The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Ardha Chandrasana › Lower back feels really weak in half moon
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Ardha Chandrasana › Lower back feels really weak in half moon
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Hi everybody,
I am back to doing Bikram after a couple years away. I am still in my first week, and am loving it. However, I am worried about the safety of my back, especially when I bend all the way backwards in half-moon pose. I just dont think my back is strong enough for this backward bend. It often feels like I could snap in half, and so I quickly leave the posture, worried I will injure myself.
I am healthy and pretty fit, but I think this may have to do with a weak core. I would appreciate any suggestions regarding how I am supposed to feel in this posture, if this normal, etc.
Thank you for your help!
can you describe more the feeling? does it feel like tension or pain? can you breathe ?
Hi, thank you so much for responding!
Heres whats going on: In half moon pose I can go down pretty far, both right and left, and to the back. However, its like my spine feels floppy or something. Almost as if there isn’t enough muscle supporting it. This is especially apparent when I do the backbend part of the series. I always put my neck back, take a deep breath, and “go back, way back”. My lower back then feels a acute, crunching like sensation and I get a tingling in my head, and I can bend very far back, but it doesnt feel safe. So I always come right back up, my face red, and lower back sore.
I also have really tight hips, and am slightly pigeon toed. I am thin, and played soccer for many years. However, I have always had a weak core, and although I do Bikram every day, I just feel like I am getting flexible in certain ways, but im worried about my spine. Its hard to keep it firm and straight.
Thank you so much for your help!
p.s. also, I can barely breath in the posture.
Hi Amber
If you are barely able to breathe in this pose then you are, for now, going too far back (and compressing too much into your lumbar spine). It seems as though you could spend a second or 2 more attention on your set up and focus on lifting up through the spine before you go back. Focus on hips forward, locked legs and weight back and rather than deepening your backbend, lift your chest.
If you have a weak core then practice in activating it is essential (you may not get that in your practice). Go and get help with that if you’re not sure. And go and watch and then learn this exercise from my video: Flatten Your Tummy And Strengthen Your Back.
It’s very astute of you to notice your weakness in your backbend. Now don’t push so hard despite the commands of your teacher. Keep yourself safe and you should feel better next class. The moment your breath starts to become too shallow, see if you can lock the legs again and push hips forward while keeping your head back. Your arms may loosen a little (move upward a little) and that may be all you need to feel better.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂I know it is a total back bend but…… when I lift and lengthen (as gabrielle says) my spine before I go back I can feel a nice healthy traction and stretch. esp through my shoulder blades and in my upper back. also yes if your face is red you ARE NOT BREATHING LOL try to always focus and keep a steady breath to help your body tell you where your limits are before you injure yourself.
Dear Fraseram and Gabrielle,
Thank you so much for your responses! I just got back from Bikram, and I took your guys’ advice when I went to class to day. I still felt the pain in my lower back, and stopped myself from going to far. The teacher actually asked me “Do you breath when you bend back?” because it was obvious I was struggling. Is said “If I could I would!”
Anyways, after class I spoke with the teacher and he explained that he noticed that I was very flexible, but I do not have the strength to back it up. He told me I need to be more careful, to avoid injury. He also emphasized the importance of my “set up” before I go into the pose. He basically said everything you guys said 🙂
Im really going to work on my core now, and although my body can go deep back into a back bend, Im going to instead focus on building my core in order to support my flexibility. I’m looking foward to watching the video you recommened, Gabrielle.
Thanks again for you help! And Im sure I will have more questions soon!
Hi,
I used to feel too much extension just in my lumbar spine in this posture too, and I have found that several things stopped this from happening.
Core strength is one, and using my lower abdominal muscles as well as tightening my glutes really helped. The next thing for me was getting more flexibility in my middle / upper spine (which has happened gradually over time with more yoga), and the other thing that really helped was consciously thinking about an even bend over the entire spine – focusing on more movement in the areas that didn’t move as much and less movement in my lower spine. I also think about pushing my chest and stomach up more towards the ceiling, and about getting a stretch across all the muscles in the front of my torso rather than compressing at the back.
Now that back bend feels pretty comfortable and I never feel my lower back is in danger, but I can go back farther than before.
Cheers
Rachel -
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