Lower Back Pain and Upward Facing Dog


So I ran into a teensy weensy bit of a snag in my practice this week. Before boarding the plane to go out of town, I notice a slight pain in my lower back. It wasn't painful, it was more like an unfamiliar and uncomfortable sensation in my lower back. I noticed that when I bent backwards this sensation would become more and more uncomfortable and ache like pain.


When I practiced the next morning, I only noticed this pain when I would go into upward facing dog or at least what I was doing and labeling as upward facing dog :-/

I immediately began to worry that I was doing something wrong and may have perhaps injured myself. But before I could let my worrying little mind get to work, I dismissed injury as I could still function properly, there was no limitation of movement yet, just a sensation. I didn't freak out instead I went to my resources to get information about where this pain could have originated from and what I could do to alleviate it and prevent it from happening again without stopping my asana practice.

Many of the resources I initially pointed to suggested performing bhujangasana or cobra pose, until I had enough strength and knew proper alignment to do full urdhva mukcha svanasana or upward facing dog. I was not happy about it as I want to do my practice as fully as possible, but I though about the sensation, the long term effects and one key concept that many of the ashtanga teachers I follow have said, "it is not about the pose itself, but the mental journey in getting into the pose." This helped me to remember that this was just another lesson on my path. I had accepted the temporary adjustment I needed to make for the health of my back. And then....

I consulted Kino. Yes Kino. I have a direct line to her....through her book that is ;-)

I recently purchased her latest book, "The Power of Ashtanga Yoga." While it did not say what to do or how to modify urdhva mukha svanasana, it did adequately detail, explain thoroughly and most importantly, simply how to properly do urdhva mukha svanasana. She gave many tips and tricks, but what really helped me on the mat to correct my problem was this or something to this effect "try to elongate the spine and open the heart."

These words reverberated in my mind every time I lowered into chaturanga before going into urdhva mukha svanasana and it worked!  Instead of bending my back as far as I could and lowering my pelvis low to the ground. In an effort to elongate my spine and open my chest, I inherently sucked in my lower belly which gave more support to my lower back. While the pain did not completely dissipated, focusing on elongating my spine instead of simply bending backwards relieved the lower back pain I felt. I felt confident that I could flow through my practice safely and effectively.

As I'm not a certified yoga teacher or chiropractor, this may not be the fix all for anyone experiencing anything similar, but is sure has helped me so far. Thanks Kino!

1 comments:

  1. yoga is indeed one great exercise. it is not just for the back but for your whole body as well. keep doing it regularly.Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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    ReplyDelete

 

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Copyright © 2013-2015 Love.Yoga.Dream. All Rights Reserved.Opinions are my own and do not reflect any one specific set of yoga teachings. I don't offer professional advice. Results are not guaranteed.