So yeah, injury sometimes it happens and it also happened to me. During last couple of weeks I had problems with my back, especially lower back part, and I felt some tension and mild pain. That means I had to modify my practice (with help of my teacher) and drop second series, deep backbends and also Supta Kurmasana. The guess is actually that I might have hurt myself during Supta Kurmasana entry (that I was doing Dwi Pada way) and I might have pushed my legs behind my head too much too quickly; which is I think quite possible ;) I also felt a little pop when entering headstand two weeks ago... The diagnosis is basically that one of the joints of my pelvis keeps on popping out of the socket what is the source of pain. My massage therapist told me that this is usually like you have to put it inside the socket couple of times before it stays in for good.
After seeing the massage therapist for the second time on Thrusday, the pain went away completely. Maybe this pelvis of mine decided to stay in the socket after all. (FINGERS CROSSED!) I need to be extra careful the next couple of days so I don't do anything that it will make it pop out. On the other hand, how naughty of the pelvis to try and go somewhere without me! Unbelievable ! ;)
Anyway,
I collected some tips from my teacher, and my own observations that I think are helpful through the recovery process. I know that I myself had been browsing the net madly searching "ashtanga yoga back pain" "ashtanga yoga back injury" "popping hip" etc etc etc etc endlessly, to look for some other people experiences. That's why I decided to put this up for other lost souls ;) These are just some things that I found useful, and they don't necessary have to be true for everybody.
(In no particular order)
1) Modify your practice
If you keep on going with the regular stuff you do, you might (or will) make the injury worst.
Consult with your teacher the poses you should omit or modify.
If something gives you pain, back off immediately, and let your teacher know.
At first I had problem with not checking again if something hurts. For example I did Urdhva Dhanurasana and it hurt so I went back down, and tried again. I would say it's not a good idea. Just back off immediately.
2) Listen to your body
Sounds properly ridiculous when said by me but hey, at least try. ;) I'm really bad in listening to my body and there are many things that stand on my way. First of all my body doesn't give me many signals and if it does they are very subtle and easy to ignore. Through years of dancing I successfully learned to ignore those signals and just kept on going regardless of the pain. That's one if the reasons I think I got finally injured. Yoga asked me to listen more carefully and do not ignore the signals. That also requires quite an amount of focus, that in my case gets pulled really easily, so I have to put some extra effort.
3)Drop the ego or rather "let it bleed to dead"
Here is an awesome post by Kino MacGregor that treats on ashtanga, injury and ego.
A must read!
Healing injuries with yoga by Kino MacGregor
A must watch:
4)Have an experienced teacher you trust
And let him/her know of your problem. He/she will help you modify your practice and advice you what postures you should avoid to not make the injury worst and help the body to heal. A good teacher can also be a source of valuable advice when it comes to dealing with injury.
5) Have just one teacher
Sure its fun to do workshops or drop-ins in other teacher's class from time to time, but now it isn't a time. Nobody knows your practice and body as well as your regular teacher and I would personally not feel safe anywhere else if I was injured.
Given that another teacher does not know the nature of your own injury , he or she might unintentionally hurt you when adjusting.
That being said if you already have two teachers, make sure the both stay up to date with your problem.
6)Listen to what your teacher says!
Even the best teacher won't help if you won't listen to him. When your teacher says don't do something, submit. He/she does not do that to annoy you, but for your own benefit.
7) Get a proper diagnosis
It actually should be the first step. It's important to know what exactly is going on in order to get treatment that will help and to modify your practice in accordance to what's actually wrong. The better you know what's causing the problem the more help you can get.
8)Get a good massage/phisio therapist
And if you are in Warsaw, there's a good one here
9)Keep positive and don't freak out.
Worrying never cured anything. (If it did let me know ;)
I know that although I have my double PhD in worrying but it really doesn't help, it makes it worst. I read about the study that shows a connection between attitude of mind and chance of complete recovery. People that have a positive attitude recover faster for variety of reasons. One of them is more ability to take action, other than just idle worry. Worry also creates tension in the body, that does not help the recovery.
If you are already worried here are some things we can do:
- try to rationalize
- talk to your teacher (that helped:) you are not the only person on earth that ever had an injury.
-take actions ! Go get a diagnosis, go to a treatment, do something to aid an injury. It will take your mind off worring and into actually some productive stuff.
-Indulge into distraction. Watch a movie, write a poem, draw a picture.
(Or write a very long blog post :D
11)Take an extra day off if you need to.
Respect you body's need for an extra time of and give it to it. Get plenty of rest and sleep. This isnt a good time to take an extra work on.
12)Do not Doctor Google yourself
That's what I did, it only made me more nervous !
I mean let's face it - unless you see a professional there is no 100% confidence what's up with you. So really, obsessing over it doesn't help. Really. I've checked it! ;)
14)Address the problem
Find a way to work so that the injury does not re appear in future.
For me it turned out to be lack of balance between strength and flexibility, because I'm lacking strength. Here is a combo of strength exercises that my teacher recommended I do, so I get stronger.
I have to warn you though - it looks easy but it is KILLER. Good for me! :)
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