Headstands, Neck Pain, Prevention and Treatment

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We don’t lead headstands at Strala.

This is partly because safety is not so basic as maintaining “correct” alignment. Of course the vertebrae move coming in and out of the pose, and when that movement is sudden, the force on a rather vulnerable area of your spine is multiplied substantially, in line with our favorite old high school physics equation: F = ma. Sometimes, sudden movements are tough to avoid. People fall. Sometimes, people are quite eager to be somewhere other than where they are! They jump. Either way, our structure isn’t well designed for impact and load-bearing here. You won’t find much health benefit in testing these limits.

 

We’re extremely deliberate in our design to create ways of moving that are safe and beneficial for Everyone: every size, age, weight, history, background – Everyone! “Do no harm” is an important starting point for yoga.

 

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do headstands if you love them! But it’s worth mentioning that I get a lot of mail, because of Tara’s work around the world. Aside from a general point of interest, I mention this because it’s pretty frequent that people hurt their necks in headstand-related events. Sometimes it’s an acute injury from a sudden mishap. More often it’s chronic pain from strain over time.

 

For all you yoga teachers out there, remember that it matters more what’s actually happening to people, than any theoretical rules we may have learned about alignment and safety.

 

In case useful, I’ll share a recent response to a neck-pain question here.

When it comes to neck pain, there are so many possible causes – including just sleeping a bit funny one night – that it’s probably not worth diagnosing right away. The good news is, with a little time your body will likely fix itself just fine, regardless of treatment.

As a general guideline, it matters less what you do, and more how you do it – on both the prevention and healing sides.

 

Whatever you do (in yoga and everywhere) do it easy, without straining or pushing. If you can balance the stress equation in your favor – allowing stress to leave your body rather than entering and making a home in you – you’ll allow your body to shift from defense into healing mode.

 

As an example, headstands can be nicely aligned, but if you’re quite tense and rigid in your body, there’s a good chance some kind of pain or difficulty may pop up later.

As a healing approach now, try to move everything you’ve got, easily, in every direction you can. A great cat cow that lets your head hang easy and rolls your hips and body around in every explorable direction is a great place to begin. To let your body move this way, relax! Rather than holding your arms stiff, let your elbows bend, roll around your hips, and allow the rest of your body to go along for the ride.

Give this a shot for a few days, along with just taking it easy (leave off putting any weight on your head), and let me know how it goes.

Mike

 

About Strala Yoga Training

Strala combines the movement and healing wisdom of tai chi with the form vocabularies of yoga, tai chi, qigong, and Traditional Chinese and Japanese Medicine, to help people release stress, move easily through challenge, and live radiantly inspiring lives.

It begins with a mindset, that says our best way to get where we’re going is to feel good along the way. It also works miracles for whole health, helping us to find ease in our bodies and minds, and create the right conditions both for healing and optimal performance.

In our Strala Yoga Training Courses, you learn to shape your destiny on every level that counts, from your psychology, chemistry and neurology, to your chromosomes and even gene expression. The unique set of skills you develop – for connecting with yourself and others, unblocking your energy, healing what needs healing and accomplishing challenge with ease – uncovers your ability to create the life you want, and be an inspiring leader to the people around you.

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