Reading up on neck injuries relating to Headstand and Shoulderstand, it is obvious that too much weight and pressure on the back nexk (flexion of the neck) would almostinstantly lead to a lifelong, maybe irreversible injury, as taken from Yoga Journal:
What happens if your student forces her neck too far into flexion in Shoulderstand? If she is lucky, she will only strain a muscle. A more serious consequence, which is harder to detect until the damage is done, is that she might stretch her ligamentum nuchae beyond its elastic limits. She may do this gradually over many practice sessions until the ligament loses its ability to restore her normal cervical curve after flexion. Her neck would then lose its curve and become flat, not just after practicing Shoulderstand, but all day, every day. A flat neck transfers too much weight onto the fronts of the vertebrae. This can stimulate the weight-bearing surfaces to grow extra bone to compensate, potentially creating painful bone spurs. A still more serious potential consequence of applying excessive force to the neck in Shoulderstand is a cervical disk injury. As the pose squeezes the front of the disks down, one or more of them can bulge or rupture to the rear, pressing on nearby spinal nerves. This can cause numbness, tingling, pain and/or weakness in the arms and hands. Finally, a student with osteoporosis could even suffer a neck fracture from the overzealous practice of Shoulderstand.
This scares me TO DEATH. I went overboard with my knees and I never will get them back. I told myself to not go too far when doing Primary Series but apparently I have. I shudder at the thought of how many times I feel the weight of my body on the back of my neck as I did the finishing sequence... especially the Urdhva Pandmasana. I currently have limited movements to the sides, up and down. I have only myself to blame and not the teachers (although... I do think that maybe they should have cautioned us on the dangers of these poses... but then again would I listen?)
I believe I did yoga with too much ego. Even though I was doing it on my own, with no one to see and impress, I was subconsciously pushing myself to get better, faster. Who am I kidding? Good teachers take years to learn the primary series and I expect to get it after just months? I deserve to be berated.
My MRI results come out this Saturday. I will do whatever it takes to get better, including a totally modified Finishing Sequence.
No comments:
Post a Comment