The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › Stiffness
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Hello Gabrielle,
I think I might’ve referred to this a previous post (or at least, I think I did :-)) but that was just in passing. In any event, for the past weeks I’ve experienced serious problems with stiffness if and when I skip a day or more of yoga.
I generally work up a great deal of flexibility over the course of three conscutive days only to lose so much of it just by skipping one day. If I skip two days in a row, it’s sooo much worse, it takes me another two to three to regain the level of flexibility I left off at.
I do realise that skipping a day will somehow have an impact, but not as severely as it has done in my case. Do you have any explanation for this? Is it normal? It’s as if the more regularly you practice the harder it is to get back into it once your body has had a break.
The stiffness by the way is located in the back of my thighs, right up to my buttocks (hamstrings?), hips and back.
So, I was wondering whether you have any tips on maintaining flexibility. I always warm up before class and at the weekend I take time to stretch after class – but not during the week. Would this make a significant difference? Any exercises one could do at home? Diet/supplements?
Would be good to hear what you think.
Kind regards
Cyberry 🙂Hi Cyberry
My thoughts? Could be a few things either separately or in combination.
>> An unresolved issue in your hamstrings.
>> An issue with the way you move your body outside of yoga. By that I mean there could be something habitual in your walk, or perhaps the way your hold your pelvis.
>> This leads to the third one. What do you do most during the day? Are you at a desk? How long for? It’s possible you have issues because of a sedentary habitual posture. Or are you constantly on the move?Let me know! And we can delve further. There are definitely clues in there somewhere. 😉
If you’re in a hot room and you do the class that should be sufficient to warm you up. So I don’t think that is it. Are you as flexible as you were when you started yoga? Perhaps you consider yourself more flexible than ever.
Just trying to get a better sense of what’s going on first.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Gabrielle,
Your thoughts, as usual, are spot on.
I sit behind a computer most of the day but the ergonomic set-up is pretty good. Since I last hurt my back I have also been paying more attention to my posture – especially to uncross my legs (I’m inclinded to sit eagle style with my legs – have been since I was little). Coincidentally this afternoon after I read your post I noticed that I had to correct myself quite a few times… So thanks for the reminder!
As for my level of flexibility, wow, that’s surprisingly difficult question to answer! I certainly work hard at improving it but I sometimes think/feel I’m not significantly more flexible than I was when I started. This is largely because I need to build it up over the course of a few days. Then I’m pretty flexible. But not more so than when I was still at school and dancing (which is ages ago but the memory is inscribed in the body, I think).
If I were to describe my practice I’d say I am able to go deeper into some postures than before, but I attribute this largely to improvement in technique, not flexibility. I think I might be providing more information than you asked for…:-) The only area in which flexibility has improved significantly in the last 2 yrs is my back.
The hamstring problem I had is definitely not completely healed – my hips are also slightly skew which does not help and can be quite discouraging.
Dunno whether this helps?
Look forward to hearing from you!
C.
Cyberry
I’m not sure how old you are either, but I do think that flexibility becomes more and more “use it or lose it” with age and injury. And it’s hard to tell what your body would feel like if you weren’t doing yoga at all, you know? If you weren’t practicing, you might not notice the “stiffening” on off days because you wouldn’t have any good/flexible days to compare it to… I guess what I’m saying is that your “improvement” could really be just managing to not lose ground in terms of flexibility.
I do notice that I’m more flexible when I go on consecutive days. And in terms of progress, there are some areas where I feel like I haven’t changed too much at all, but others that are quite noticeable. I will say that adding in some yin yoga type stretching does seem to help improve flexibility more than Bikram yoga poses, if that is your main concern. Yin yoga poses are very passive – letting gravity do the work, but you hold them for 3-5 minutes or more. If you have looked at the YogaBody Naturals supplement and his recommended stretches, he has a similar program.
That said, I think there are a lot of benefits to Bikram yoga other than just flexibility, so it’s very useful to me.
Hi Cyberry
It’s fascinating that there is a whole industry on creating ergonomic furniture. And what does that furniture do? It “supports” the body. You could be sitting in a molded chair with little lumps for your butt cheeks to fit into, with a little bucket hugging your thighs. Maybe your back rest has lumbar support etc.
Let me know if that’s the case. It very well could be the cause of your problem.
The issue is that we humans were designed to move and not sit still for hours and hours at a time. The ergonomic equipment could be stopping you moving, even shifting position. While it may feel comfortable, you could actually be tightening up through your hamstrings and back.
It would be interesting to see if there’s any correlation with your ergonomic chair and the onset of your tightness.
Active sitting may actually be the way to go here. A pretty regular chair. Sit upright, create the arch in your spine, unsupported by a back rest, with your computer screen and keyboard appropriately placed so that your shoulders can be in a good position. There are so many connections in the body that tightness in one area will flow over.
The other thing to do is have a timer: When it rings after 50 minutes or so, get up and move around. Half moon, bow pose, your choice. Anything. A down dog and a lunge or 2. Something!
So there’s something to think about.
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂PS with so much computer work in recent years I can tell you my body has definitely been telling me to get up and MOVE and tightness does come quickly. I don’t think it has to do with age so much as activity.
Hi Gabrielle,
I think I created the wrong impression! I’m not one for all sorts of fancy equipment. The fanciest thing I have in this area is a nice big silver yoga ball I sometimes sit working on my computer at home! By ergonomic I simply meant that our health and safety person at work has examined my workplace set-up quite extensively and had the necessary adjustments made.
I have a very sturdy and comfortable but regular office chair, the height of my computer screen has been adjusted, desk taken apart and set at the correct height, arms rest well and I have a little footrest (at my own request). For some reason resting my feet on this slightly elevated platform helps me to refrain from crossing my legs and keeps me sitting upright.
This crossing of the legs is something which my chiro pointed out to me. I went to see him when I hurt my back at yoga last year (preventing me from going for about 3 weeks). His diagnosis was that it wasn’t the yoga (I had been practicing going deeper into my backbend and was making great progress!) but that it was caused ‘bad’ posture over many years. And lo and behold when I stopped crossing my legs, religiously did the exercises he gave me, received treatment at his hands the pain eventually disappeared and my backbends have improved even more.
Sooo, it’s not equipment or props that are causing this. Since it would appear you are also thinking posture I think what I’m going to do is as follows: set the clock as you suggested, be more attentive to my posture (since I’ve been a bit lax in this regard) and do the exercises the chiro gave me and report back in a week or so.
Thank you so much for thinking this through with me!
Regards
CyberryHi Cyberry
I made an assumption (which I try not to do too often 😉 ) that your set up meant your chair. But true to form you have helped me understand the situation better.
Nevertheless I am sure the info won’t be wasted on others who perhaps have misconceptions about how ergonomic can translate in the workplace.
So glad to hear your story. I swear it’s similar to mine. As I sit here with my feet on my little platform which I incline one way or the other depending on my mood, I am totally tuned into the spinal corkscrew effect that I feel when I cross my legs. I am sure it is intimately connected with my scoliosis which definitely amplifies if I sit for long periods of time.
Oh, thank goodness for yoga
I look forward to reading your update.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂ahhhhh, I never reported back (although it was on my mind) and here I am still feel guilty about it 🙂
The stiffness: (wow, how I wish this was my only problem right now!!) It went away over time, partly because I started being more aware of my posture whilst sitting at my desk/s and partly because I abandoned the quest for greater flexibility and ’embraced’ what appeared to be my ‘limits’. 🙂
Whilst it made me more relaxed, I can’t say that it’s benefitted me in any other way, though. For a while this felt okay-ish but then suddenly my pratice took a whole different turn. To be continued in another post. -
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