Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Robyn

It’s not necessary to do anything in particular! 😉

However you may want to question why you asked whether you should omit Pranayama and say, not Awkward! 😆

Actually I find that Pranayama is THE thing that will bring me focus even just done at any time during the day. I find it to be an extremely grounding exercise. In fact just try this: Decide which poses you will do, say the poses up to Standing Bow. One day do them with Pranayama and another day do them without. And also try the difference between getting up and ‘doing’ Standing Head to Knee and nothing else and another time ‘doing’ Pranayama. See what ‘works’ for you.

I do think you’ll feel a difference in your ability to find your present state more easily. And since that’s what you’re ultimately after, I say, go with it! It’s a great way to focus on the breath and tuning into yourself quickly and easily. The combination of breathwork and complex movements make this happen quite efficiently.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Faizah

I have forgotten if you mentioned it, but can you tell me if you practise in a public studio or at home?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi stretchygirl

Thanks so much for your post. I really appreciate hearing your story. It’s a lottery to know how any body will respond to the ‘challenge’ of conception and gestation. I am positive it’s more than just due to physical phenomenon. And please – don’t read anything into that because it’s not a commentary about your situation at all. What I acknowledge is that it’s unique to everyone and includes more than just issues of sexual health, but also attitude, nutrition, and such a myriad of issues it would be impossible to account for them all (and then how those elements interplay!). So ultimately who’s to know what tipped the balance for anyone?

You’re right that it may be necessary to take extra care if you’ve had difficulty in conceiving. I guess that’s when you look at statistics and anecdotal evidence and then make your own mind up…

What I would like is that rather than the teachers boning up on the info to a certain standard that could be too high to expect from a yoga teacher is for those to whom one speaks to acknowledge in honesty “I don’t know about that”, or “I don’t have experience in that area”. Giving advice or platitudes when one knows nothing (or insufficient to give advice) is not helpful IMHO.

Most yoga teachers are simply not qualified to give advice on most subjects simply based on their yoga qualification. They are certainly not fertility specialists! I am not being flippant at all here and in fact I am being quite serious.

You have done the right thing and taken responsibility for your situation and that’s is truly the best thing you can do.

I hope 1) that you fulfill your dream and fall pregnant and 2) that you really enjoyed your pizza 😆

Thanks for posting

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Mike

You’re right! I agree that you really can’t suck your stomach in to inhale. It doesn’t make sense for a number of reasons. (See what I mean about following a script?)

You could go and check out the video Effective Breathing In Hot Yoga because that has an explanation that may satisfy you and provide a more comprehensive answer to your question than one in typewritten words.

Let me know how it goes!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi again Denise

That must be a relief to know you’re on the mend…

And yes, you’re absolutely right to handle those acute problems by resting. It’s exactly what your body needs (and I hope it didn’t seem as though I had an opinion about that). These days many problems stem from our incessant ‘must keep moving’ or working mentality.

You can’t do yoga with an acutely reactive back, that’s for sure.

Keep us posted

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Anna

It’s great to hear about what’s going on for you – so satisfying and enriching!

Part of the thing about yoga is that you learn to respond more and think less. So the very idea that you should think more about it kind of flies in the face of simply responding.

We all have our ‘aha’ moments and our reflections and yes they come in thoughts and even realizations that don’t involve thoughts but are more gestalt experiences. So ALLOW your realizations and reflections to come to you. Read interesting books (or not!). Have conversations with people (or not!). Have an intention to deepen your practice and the benefits without prescribing how it will happen. Let go of the details and let it flow.

There is no ‘way’ to do it but yoga is definitely a fabulous tool to facilitate it.

Chakras, subtle energies, meridians and thousands of other terminologies are ways that we humans like to create some kind of understanding about what’s going on. And in yoga we talk about physical and energetic blocks. So if you subscribe to the concept of chakras, then poses are a way to open up these energetic channels. Visualizations help. Yoga asana is a way to access parts of your physical and energetic body that need and crave attention. Whatever you call it, however you picture it, creating that access through your yoga is what works. So just check into your sensations with or without the idea of chakras. Your attention is what matters not necessarily the reasoning behind it.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Jennifer

It’s hard to say what the problem comes from given the information in your post. It can be caused by muscular issues, disk issues, poor yoga technique problems, and yes there are people for whom over doing hip openers can cause damage… So what your naturopath says is correct, finding a balance between your practice and health is essential. For you it may come down to working out what’s causing or even what’s alleviating your pain.

Please feel free to come back and tell me more information. Maybe we can take it somewhere.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Denise

It would be great to know the nature of your aches, where they are and when they happen. Are there particular poses that they happen in? You posted in Half Moon so I am guessing it could have something to do with this pose. 😉

There could be some ‘holes’ in your technique in different poses and I couldn’t begin to guess those (oh, OK I could) but it helps to have more information. The Type A stuff gives me an idea too. And also the fact that you could have a core muscle deficiency that could be playing out…

What else can you tell me?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Lucas

I did watch the video and it was … how shall I say … interesting, and at times amusing … and I can also happily see a big parallel in what he’s saying with the precision techniques I teach in class.

So rather than risking “popping a lung” which of course won’t happen, why don’t you focus on a deepening breath in Pranayama exercise? The rhythmic nature of the exercise and the necessity to hold the breath if you can’t keep breathing in or out for the whole 6 counts will fundamentally do the same thing.

Same thing goes with the bends to the side. Breathe well and as deeply as you can without struggle with the BEST damn precision alignment you can to open up your chest.

Your breathing technique will definitely benefit.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Lauren

I am just off to bed (it’s the other end of the world here) but just wanted to give you something to go on instead of you letting that monkey mind run away with you.

There are plenty of things you could do, plenty of books you could read. It’s just a matter of finding THE thing or things that speak to you…

For the moment please try looking around the forum and see if something works for you as a starting point. Try typing in the word ‘mojo’ in the search facility and you will find a ton of great stuff to get you going… in a good way of course.

When you come back (and I am awake 😆 ) perhaps you can say if anything resonated for you. Perhaps you can tell us what has worked for you in the past. Your mind is so busy it seems that you are identifying with your thoughts. Somehow you will find something to stop the cycle and stop buying into those stories you seem to be telling yourself. Oh, and remember sometimes we just have difficult days. Allow that to be and then let it go otherwise you could be beating yourself up (unnecessarily – of course).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Aurora

Thanks! Now, let me ask you a question. Have you looked into Infrared heating? This could be the way you can heat your small space and not have the resultant issues of heating the whole building or even keeping too much residual heat as it primarily will only heat you! It would definitely be worth a try. In fact, I am pretty sure you would be able to find a shop where you could take one home (maybe even floor stock) with the promise of returning it if it didn’t do what you needed it to do.

As for tiling the floor:

I would not do that until I had solved the heating issue because it is much harder to heat your space with hard surfaces (especially tiles or concrete).

Reviewing all you’ve said I would say that when you find the heater that heats your space (and it should be hot enough to practice within 20 minutes even if it has not quite reached your target temperature), you should definitely find an electrician to install a timer, a heater with a timer, or a timer that you can attach at the plug that can heat your room WITHOUT your continual input. I am convinced that when you know it’s on and ready for you, that it will be very hard to go down and switch off the heater and not do your practice!

The other thing is that you could set yourself an easy target of approaching the manual in bitesize chunks. Start with the Quick Start Guide or a the introductory chapters in the book. AND – OR choose a pose and review that pose specifically. Many people tell me that it is an inspiring way to approach their practice because they find their conscious minds find new more satisfying ways in class which in turn makes for new discoveries of all kinds (on and off the mat) and better practice satisfaction…

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Pamela

My research shows that there is a good healthy balance of electrolytes in these salts. And as for regular healthy diets … that really depends on one’s own definition. Everyone has their own ideas of what’s healthy and what’s not…

Do you need further supplementation? Again, that’s hard to cover with a blanket statement. We all have to figure in our hydration, our nutrition, raw:cooked food proportion, salt intake, the number of classes we are taking in the heat, other supplementary exercise, ambient temperatures and their effect on your system, time of the year, pathogen exposure, the way we feel, and the list goes on.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂