you lose the natural curve in your lower back (lumbar curve) and the hunch starts to form.

You can probably tell by now that being able to move your pelvis freely is key to safe forward bending.  In fact, safe forward bending movements should be initiated from the forward tilt of the pelvis.  Being able to tilt the pelvis forward will enable your spine to feel free and agile.  You can see this clearly see in the film clip I made.  At the end of the clip I demonstrate exactly what happens to your spine and lower back when you tilt your pelvis the wrong way in a forward bend and I encourage you to watch this part a few times and feel it in your own body.  A good tip would be to imagine the Bat Signal (you know, that light that shone into the night skies of Gotham City to alert Batman that some dastardly plot was unfolding) was shining from your backside as you practice uttanasana.  Now, if you really wanted to alert Batman to the perilous ground situation you would need to shine that light as high into the sky as possible.  If you sense your light is shining only slightly above the horizon or even down into the ground then you are most likely to be in danger of hunching your spine in your forward bends. 

Now this is all well and good if your hamstrings are long.  You will indeed be able to shine the Bat Signal high,your pelvis will move freely and your spine will be long.  But many people find themselves in the situation that their hamstrings are stretched to maximum capacity, their pelvis is stuck, and their Bat Signal is still nowhere in the night sky to be seen.  Fortunately there are some strategies you can adopt to ensure your uttanasana is safe. 

Bend Your Knees
First, you could bend your knees.  This is a smart option, especially for anyone with lower back issues, and works because once you bend your knees, the distance between the two points where your hamstrings attach (your sitting bones and below your knees) is shortened again and tension is relieved.  You will be able to keep bending forward but your knees will be bent and you will be in more of a squatting position.  See the image below.

Forward Bend With Bent Knees

Practicing the pose in this way will allow your spine to relax downward, allowing gravity to lengthen it, without the hunch appearing.  You might have to bend your knees more, or less, depending on whether the hunch starts to appear or not.  Because you cannot see yourself you have to use body awareness to detect if the hunch is creeping up and one way to do this is to feel if your lower ribs start to move away from your thigh bones.  If that happens, you can be pretty certain that your lower back is rounding.

To practice uttanasana in this way start in a low squat, connecting your lower ribs to your thighs (as though somebody has tied your body to your legs).  Hug the back of your calves or thighs and from there start to slowly press the heels down and tilt the sitting bones higher into the sky, allowing the legs to slowly straighten.  Keep straightening your legs until your lower ribs start to move away from your thighs and then hold in place.  You can try to deepen your hamstring stretch by actively trying to tilt your sitting bones higher and higher into the sky from this position.

One problem in doing the pose in this way is that if your hamstrings are really tight you will find you have to bend your knees so much that you are practically squatting on the ground.  This is really tough on your thigh muscles and they will get tired so you cannot hold the position for very long.  Another option, then, would be to use a prop such as a table or chair or block. 

Use A Prop
Your next option might be to keep straight legs (or slightly bent knees) and use a prop to rest your arms on, which supports your spine.  See the image below where I have used a block.   

Doing the pose in this way will probably be a more satisfying hamstring stretch since your legs are straight.  Remember that you want to try and tilt your sitting bones into the sky to shine that Bat Signal as high as you can.  If you don't have a block you could use a chair or even a table.  The main point is that my spine does not start to dome up around my lower back area and that my pelvis is the highest point. 

In Summary

1. Safer forward bending in uttanasana means cultivating hunch awareness and making sure you do not dome up around your lower back.
2. Be mindful of the position of your pelvis.  If it starts to tilt backwards (as though you are a dog tucking its tail between its legs) you are entering into hunchville. 
3. In uttanasana you need to shine the Bat Signal high into the sky--tilt your sitting bones up!
4. Don't be afraid to bend your knees.  This will ensure your pelvis is the highest point and your spine can dangle down freely from there.
5. Don't be afraid to use a prop like a block or a chair or a table.  This will enable you to keep your legs straight but also to keep your spine long without it starting to hunch. 
6. Although I did not mention this above (so it should not really be a summary point) the ego or our desire to touch the floor is at the heart of a lot of unsafe forward bending in uttanasana.  You do not need to reach the floor in forward bends.  You need to lenghten your hamstrings and free up your spine.  If your hands reach the floor then fine, so be it.  If your hands do not reach the floor it does not matter.  Don't leave them just dangling in mid-air though.  Instead, place them on the back of your thighs or the back of your calves and start to gently draw your shoulder blades down the back of your torso so that your neck remains free (remembering it is also part of your spine).
7. Finally, I really encourage anyone with back issues to seek advice from an experienced therapist or teacher as they start to practice uttasnasana.  If practiced incorrectly it can create pain, however, when practiced mindfully and with proper alignment, you will be able to find a variation to suit you (also watch for my upcoming post on Super Stretches for People with Low Back Pain!). 

Happy and safe practicing!