Hot Yoga Forum

Calf cramps during floor bow

2010-07-29T06:28:52Z

Floor bow is one of my better poses. I can really get my legs up high, and my instructor has complimented me on it. The problem is, by the end of the pose I have to lower my legs down to avoid a horrible, spastic cramp in my left calf muscle.

The first time I got this cramp was when the instructor told us to try to get six inches between the knees…and my knees are definitely further apart than that. I squeezed in and BAM! Worst cramp ever…but it didn’t last for very long. Since then, I feel the cramp coming even though I’m not squeezing in…always near the end of the pose…so I pull my legs down halfway to avoid it, then go back in as much as I comfortably can. My first two weeks, I didn’t have this problem, now it happens every class.

Could a cramp be partly mental? I definitely have come to expect it…but I know there’s something physically happening, too. Has anybody else had this happen?

My left leg is my weaker and less flexible leg…by a lot. In floor bow, my left leg can’t come up as high as the right. My left leg is also suffering a lot more with daily practice…it’s more sore and I noticed what must be a small area of pulled muscle in my left hamstring a couple days ago.

Any ideas? Am I just pushing too hard?

Pain in the right knee

2009-01-13T00:34:36Z

Hi Gabrielle!! Long time, no yoga!!! I’m on day two of my second attempt at a thirty day challenge. Anyway, had a six month lapse, and have started again, to find, that one of my less challenging poses now hurts me!! In floor bow, I can bend my legs back fine, with the knees together, but then when going into the lift, I get a really sharp pain on the outside of my right knee…when I seperate the knees, it’s not so bad, but still quite uncomfortable. I’ve had an arthroscopy on this knee, and it generally doesn’t give me any grief, and if it does, it doesn’t feel like that anyway. That’s about it, it’s quite a sharp pain, and feels like it’s right in the middle of all the ligaments and bones, right on the edge of the knee. You look like you’ve been awfully busy around here, so any ideas or help will be trully appreciated….I have an uktasana problem too, but I’ll go over into there with that one….I’m really quite dreading that pose….know I shouldn’t have any form of feeling for it, but awkward really is an approapriate common name for it!

Namaste

Shoulder joints

2010-07-02T11:19:25Z

Hi Gabrielle,

I wonder if you can help. I have been working on lifting my legs and chest higher up in this posture. My floor bow is not bad at all, and although I can sometimes see my feet, I’m not sure I’m doing this correctly.

We are instructed to keep our thighs aligned with the hips, but if don’t widen the space between my knees a little, I tend to get severe pain in the joints of my shoulders due to the strain of kicking my legs and pulling torso up. I can imagine this is part of the process but at the same time I was wondering whether there’s anything one can do to improve the flexibility of one’s shoulder joints…??

And also just how aligned should the thighs be with the hips in this posture - I have not really seen anyone doing this from an angle that would allow me to make a proper assessment.

As always your advice would be much appreciated

Bent wrists

2010-06-18T13:46:09Z

In this pose I find I cannot straighten out my wrists! Thanks for any advice.

Stomach hurts during floor bow

2009-06-13T21:36:56Z

I’ve been doing Bikram yoga between 1 and 5 times a week since January and I’ve noticed that floor bow hurts my lower stomach every single time. Most instructors at my studio tell us to bring our weight forward or roll forward a little once we are in floor bow. If I listen and follow this instruction my stomach hurts. It almost feels like the wind is being knocked out of me (but in my tummy area). I don’t know if this makes sense, but I was wondering if it is normal to have pain sensation in the lower and mid stomach area during this pose. Will this decrease with more practice?

heater

2009-05-05T17:46:30Z

I attended my first Bikram class in NC a few weeks ago while visiting my sister. It’s a very good fit for me for many reasons. Were there a studio closer to my home, I’m pretty sure that I would be a regular. Unfortunately, the nearest studio is a 2 hour drive both ways. Once a week is about all I can muster. I’m thinking about converting a climbing cave I built a few year ago into a home studio (if there are any climbers reading this…yes, I like the classes that much). I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good heating system. The room is 10x12 with no windows, mediocre insulation and high ceilings. Any other advice would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

James

Not bad for a beginner, but…

2009-05-04T09:51:33Z

I went to my first Bikram class a few weeks ago. Upon leaving, the teacher and a couple students expressed how surprised they were that I was a beginner. In fact, they were shocked. I was able to do all of the poses (except a couple of the balance intensive ones) with relative ease. The Supta Vajrasana, for example; my knees were touching and my spine was touching the floor from top to bottom. Ironically, I am constantly straining my back and/or neck (I’ve done so for many years) such that I’m incapacitated for 3 or 4 days at a time. One would expect that someone with a genetic predisposition toward flexibility would enjoy a healthy spine. Me…not so much. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts regarding the possibility that my flexibility is precisely the cause of injury. Imagine a wet noodle if you will. Though delicious when buttered, they do not evoke images of sturdiness. I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences. If so, how did Bikram help?

By the way, I’m hooked.

Thanks
James

Legs too wide in Floor Bow

2009-05-03T19:02:42Z

I’m wondering what technique I should use to get my knees closer together in floor bow. The instructor says the knees should be only 6 inches apart. I am pretty flexible, so I am able to kick my legs up fairly high and rock my body forward, but my legs are always far apart (I would say probably wider than then width of my shoulders). When I look in the mirror and try to correct the problem, my legs just get wider. I’m not sure what to do or what muscles to contract.

Is it possible to be disproportionate?

2009-01-29T18:59:16Z

I have great difficulty in poses where I have to stretch my arm, as in the pose where you lift and extend the leg (I currently hold my knee) and the spinal twist.

It seems as if my arms are much shorter than my legs. Is this plausible?

Floor bow: why are wrists straight?

2008-04-15T19:02:15Z

Hello

In Dhanurasana, why is it important that your wrists are straight?

Thanks
Susan