Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Liliana

Yes, hovering knee does sound very ominous! Monica, I am pretty sure Liliana must mean the bent knee and not the supporting straight leg! 😛

Tadasana is a knee-twisting movement. So let’s get some more facts about what’s happening. You need to work out if there are any other movements that are causing your knee to feel vulnerable.

Next can you tell me at what point, what exactly are you doing in Tree when you feel the problem? What’s your lower back doing, feeling? What’s happening with your hips?

Whatever you can manage to tell me, for example what angle your leg has with the ground. Is your hovering knee forward of your standing leg and by how much? Stuff like that… :cheese:

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Jennifer

Yep, I have taken too long. I have great excuses by the way. Hahahaha

ANYWAY, I want to find out if you’re still going to hot yoga.

Can you please tell me where the pain was when you did go back into Fixed Firm for those 5 second intervals?

I understand your issue and see that really all you need to do is to place some padding of your choice under your knees (legs) for the poses where the bony excess bothers you.

In Fixed Firm you simply need to follow the directions. Take it easy. Settle into each part of the pose and make sure your butt is on the floor before you even more an inch backwards to get your body back on the floor. Sit upright. If your butt is on the floor, move your elbows to the floor and so on.

If the bumps below your knees bother you the then put more padding under. But if it’s a flexibility issue or one of tightness with any structure try creating a little space between your knees so that your legs are in a V shape.

From my understanding of OG you probably wouldn’t aggravate that anymore. I don’t know how big the bony bumps are and I am not sure if you have ever been advised to do anything about them. It really shouldn’t be causing you pain as an adult. If it is, can you tell me what brings on the pain? It would be worth seeing someone if activity is causing you issues.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Catherine

Did you have any luck looking through the forum?

Here are a couple of links that will give you some good information and tips. Please read those, maybe experience the different techniques and then come back. I will ask more questions then!

Chronically Painful Hamstring and Hamstring, Glutes and SI Joint.

Hi Saowanit,

Thanks for your contribution. It may seem unlikely, but often the poses that are causing the problems are not really making themselves known!!! In other words the problem may show up in a different pose.

It is not possible to NOT stretch the hamstring when you lock your knee!!! It’s an anatomical principle. The problem is also that it’s NOT just an action confined to the leg. Muscles are all connected. We are beautifully designed machines. With hamstrings and quads, and in certain poses, you can’t use one and turn the other off completely. So it’s kinda more complicated.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Brett

How did you go with the bandana? I can’t imagine that anyone would rule against such a practical way of keeping sweat off your face. It would be akin to telling someone that they can’t put their hair up.

Let me know!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

PS: Nice one, Connie!

Hi Michele

How wonderful that it has resolved for you and so quickly too.

Hi Dirk

I was wondering if you’ve been to get your blood checked out (vitamins, hormones, vit D, a whole work up). Oh and btw if you want your vit D levels checked you must ask because it is not a standard test. It’s called a 25 Hydroxy test.

There’s probably a simple answer. But rather than other yogis diagnosing, isn’t it worth getting it checked out for your own baseline measurements? At least you’ll know what you’re dealing with. You can then go online and do some research to see whether what your doc tells you gels with what your understanding is.

If you’re wanting to share those details then that will be great so we can all learn. But if you’re playing in dangerous territory then you ought to know. Having electrolyte imbalance can of course be a life threatening thing. I am not saying yours is. Then couple that with the high temperatures and the situation is compounded.

Dirk, do you have any indication as to the temperatures of the classes you’re attending? Are any others appearing to have difficulties in class? How many people routinely sit out of poses? Do you think the temperatures are a little hot?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hmmm… Interesting indeed.

Bunni, I don’t think the article is really there to talk about the yoga itself. 😉 It is actually when the writer does talk about the yoga itself is when they make the most mistakes. Ie about the poses. And 5,000 Bikram studios in the world? Oh, come on! You only have to do a little online research to know that is a GROSS over-exaggeration.

FYI: The legal stuff about patenting yoga poses is wrong. Not possible. But as I say, IMHO that’s not really what this article is about. It’s hard to take something seriously when there are so many mistakes.

Teacher training, however is very much as it is depicted. I am unsure whether I want to detail what happens at training but it’s not pretty.

I can say that I was and many continue to be personally sickened by the number of women (and some men too) who fawn around B (or ANYONE for that matter) massaging feet and shoulders, combing and playing with hair. Obviously some go further. Geez, it’s SUPPOSED to be a training program.

I love the yoga. I am grateful for Bikram yoga and for its huge popularity. Without Bikram we wouldn’t have this wonderful discussion platform.

So you’re right, TT is not like your studio at all. Thank goodness. Hey but if we’re talking about hooking up, call me a prude, but having graduated teachers ‘on the prowl’, using their status to score at TT is frankly just disgusting. Yeah, I am a bit old fashioned. But tell me, where’s the YOGA in that behavior?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Patricia and Connie

Thanks Connie for doing my work for me! I am very grateful you chimed in.

Simply put, you need to put some awareness on how you use your feet whenever you’re using them so that you can engender correct use so that your posture, your back, your knees, hips and so on all benefit.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Erika

It’s fabulous that you love being a teacher. Hey, and you’re pretty local to me!

It’s a pity one doesn’t learn stuff like that at Bikram Teacher Training.

In order to help I would like to know more! For example how do you think you actually created this problem? Is it in one leg or 2? When you’re in Standing Sep Leg Stretching which leg hurts, one or both? And in Standing Bow is it the standing or ‘kicking’ leg?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

:cheese: Very pleased! I am positive it will make it easier for you! Struggle and yoga simply don’t go together…

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Connie

What you’re doing is fine … almost! 😉

Using your hands on the floor is fine. At the moment, with your hips uneven your method is causing you to compensate unnaturally with your body and making it difficult to move into the pose ‘easily’.

Here’s what I would do differently. I would be trying to get your body to behave symmetrically.

So…
>> get yourself either some kind of sponge or cushion or rolled up towel
>> when you kneel, pop that item under your butt in such a way that you can relax into sitting into it so that your hips are even and you’re comfortable
>> now go into the pose.

Over time you’ll reduce the size of the padding between hips and heels or unroll the towel progressively.

I would love to know how you go

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Scott and Tasha

Yes you’re right! Headache is a sign of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Headache is also a sign of hyponatremia. That can happen when you have too much water or not enough electrolytes…

So yes, check hydration and also electrolyte use. Check out the symptoms of all those life threatening conditions mentioned because it pays to know if you’re stepping into dangerous territory.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Allison

I curious to know what happens when you’re struggling. What is going on specifically? Is it particular to certain poses or is it a generalized response to the yoga?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂