Tuesday 6th September 2005
Injury
No such thing as steady progress up the asana ladder for me. I just seem to be going backwards on all fronts.
Another injury to my lumbar last Wednesday has set me back yet AGAIN.
This has happened way too often to be ignored now.
An episode of lumbar pain, radiating from lumbar to hip, flared up about 3 weeks ago due to a strong backbending session. It was on my LEFT side then and it took nearly 2 weeks to ease off. Then one week ago, same injury, same pain but this time on the RIGHT side flared up due to…well…a lovely night with my ex-partner (yes, we’re working out our differences). Picture Upavista Konasana A upside down with the back on the floor (or bed to be more precise). Next morning…agonising pain radiating from the mid lumbar out to the right hip and down through the inner right groin.
One of the advantages of blogging is I can keep track of injuries and their causes. I know that if I hadn’t recorded the last incident 3 weeks ago I wouldn’t have known that it was on the opposite side of my lumbar to this latest incident. Going back through my weblog even further, I was able to locate the time before that when it happened - 3 months ago - early June: same injury, same pain, caused by strong adjustments in Supta Kurmasana (extreme rounding forward of lumbar spine) and the pain was then on the right side.
So, forward bending brings about pain to the right side of the lumbar, backbending to the left side.
And each time this happens, I’m totally incapacitated. I can’t round my lumbar spine at all, can’t reach my feet to put my socks on in the morning, can't twist from that area, my body grips tight when I have to stand up from sitting in a chair, and my entire body freezes in shock and pain with any movement of the pelvis.
A few nights ago I consulted Tortora’s Anatomy text book and adding all this up, I’ve worked out that what I’m feeling is severe nerve pain emanating from the second lumbar vertebrae (L2). Two main nerve roots come from here, one travelling diagonally forward and outwards to end near the iliac crest. The other major nerve travels down in front of the hip joint to end up in branches below the inner groin.
So there’s something going on around L2 that’s aggravating these two main nerves. But self diagnosis can only go so far…now I need to get an x-ray.
Practice
has been minimal over the past week for obvious reasons.
This morning I moved REALLY slowly through the full double set of Surja Namaskars then did most of the standing poses. Forward bends are off the practice menu again. Instead, I dusted off the purple block, placed it under my sacrum and did a supported Setu Bandha Sarvangasana – the relief was immediate. After a couple of minutes I tried extending my legs but this put too much strain on my lumbar, so I resigned myself to a long, passive rest on the block with bent knees.
Yoga for now is a practice to stimulate healing. Sensitivity and receptivity in the poses is of highest priority.
My 5 minute stay on the block was so comforting and healing and I couldn't help but feel immense gratitude, respect and love for this thing called yoga that is both my companion on the journey and the journey itself.
I actually managed to do 3 Urdhva Dhanurasanas, but they revealed how closed up my body has become in response to the pain. All the muscle tissues are in a tight, frozen, protective state again, so working into each backbend took great care and compassion. It felt good to open up, even if it was just a little.
Finished off with a few inversions and then sat in Padmasana for a while, trying to clear all the pain stories out of my head (poor me, why me, how can I teach like this, what happened to my lithe young body, will I ever have it back again, is pain and injury really necessary to learn humility etc. etc.)
After 10 minutes or so, all that ego centred dialogue started to fall away. I tuned my consciousness up to a higher frequency, aimed for the feeling of divine connection, light, freedom, and felt myself rise above it all to an exalted state of profound peace. It was fleeting, but I took comfort in knowing that I can get there when I put my mind to it.
Next time I’ll stay a while.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Injury
No such thing as steady progress up the asana ladder for me. I just seem to be going backwards on all fronts.
Another injury to my lumbar last Wednesday has set me back yet AGAIN.
This has happened way too often to be ignored now.
An episode of lumbar pain, radiating from lumbar to hip, flared up about 3 weeks ago due to a strong backbending session. It was on my LEFT side then and it took nearly 2 weeks to ease off. Then one week ago, same injury, same pain but this time on the RIGHT side flared up due to…well…a lovely night with my ex-partner (yes, we’re working out our differences). Picture Upavista Konasana A upside down with the back on the floor (or bed to be more precise). Next morning…agonising pain radiating from the mid lumbar out to the right hip and down through the inner right groin.
One of the advantages of blogging is I can keep track of injuries and their causes. I know that if I hadn’t recorded the last incident 3 weeks ago I wouldn’t have known that it was on the opposite side of my lumbar to this latest incident. Going back through my weblog even further, I was able to locate the time before that when it happened - 3 months ago - early June: same injury, same pain, caused by strong adjustments in Supta Kurmasana (extreme rounding forward of lumbar spine) and the pain was then on the right side.
So, forward bending brings about pain to the right side of the lumbar, backbending to the left side.
And each time this happens, I’m totally incapacitated. I can’t round my lumbar spine at all, can’t reach my feet to put my socks on in the morning, can't twist from that area, my body grips tight when I have to stand up from sitting in a chair, and my entire body freezes in shock and pain with any movement of the pelvis.
A few nights ago I consulted Tortora’s Anatomy text book and adding all this up, I’ve worked out that what I’m feeling is severe nerve pain emanating from the second lumbar vertebrae (L2). Two main nerve roots come from here, one travelling diagonally forward and outwards to end near the iliac crest. The other major nerve travels down in front of the hip joint to end up in branches below the inner groin.
So there’s something going on around L2 that’s aggravating these two main nerves. But self diagnosis can only go so far…now I need to get an x-ray.
Practice
has been minimal over the past week for obvious reasons.
This morning I moved REALLY slowly through the full double set of Surja Namaskars then did most of the standing poses. Forward bends are off the practice menu again. Instead, I dusted off the purple block, placed it under my sacrum and did a supported Setu Bandha Sarvangasana – the relief was immediate. After a couple of minutes I tried extending my legs but this put too much strain on my lumbar, so I resigned myself to a long, passive rest on the block with bent knees.
Yoga for now is a practice to stimulate healing. Sensitivity and receptivity in the poses is of highest priority.
My 5 minute stay on the block was so comforting and healing and I couldn't help but feel immense gratitude, respect and love for this thing called yoga that is both my companion on the journey and the journey itself.
I actually managed to do 3 Urdhva Dhanurasanas, but they revealed how closed up my body has become in response to the pain. All the muscle tissues are in a tight, frozen, protective state again, so working into each backbend took great care and compassion. It felt good to open up, even if it was just a little.
Finished off with a few inversions and then sat in Padmasana for a while, trying to clear all the pain stories out of my head (poor me, why me, how can I teach like this, what happened to my lithe young body, will I ever have it back again, is pain and injury really necessary to learn humility etc. etc.)
After 10 minutes or so, all that ego centred dialogue started to fall away. I tuned my consciousness up to a higher frequency, aimed for the feeling of divine connection, light, freedom, and felt myself rise above it all to an exalted state of profound peace. It was fleeting, but I took comfort in knowing that I can get there when I put my mind to it.
Next time I’ll stay a while.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
