My scoliosis

My own scoliosis was not diagnosed unil relatively recently. I was well into my journey along the yoga path by this time so I was able, upon diagnosis, not only to understand the difficulties and limitations I had been finding in my asana practice but also to understand what my yoga practice, relaxation and meditation exercises and philosophical mindset had done to prevent even more severe problems relating to the curvature of my spine. I can't begin to imagine the state I may have been in if, say, I had taken on the life of a couch potato in my teens and stuck to it!

When I was born the only noticable structral malformation of my scoliosis was my breastbone which showed a classic example of funnel chest. This is where the sternum dips in towards the chest cavity, forming a concave surface on the chest (example picture attached, I'm not quite ready to publish a picture of my own chest. Give it time!). My parents showed some concern about this but where told that it was merely a congenital defect of only cosmetic importance. This misdiagnosis has, in many ways, done me a favour in that at least I have never had to endure spinal fusion or bracing, as such things are thought futile on a mature skeleton.

As I grew older I began to realise that my lung capacity and stamina seemed much less than that of my peers. This was, for many years, incorrectly diagnosed as asthma and while an asthma inhaler does assist in times of shortness of breath, none of the other symptoms of my breathing are particularly in line with the symptoms of asthma. As I grew I also became aware of my posture being quite unusual' one shoulderblade protuded mroe than the other and my ribcage seemed very assymmetrical.

I was a relatively active child and teenager, traning hard in ballet and other forms of dance from the age of four and also practicing yoga to some degree with my parents and brother. Interestingly, my mother first sent me to ballet class because she was mildly concerned about my lack of co-ordination. In hindsight, knowing what I do now about my spinal curvature, it is really a wonder I wasn't falling over sideways (I have no compensatory curve - which I will explore in more detail at a later date), never mind slightly unco-ordinated!

Unusually for a teenage girl, I was never particularly concerned with the shape of my body. I was always prone to skinnyness, was short and easily blended into the background when I needed to, so my increasing round-shoulderedness never really bothered me, and at this point it didn't cause me any physical pain. After laving colleage at 18 and going to university, my practice of dance and yoga went out of the window and my posture became worse. It wasn't unitl I started to work in an office in my 20s, however, that I began to notice a severe pain and numbness on the right-hand side of my back and discomfort in my right ribcage. It was at this point in my life that I returned to yoga to find some relief from the discomfort I thought simply to be the result of a deskbound career.....