Micherie

Check out Lucas’ Yoga Body stretches. I have found that they have improved my range of motion and after yoga pain and soreness greatly. They are especially beneficial for opening the hip and loosening up hamstrings. Also… recently I was told that I was compressing my lumbar spine during back bends and that I should concentrate on stretching way up and keeping the chest lifted as I go back. Since I started doing that I no longer have the low back pain and can actually go farther back than before. Same concept for half moon has improved that posture as well and made it easier on my low back.

Easier said than done sometimes, but I think you should be more concerned with how good you look, not how much you weigh or your size. You are gaining a more toned, muscular and athletic body with Bikram and toned, muscular and athletic bodies weigh more in general. I’m willing to bet, too that no one but you will realize you may have gone up a pant size and if you stick with it you’ll look glowingly fantastic! The eating disorder history is worry some though, so if you still find yourself obsessing then I’d say it’s time to re-visit the therapist. Good luck!

I would also be curious about gluteal tightness. There’s a muscle called the Piriformis that originates on the lateral sacrum (triangle shaped bone above the tailbone) and inserts straight across from it on the greater tuberosity (hip bone) that could make performing that action difficult, as its tightness forces outward rotation of the femur (thigh bone). This is a very small muscle but causes all kinds of problems, including Sciatica. Next time you see a massage therapist, ask them to work on it specifically and see if you experience any improvement.

i’ve got three stretches you can try:

upper traps/scalenes – put one hand in the opposite back pocket with your palm facing out and lean your head to that side. you can intensify the stretch by GENTLY pulling on your head while pushing your hand farther into your pocket.

middle traps/rhomboids – lay on the floor with your arms out to your sides like full locust pose. bring one arm all the way over to the other side and then do the same with the other one until they are crossed underneath your chest. keep your arms straight and let your head fall and rest on your crossed arms. (this is from “yoga body”)

lower traps/erectors – stand up and cross your arms in front of you as if you were mad. bend over and let your crossed arms hang down. let gravity pull you into the stretch. (this is from “yoga body”)

hold all of them for at least a minute. I would also try some trigger point therapy. its awesome!!

That is so funny that I came across this because I was just reading Ilysium’s post about her conflict with her yoga instructor and I wanted to tell her about this book, but then I saw that the post was almost a year old and figured I’d skip it.

I experienced an intense transformational process just before starting Bikram last September when I discovered that I have anxious attachment disorder and after my practice let loose some very interesting and left field emotions I decided that some counseling to help me through the process of this discovery was in order, which in itself has been very stressful and anxiety inducing. Over the last three or four months my problem has evolved into deep seated anger/victim issues so I went on a quest to find a book about it since my counselor is retiring in March and honestly, I know I can do this on my own. Anyway, this is what I found:

“Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible” by Ruth King

I am going to turn 41 on Monday and my life and emotions have never made sense until now. I am beyond grateful to this woman for writing this book. It is proving to be a lifesaver. I thought it could benefit Ilysium because of her child-like reactions to this ‘bully’ and the way she would call her names like, “the spawn of satan” and “cretan”. Anyway, if she’s still on, maybe it will help her, too.

I don’t have a lot of time to read because I work full time and am a student as well, so that’s all I’ve got for books. However, there’s a video documentary out that is also wonderful and potentially life changing:

“The Living Matrix: A Film On The New Science Of Healing”

Hope you all are well and happy 🙂
Michele

personally, it never worked for me either and i couldn’t get my feet more than a foot off the floor until i made the effort to focus deeply on the erector spinae muscles and visualize the sarcomeres contracting in my mid back, then up, up, up the feet went. now i’m told that i can get my feet about 4 ft off the floor and that’s with no pain or discomfort. it’s awesome. now i just wish i could get someone to take a photo so i can see it for myself. 🙂

Hi Bon,

The bucket idea grosses me out! Yech… I feel for the people that have to deal with the buckets, lol. Do they not have carpeting there?

its normal for me! sometimes i’d swear i had a faucet attached to me.