This is about lower back pain, the left side, to be specific. Today I needed to do an impromptu savasana at my desk, because my lower back was really stiff. As I slithered in pain to the floor, I tidied up the body into savasana. Yoga skills can be convenient when you need to pass out. A colleague lent me a hot water bottle, which I placed in the lower back and I moved about again, after a while. I asked Teacher to have a talk outside of practice about my recent experiences in the shala. Maybe we'll get together tomorrow. I don't think I'm in condition to take a led class tomorrow. He thinks I may be overeager with dropbacks. If that is true it might be because in a room held to "traditional" standards (that means, in ashtanga, the method it is done in Mysore today, or the adherence to a certain orthodoxy.) The dropbacks are some of gatekeepers of advancing in Intermediate. So is binding properly in Marichyasana D, which I currently cannot do on the left side. So, since my intermediate was taken from me up to Laghuvajrasana, my body intuitively does what it can to get past the gate. Meaning, my body strives to get to standing in Urdva Danurasana so as to get beyond the current threshold. That could be because my body experienced many other asanas beyond Kapotasana in the past and found them to be helpful to the body.
I would appreciate the input of the cybershala, but ask that you be understanding, and keep in mind I've been doing this since 2002. In my years of reading about other people's experiences with the practice, there are some of us whose bodies really ask, desperately, for Intermediate practice; we may be the same that find it hurtful to mainly do Primary practice repeatedly every day. It may have to do with how we spend the rest of our day after practice - sitting a lot in an office, for example.... Ouch. I got upset while writing this and shifted painfully... So, I think that in order to sustainably combine yoga practice daily with my busy professional life, I should practice at home, where I can set a comfortable practice, then go to enjoy my day contributing to others in my architecture field. Or, I would hope that my Teacher be understanding and device a practice for me that is not crippling me and allows me to progress. Or that he would allow me to practice my way, without worrying that it would confuse those that are trying to learn the poses from the beginning, who are new to the practice. That is an issue, isn't it, what are others going to think when someone else is doing poses that seem advanced to them, because they are not in their current set of asanas. It's hard to not have "asana envy" or put more gently, "asana curiosity."
What if I just reach a compromise of going just on Sundays? Then I can do Primary to Intermediate up to Laghuvajrasana. The rest of the week I could do at home the poses that I feel I need to do for my body's benefit? It's time to go home for the evening. I probably need to apply the water bottle again to endure the bike trip back home. I thought I had bought the book "back sense" which maybe Kino recommended we read. I will have to look in my library and, uhm, start reading it.
15 comments:
Dear Arturo,
Please practice at home.Trying to force your teacher into going against his lineage are a form of violence.
With love,
V.
Dear V.
Thank you, that is very wise. Ahimsa. I would not want to force him to do things differently if he does not feel it's right. SPL in San Francisco allowed me to vary the routine, but she felt non traditional. I think it will be best to talk it through with him and at least he will understand what is going on with my back.
hugs
Arturo
Yes, explaining your pain to him definitely a good idea - he might be able to offer suggestions. Who knows, the problem might be in something you are doing in some basic asanas (for example, I used to give myself lower back pain by not engaging the legs strongly enough in my updog).
Love,
V.
Hi Arturo,
I know you are very busy at work, but when I read about your practice, it seems like you haven't given your teacher's approach a really consistent try. I think a consistent practice is what teachers look for, even more than they look at the gatekeeper poses. There are many reasons why you don't make it to the shala, and that's fine -- but I cant imagine your teacher would feel okay about advancing you under those circumstances, and that just seems like good teaching.
You say your body wants to move on, but it seems like your body is in pain & it's your mind that wants to move on.
I'm not trying to be difficult. I wouldn't have said a word if you hadn't asked for input. So that's my two cents.
Hugs,
K
Hi Arturo,
as someone who's been practicing "only" Primary on a daily basis for three years now, I must say that I absolutely do not believe that practicing "only" Primary is the cause for your back pain. On the contrary Primary is meant for healing the body. I guess the pain you're feeling is a sign that there are still some things you have to work out with your body and for me it would also be a sign for sticking with Primary. Perhaps you overdo in forward bends or you generally lack some flexibility. Whatever it is, I would work it out with Primary because it is meant to deal with our physical conditions. When there is pain I would rather step back than forward. I would also suggest to trust your teacher. Try to find the cause for the pain together with him. And remember every upward dog is a backbend, perhaps the key lies there. Good luck!
I agree with others who have stated that the decision of your teacher (and the tradition of his lineage) must be respected. If you disagree with his teachings, it's best to find another teacher.
Have you considered exploring another style of yoga outside of Astanga? I know you occasionally practice other forms (Yin). I've benefitted greatly from my studies of Jivamukti and Anusara as well as plain-old-generic-hatha-flow. When I need a break from the structure of Astanga, it's fun to try other stuff. Grimmly seems to have really benefitted from his explorations of Vinyasa Krama.
Bettina makes a good point about Primary Series. I've had back problems in the past, but I found that if I followed the Primary Series without striving or overdoing it, my issues eased. Primary is a healing, therapeutic series. If you're not experiencing those benefits, you may need to examine how you're approaching the practice.
I know of several people who have strained their backs while working on drop backs. You may want to take a break from those for a while and let your body absorb the work you've done so far.
These are all of the ideas that come to mind. I hope they're useful in helping you come to a solution.
Hello Arturo,
first, I have to say that I find it very tricky and difficult to try to give somebody advice when I have never seen their practice; in your case, we've never even met!
Also, since you've been practicing for a lot longer than I have, there are probably a lot of things about the practice in general and your practice in particular that I don't know about. But could it be (and I mean this ONLY as a suggestion: Feel free to disregard if you don't think this applies to you)... could it be that you might be allowing your previous experiences of practicing more advanced poses to color your judgment of what is best for you? Could it be that whatever benefit you previously derived from practicing second series postures (and beyond) have led you to get a little hung up on the idea that primary by itself is not sufficient to heal you?
Our bodies are changing all the time. What worked for us a few months ago, or even a few weeks ago may no longer work today. Most of the teachers I have studied with agree that if one experiences an injury or some kind of issue that needs to be addressed, going back to primary series is the way to address it. Primary series can be seen as a sort of diagnostic tool that allows us to see (and feel) what imbalances exist in our bodies, and address those imbalances. For example, why is it that you can only bind on Mari D on one side? What is the imbalance that is preventing you from binding on the other side? Unless we try to address these imbalances, they will probably resurface in some more insidious form later on down the road.
Also (and this is my personal opinion, formed from my own experience with working with my own injuries and issues), I really don't think that doing different postures every day is beneficial for healing. I mean, not doing certain postures that cause you discomfort and/or pain might allow you to not experience the pain or discomfort on that particular day, but the underlying imbalance isn't going to go away. Whereas if you find a sustainable practice that you can do every day, you will have some objective way of seeing and measuring how your body is faring day to day.
Hey Arturo,
I thought I'll add something else here to my last comment. I wasn't trying to say that you should absolutely not do second series. If you want to do the second series backbends in addition to primary, you should. They are healing in their own way too.
When I was healing from my recent SI joint/lower pain injury, there were two things that I found useful:
(1) Doing primary very slowly, taking as much time as needed. This might not be realistic or practical for you, since you have to be at work so early. But I found doing primary very slowly (as in 5 counts on the inhale, and 5 on the exhale) to be very useful for healing. Focusing on engaging the bandhas in order to protect the lower back was also very useful. My back got so bad at one point that even doing the transition from updog to downdog hurt. But I spent a lot of time working on finding a way to do that transition without aggravating the back (one day, it took me more than two hours just to get through primary), and I felt that my back became stronger as a result.
(2) Doing the same practice very day. This can include second series backbends, if you want to. But I don't think it's a good idea to skip primary in order to do second (I know, I sound like a primary-series-fundamentalist... wait, is this a politically-incorrect thing to say :-p).
Dear Karen
Thanks, yes, the Teacher is looking for consistency, which for various reasons, does not seem aparent in my practice. I was consistent for two months until I experienced difficulties. I do have to accept that even with a consistent practice, I would be advanced very slowly if at all.
On challenge I have is that I have to carry a water kettle to take a bucket shower after practice. The water heater is not kept on and is only turned on if one asks for it. I don't like to distract the teacher from what he is doing so I don't ask for it. The kettle adds weight to my backpack. I must carry about 40lbs daily on me. I think the water heater is not turned on to save electricity. The caretaker keeps it off. It may be an older unit and energy hog. This problem is solvable. I could ask permission to turn it on and off when I need the water.
hugs
Arturo
Dear Bettina
Thank you. I bring up the subject of Intermediate poses because I miss them and some of them have specific areas of the body that they impact in a good way. The seven head stands and gomukasana are extremely healing. Regarding upward dog, the Teacher suggested that I lie on my belly and coil up the body upward slowly. This way I don't compress the lower back while on an upward dog shaped like a pushup. This helps. I think this week's pain was caused by Utihita Hasta Padangustasana.
Cheers,
Arturo
Dear Kai
Thanks. I should explore other forms. The community of yoga is smallish here, but there are other studios, including some of hot yoga. Maybe I should seek one out on Saturdays. If I practiced consistently at home, I would be able to do what Grimmly has done, because I could structure it to my needs. That is one of my points. There aren't any other ashtanga teachers in Shanghai. I once heard of a teache of hatha that opens his studio for teachers to self practice; I'm not sure where it is located in relationship to where I live and work.
Regarding Primary, I should relax it and do it with less flourishes.
hugs
Arturo
Dear Nobel
Thanks; good points. Yes, the mind wants to go back to things it experienced in the past. I cannot bind at the moment on the left side because using a bycicle without gears made me over-exert myself while getting to shala and work, with the result that the left leg experiences great pain when bending it. This hapenned about in May.
Although everyone is agreing on the healing qualities of Primary, I found my self practice last year sustaining. It did not focus on Primary more than once a week. I was practicing by myself then. There is a tendency in a Mysore room to for students to perfect the expression of asanas and the over reaching can be hurtful, not healing.
cheers,
Arturo
Dear Nobel
Yes, primary series fundamentalist is a politically correct way to say it. haha. Time doesn't allow me to do all of those poses in one day. This is where my teacher in San Francisco was more flexible, because she allowed me to do many poses of the yoga system, within the structure of opening and closing sequence. But she was not traditional.
Cheers,
Arturo
Hi Arturo,
I could be way out of line here but I think you should try to study with ( one of ) my teachers David Roche. He is certified by Guruji. I have been doing a workshop with him that is all focusing on proper warming up, correcting imbalances in the body, and focusing on the nuances of the ashtanga practice - how to twist in the Marichyasanas, how to prepare for pashasana, how to open up the back and use the legs for eventually kapotasana etc. He mentioned he is conducting soome teacher trainings in China next year. He has a website ( Have yoga-willtravel.com ) that hopefully is up and running.
Floss
Dear Floss
Thanks for your comments. I missed David Roche when he would travel to Mountainview, CA and I was in SF. I will check his website(cool name) once in a while to see when he might plan to come to China. It's funny that you mention warmups. I have cut back on my warmups because it was pointed out I shouldn't do them. I however cannot do without some that I have learned in the past from certified teachers. They form part of my core practice. That includes nauli, some pranayama, and pigeon pose.
Cheers
Arturo
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