Final Twisting Pose pulled muscle

Hi Laura

That’s terrible news. 🙁 Have you been to see anybody or maybe have you had a massage?

Can you tell me if the teacher came over and pushed you further without you knowing (until the deed had been done)?

When that actually happened are you aware if your hips stayed on the ground? Can you remember which side of the pose you were in? First side or second? I made an educated guess but prefer to not make any assumptions.

Some more questions for you:
>> What gives you relief from the pain right now?
>> What are you doing now to keep mobility into that area?
>> If your lower back is hurting have you tried any simple exercises at home to liberate the area?

If you receive my email newsletters there is at least one series of 3 that give specific poses for back pain relief.

I think that you could do a child’s pose right now and report back and tell me if that gives you any sense of relief.

Here’s how:
>> Kneel on floor and separate the knees, keep toes close together so legs in a “V”
>> Place your hands on the floor under your shoulders
>> Walk your hands forward so that you support yourself on the way down.
>> Lengthen your back so that you are somewhat lying on the floor with hands and arms wherever you can manage. Some people are in so much pain that their hands have to stay under the shoulders. Eventually you can stretch them out in front of you to get some great traction, or even lay them around your legs palms up so that you can rest.
>> If that feels good then at some stage try gently, slowly, carefully finding some movement in your hips and lower back by shifting the weight from side to side through your hips and legs. Make tiny movements at least initially, then grow them from there. That can feel like HEAVEN. Just be sensitive to your movements and stop if you’re in excruciating pain (of course).

While you are in child’s pose you may even have somebody handy who can lay a hand on your lower back right down at your hips. This can be such an amazing thing and feels blissful. Just take everything slowly and only do it if it feels right.

If it doesn’t, come back and we’ll talk further.

Whenever you choose to go back to yoga you need that same heightened attention to what’s going on, with particular attention to best alignment (and avoid any signs of struggle or body collapse which happens when one goes too far). See you back here soon

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Laura

So it seems we should wait until you have tried child’s pose and have gone back to class.

A word about foot placement in twisting pose: Slide your foot forward as much as it needs to get both hips flat on the floor. There is no ‘correct’ precise anatomical position that translates to the same place for everyone. The verbatim script says words to the effect that heel needs to be adjacent to the knee. Very flexible people can have the heel closer to the hip while less flexible folk need to have their heel in front of the knee. Very inflexible people may even need to have the lower leg extended out in front of them. The barometer for that pose is both hips and the front foot flat on the floor. I thought that might be useful for you to know just in case it was a missing link for you. Incorrect placement for an inflexible person who needs a more anterior placement of the foot or leg could be one of the issues. You did have an adjustment from the teacher but I offer my thoughts just in case it helps you when nobody is assisting you!

Thanks for responding. I am glad that the chiropractor was able to facilitate some improvement.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂