The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › Scoliosis
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Hello,
I am new to this forum and to Bikram yoga..however I have started with yoga about 4 years ago and it really helped me with my back pain/spasms due to my S curvature (thoracic/lumbar about 42 and 35 degrees)My thoracic curve is to the right and even though I am right handed my left arm is stronger (ie side plank)
I am really worried during some poses on overworking the already overstretched side…my back being an S -its really hard to focus on which parts to stretch (half moon)
I read a lot of your posts on scoliosis and it seems you advise to focus on the technique and do the poses on both sides to the best ability…should I take it easy on the left side as my bend seems to go much farther?
Also I have read somewhere that back bends are not advised for scoliosis…what is your take on that? I cant go very deep into a back-bend but if I focus on lengthening first they don’t seem to hurt my back..
Thank you so very much…Could you please send me the link to your scoliosis story Gabrielle as I can’t seem to find it..
IzzyHi Izzy
Nice to have you at the forum! It appears you are doing other poses besides Bikram. What focus have you on the vinyasa and flow style poses? What besides side plank are you doing? Many planks? It would help me have a better picture.
My recommendations (to which you refer) are to focus on alignment (which to me means best ability and doesn’t have to do with depth). Even on your easy side there are likely to be tweaks you can make. Without seeing you and only relying on your written word we will have to work together slightly differently.
I will look out for your reply
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hello,
Thank you so much for your fast response! I am doing just Bikram at this time. In the past I have done vinyasa flow yoga with yes many planks..(up until about 3 months ago)
I have ordered your book to get to know the poses and proper alignment as best as i can, so I am awaiting its arrival.
I found myself in constant pain before yoga and with yoga my back pain is 99 percent gone..so now I want to focus as much as I can on stabilizing/improving my curves as much as possible.Hi Izzy
I am glad you’re not doing the vinyasa at the moment. The strength you need for that is quite marked but since your spine is in dysfunction you could be exacerbating the curve due to dysfunctional muscle use (due to scoliosis and all that weight bearing activity). I think that the static poses without loading the shoulder area as much will stand you in good stead to make some changes to your spine. You’ve read my other posts so you know that you should try to up the frequency of practice.
I don’t think you need to avoid backbends. You will notice that your body will go more to one side than the other when you’re in them but that will change over time. Don’t be concerned with depth just your breath and strong alignment.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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