Hi again.  I just attended Craig Villani’s posture clinic today, which was intense & great, and wanted to ask a question which was raised by the class which we did at the end.  After camel, during which I usually hold onto my ankles, my lower back is very tender & feels v delicate.  So much so that today I could not do the sit up following it.  I feel like I need a couple of mins. to sort of relax my back & recover, rather than doing a forward bend (the sit up) so soon afterwards.  I always come up v slowly from camel cos my back just feels like it needs it.  Does this mean I am going down too far, or is it normal ?  It doesn’t hurt as such but I feel v hesitant about doing the sit up afterwards.  I guess I am worried re hurting myself.  I had a lower back injury prob 15 years ago from a car accident.  It was just soft tissue damage but took a couple of weeks in hospital to heal & has been an intermittent cause of pain since.  Thanks.

Hello Jacquie

You are right to be careful.

Good news! That feeling is normal. If you are holding on and pulling hard on your heels, squeezing your hips moving forward, lifting your chest etc then this is an intense backbend that can make doing the sit-up that follows a challenge for some. This happens to me when I hold Camel for a long time (upwards of a minute).

Then main considerations follow:
1) Make sure that you do stretch up before going back (just in case you are ‘crunching’ into your lower back.
2) When you release from the pose (as slowly as you like or need to) make sure that you do not flop forward into any sort of forward bend. Come up to vertical, head up last. Rest back down onto your heels and try to lie down carefully without undoing all your wonderful hard work.
3) Lie on your back as still as you can. Make the assessment whether or not you think you should do the Sit-Up. If the answer is no then bend up the legs, roll to the side without twisting your spine, place your palms on the floor under your shoulders and push up from the floor while looking at your hands (so as not to strain your spine at all).

I did notice you said you hold onto your ankles. Was that right? Or do you hold onto heels?

Namaste
Gabrielle

Thanks for another very helpful response.  I did mean heels.  It is good to know it’s normal, so will just listen to my body & take it easy, as per your instructions.  I notice my back feels more balanced after rabbit, which I guess makes sense.  With all the bending forwards & backwards I guess it’s only to be expected that I often have a dull ache in my back for a while (sometimes a day) after class ?  Thanks again.