Side angle poses such as Parsvakonasana and Trikonasana can be difficult when a yogi has back or joint problems - there is a lot of strain on the sacro-iliac joint and pelvis when coming into the full posture (ie bringing the hand to the floor or foot). Also with a scoliosis there is a danger of curving into the posture on the side of the convex curve, rather than stretching the spine out into a side bend.
However, side stretches are as important for stretching, strengthening and aligning the spine as more vertical postures so I am loathe to leave them out of a practice altogether - a modification is therefore called for!
Standing with the legs wide, the feet parrallel and the hands on the hips take a few moments to check in on your breath and your alignment. Then turn the right foot out and the left foot in slightly, lining up the heel of the right foot with the instep of the left. Square the shoulders back to the front.
On an inhale, bring the arms out to shoulder height, palms facing down.
Exhale - bend the right knee over the ankle and bring the right forearm on to the right thigh. Stretch the left arm, hand and fingers up to the ceiling, feeling the energy in the fingertips and drawing down through both feet equally.
As you inhale return to the starting position. Repeat 5 times holding the last one for 5 breaths.
If you want to you can then come to trikonasana from here by straightening the right leg as you inhale and bring the right hand on to the right shin (no lower). Turn the head to look up at the left hand if that feels OK on the neck and hold for 5 breaths.
To come out bend the right knee again and come into a Warrior 2. Take a breath here and on an inhale straighten the leg, release the hands to the hips and bring the feet to parrallel again.
Repeat to the other side, noticing any differences between one side and the other - especially if you have a scoliosis.
Finish with a gentle forward bend to release the lower back.
Namaste Yogis :)
Showing posts with label Scoliosis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scoliosis. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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.....
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.....
Sunday, 19 August 2007
What is Scoliosis?
Scoliosis is a “C” or “S” shaped curvature of the spine, its name derived from the Greek “skol” which means twists. Pictures of people with scoliosis appear in Prehistoric cave paintings and the first recorded treatment of the condition with braces was in the fourth century BC by the Greek doctor Hippocrates.
The condition can have a known cause and is common in connective tissue disorders such as Marfan Syndrome, homocystinuria and Ehlers-Danlos for example, it can be a feature of rickets, when the bones become soft due to decalcification, or the result of an accident; the spinal curve developing after the ribcage, pelvis or shoulder girdle has been knocked out of alignment.
Scoliosis with no known cause is referred to as “idiopathic”, although some researchers say that this term is becoming outdated as studies are beginning to show a clear link between congenital scoliosis and low bone densities. My own scoliosis is “idiopathic” and both my mother and maternal grandmother suffer from osteoporosis, but I think that to try to find a singular genetic cause for "idiopathic" scoliosis is simplifying the problem. Bone density, for example is influenced by a wide variety of overlapping factors such as hormone levels, nutrition, exercise and medication. The causes of "idiopathic" scoliosis are still far from clear and is is illogical to presume that they are the result of a single gene factor alone.
The lateral curvature of the spine rotates not only from side to side but back on itself as well, rotating the affected vertebrae towards the concave side, twisting the ribcage and making the sides of the back uneven. The results of this can be seen clearly in the yoga asana Setu Bandhasana; once the back has lifted from the floor to its full extent in that particular person a direct line of sight down the middle of the front torso will clearly show one side of the ribcage (usually the convex side of the spinal curvature) is substantially higher than the other.
Not only does the scoliosis sufferer have spinal deformity and rib displacement, but the shoulders and hips can become twisted and the body’s centre of gravity shifted. While one of the most obvious symptoms is a cosmetic one, severe pain and heart and lung compression, due to compression on the thoracic cavity, are common as well. As the body maintains the upright posture it is comfortable with over the years, muscles will begin to tighten and painful masses of muscle tissue will develop in the ribcage, shoulders and neck.
Spinal curvature can take place anywhere in the spinal column. For unknown reasons 90 per cent of thoracic and double curves curve to the right, 80 per cent of thoraco-lumbar curves also curve to the right whilst 70 per cent of lumbar curves curve to the left. Seven times as many women as men have scoliosis, a statistic that brings us back to the question of bone density.
Conventional treatment of scoliosis has varied over the years. Braces and spinal fusion (an operation in which metal rods are inserted next to the spinal column, similar to the idea of a runny bean growing straight if tied to a beanpole!) were common 20 years ago to prevent the curvature worsening. Browning Miller, in her article Yoga and Scoliosis describes herself as feeling “appalled” (Yoga Journal November 1999) by the idea of such treatment and instead consulted an orthopaedic surgeon who advised “a regimen of exercise and stretching” (ibid). As a young graduate she turned to hatha yoga and noticed that when stretching in yoga asanas “the numbness on the right side of my back went away, and the pain started to dissolve” (ibid).
While the medical profession still tend to accept the premise that exercise does not have a place in scoliosis treatment, it is slowly becoming a more widespread belief that posture training and exercise are important for scoliosis prevention (when a scoliosis curve may occur due to the result of a misalignment after an accident) and treatment, as it had been prior to the popularity of surgery and bracing in the 1940s.
As part of my purpose for writing this blog/journal/book, whatever you would like to call it, I hope to put forward enough evidence of both my own personal journey and that of other people to prove that exercise, especially a subtle exercise like yoga, has every effect on the curvature of the spine, both physically, spritualy and emotionally. That by changing our attitudes towards our spine we can change our lives.
The condition can have a known cause and is common in connective tissue disorders such as Marfan Syndrome, homocystinuria and Ehlers-Danlos for example, it can be a feature of rickets, when the bones become soft due to decalcification, or the result of an accident; the spinal curve developing after the ribcage, pelvis or shoulder girdle has been knocked out of alignment.
Scoliosis with no known cause is referred to as “idiopathic”, although some researchers say that this term is becoming outdated as studies are beginning to show a clear link between congenital scoliosis and low bone densities. My own scoliosis is “idiopathic” and both my mother and maternal grandmother suffer from osteoporosis, but I think that to try to find a singular genetic cause for "idiopathic" scoliosis is simplifying the problem. Bone density, for example is influenced by a wide variety of overlapping factors such as hormone levels, nutrition, exercise and medication. The causes of "idiopathic" scoliosis are still far from clear and is is illogical to presume that they are the result of a single gene factor alone.
The lateral curvature of the spine rotates not only from side to side but back on itself as well, rotating the affected vertebrae towards the concave side, twisting the ribcage and making the sides of the back uneven. The results of this can be seen clearly in the yoga asana Setu Bandhasana; once the back has lifted from the floor to its full extent in that particular person a direct line of sight down the middle of the front torso will clearly show one side of the ribcage (usually the convex side of the spinal curvature) is substantially higher than the other.
Not only does the scoliosis sufferer have spinal deformity and rib displacement, but the shoulders and hips can become twisted and the body’s centre of gravity shifted. While one of the most obvious symptoms is a cosmetic one, severe pain and heart and lung compression, due to compression on the thoracic cavity, are common as well. As the body maintains the upright posture it is comfortable with over the years, muscles will begin to tighten and painful masses of muscle tissue will develop in the ribcage, shoulders and neck.
Spinal curvature can take place anywhere in the spinal column. For unknown reasons 90 per cent of thoracic and double curves curve to the right, 80 per cent of thoraco-lumbar curves also curve to the right whilst 70 per cent of lumbar curves curve to the left. Seven times as many women as men have scoliosis, a statistic that brings us back to the question of bone density.
Conventional treatment of scoliosis has varied over the years. Braces and spinal fusion (an operation in which metal rods are inserted next to the spinal column, similar to the idea of a runny bean growing straight if tied to a beanpole!) were common 20 years ago to prevent the curvature worsening. Browning Miller, in her article Yoga and Scoliosis describes herself as feeling “appalled” (Yoga Journal November 1999) by the idea of such treatment and instead consulted an orthopaedic surgeon who advised “a regimen of exercise and stretching” (ibid). As a young graduate she turned to hatha yoga and noticed that when stretching in yoga asanas “the numbness on the right side of my back went away, and the pain started to dissolve” (ibid).
While the medical profession still tend to accept the premise that exercise does not have a place in scoliosis treatment, it is slowly becoming a more widespread belief that posture training and exercise are important for scoliosis prevention (when a scoliosis curve may occur due to the result of a misalignment after an accident) and treatment, as it had been prior to the popularity of surgery and bracing in the 1940s.
As part of my purpose for writing this blog/journal/book, whatever you would like to call it, I hope to put forward enough evidence of both my own personal journey and that of other people to prove that exercise, especially a subtle exercise like yoga, has every effect on the curvature of the spine, both physically, spritualy and emotionally. That by changing our attitudes towards our spine we can change our lives.
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