I have been doing pranayama for a while now and recentely started doing cobra pose as well. After doing Cobra pose I feel discomfort in the lower back and as the day goes by, my lower back starts to hurt. This has me worried because my lower back never hurts and also because I did the pose with a lot of ease, I mean without having to force my body to arch - it arched fully and nicely without a lot of effort. So am I doing something wrong or is this not a good pose for me?
Amandeep,
What is the relevance of the pranayama practice you mention in regard to the lower back pain? You are not doing pranayama AND Bhujangasana at the same time are you?
It’s frankly not possible to say why you are having the result you are having without seeing you and your actions in the pose. It is possible of course that the student’s spine is very mobile in the lumbar region and instead of curve the spine is “folding” at the junction where the thoracic spine transitions into the lumbar spine. This would allow the student to come up/back quite far i the pose, give the appears of proficiency, likely feel “okay” in the short term but is upsetting to nerves and musclulature in the region of the lower back.
This would be very, very difficult to determine for the doer and often needs an additional set of trained eyes to see.
So true, so true.
It’s all too common… moving into backbends without protecting your lower back properly. And it actually takes a remarkeable amount of core strength to do this, so don’t feel bummed out, Amandeep.
Have you heard yoga teachers speak about moola bandha and uddhiyana bandha (two of the yogic ‘locks’)? Or, in pilates, the pelvic floor and transversus abdominus? This is where you want to start. These are deep core muscles that are extremely effective at protecting the lower back in backbends, as well as lifting or doing any exercise, really.
To learn this you can either go to a beginner’s pilates class or a good personal trainer or a yoga instructor who understands the core muscles well enough to teach you.
There are also some great instructional videos on activating your core at my website. Just google Do Yoga With Me.
If you go to the Yoga Anatomy section, you’ll see that there are 8 parts to Core Activation. It takes some time to really get it, but it’s worth it!
Cheers,
David
Good advice, David!
Thanks for the advice everyone.
No I am not doing pranayama and bhujangasana at the same time. The information you guys have provided is very interesting and I will definitely look into it. So do you recommend that I should not try bhujangasana untill I can strenthen the core muscles or get the joint between thumbar and lunbar checked out?
Try Sphinx and see if that relieves any discomfort.
Yes, strengthening the core is the best way not only to protect the back, but to get in touch with those deeper supportive muscles. It’s difficult to explain, but when you begin to feel them, and do exercises to strengthen them, it is incredibly satisfying since you begin to understand on a visceral level where the power lies in your body.
I don’t want to get into the physiology of it too much, but your core muscles have a greater number of slow twitch fibres compared to fast twitch fibres (your power muscles are the opposite), so they are designed for the kind of strength that provides lasting support. If you’re aren’t using the core muscle, you are by default using your power muscles (in this case, your rectus abdominus and erector spinae, among others) and they tire quickly, eventually leading to fatigue and possibly discomfort.
Have fun! The body is an incredible universe to explore!
Your pivoting from your lumbar spine, which is resulting in an accumulation of tension in the lower back. A very common problem in yoga classes, rarely corrected.
Try to suck the buttock ‘in’ as you go into a back bend, specifically the mid buttock. This will support the lumbar spine.
Better still, get down to an Iyengar class and learn how to back bend…
In the mean time, rest your back and maybe see an osteopath or chiropractor. Omit back bends or anything that causes discomfort to the lower spine.
What worked for me was to omit cobra for a while and work on upward dog.
Hi Amandeep,
One way to do bhujangasana is to slightly engage the paravertebrals which are those muscles that run alongside the pine just as you ( begin to) raise yourself off the ground arching the back and pusshing your hands into the ground with the arms bent ( rather than fully extended), providing your spine is loose enough and alignement okay.
That said, some folk just may not be quite ready for this pose in it’s fuller expression perhaps because of subluxations or irregularities in the spine or stiffness etc.What do they do? They need a fuller practice and balance.
Be sure to follow up with forward bends too.
Upward dog is another alternative or ustrasana ( camel pose). You could explore what works.
Keeping practices separate, like some pranayama and asana can mean results are more predictable.
I have been doing pranayama for a while now
Could you provide more details or expand on this please?
After doing Cobra pose I feel discomfort in the lower back and as the day goes by, my lower back starts to hurt.
In experience how you feel after is what counts.There may be delayed effects but i believe that is the litmus test.For example, changes or effects may be observed several days later.
The thing is when you stretch or strengthen muscles during asan practice they can go tighter ,say this can show up the next day or even two days later ( i would say this is not really desirable) although the energetic effects tend to show up or manifest immediately straight after practice. We may feel a stride in our step etc.It may feel good to stretch etc while we’re doing it but it may not be good in terms of long-lasting effects.This may not be the case with you however but it’s worth bearing in mind.I have made these observations myself.I guess there are short-term or immediate effects and ones that are or may be longer lasting and acting.Sometimes it may be the result of the accumulation of practices we are doing no matter how subtle or insiginficant they might seem.
I think I would follow InnerAthlete’s advice and perform the pose in front of an instructor who can tell you what you may be doing incorrectly. You could injure yourself by not fully understanding what people are trying to tell you here, and there may be something you are doing that they would say “of course!” if they saw you but you cannot possibly know to tell them. Does that make sense? Not discounting the advice, do take it all in, but also have a trained instructor watch you perform the pose to see where you may be missing something important.
[quote=Amandeep;51184]Thanks for the advice everyone.
No I am not doing pranayama and bhujangasana at the same time. The information you guys have provided is very interesting and I will definitely look into it. So do you recommend that I should not try bhujangasana untill I can strenthen the core muscles or get the joint between thumbar and lunbar checked out?[/quote]
I don’t share the “address core muscles” paradigm and frankly go well out of my way to not use that particular four letter word. To me it is in the dominion of pilates and physical therapy.
That having been said, there are actions in the pose which are mandated to protect the low back and when the student cannot access these actions AND does the pose with any sense of achievement, aggression, or ego the weakest link in the organism (the spine, in this case) bears the burden.
The lumbar spine in Bhujangasana should be lengthened not compressing. If the student cannot do that then they either should move the hands forward, not come up so high, do the pose on a bolster, find another modification, or avoid the pose, in mostly this order.
The reference I made was to the thoracic-Lumbar junction, where the spine transitions from the midback to the low back. Students often lack a uniform curvature in backbending poses and instead fold here in order to “do” the pose but are not really doing the pose at all. So I don’t think of it as a joint someone can check out, but more of an area of the curve someone skilled can see and assess.
Hey, Gordon… when you say that the lumbar spine should be lengthened and not compressed, how do you recommend that they do that? To me it seems to be the pelvic floor and transversus abdominus (or moola bandha and uddhiyana bandha together) that create the length.
What would you say?
[QUOTE=Amandeep;51184]Thanks for the advice everyone.
No I am not doing pranayama and bhujangasana at the same time. The information you guys have provided is very interesting and I will definitely look into it. So do you recommend that I should not try bhujangasana untill I can strenthen the core muscles or get the joint between thumbar and lunbar checked out?[/QUOTE]
The Bhujang is supposed to be done using the back muscles only and not utilising the hand as a lever. It is only in the final stages , when one is farily advanced that the hand is used to accentuate the curvature of the back.
If you try the Bhujang using the back muscle only, you will find that your curvature is severely limited. this limitation caused by the strength (or lack of strength) of the back muscle itself prevents any damage.
As the muscle strengthens with practice you will find the curve becoming sharper.
@David
By “what would you say” are you asking me about instruction to a student to craft space in the lumbar spine?
Or are you asking me what I would say to your assessment? Yikes, I’m unsure of what exactly you’re asking.
In either case I fear the reply would be an entire topic unto itself - as I’m now thinking into it.
I would however rule out the kriya known as Uddiyana Bandha.
That particular lock is applied by drawing in the abdominal cavity from the pubis to the xiphoid process and it is unsafe to do that in asana.
Mula Bandha, on the other hand, when done properly would be completely appropriate in most of one’s living to prevent the leaking of pelvic energy in a society of leaky pelvic energy.
Unfortunately most students are either poorly instructed in Mula Bandha or completely uninstructed. In those cases, it is best to avoid it, just as it is best to avoid any power tool when one is untrained in its use.
@Inner Athlete
Oops… sorry, wasn’t specific in my question.
Yes, I did mean in reference to a question from a student about how to lengthen the lumbar spine. It’s so true that it’s a whole topic unto itself and requires much discussion, and also very true regarding the fact that so few yoga students have a good grasp of what mula bandha actually is.
It’s so difficult to teach yoga when the fundamentals are not being addressed sufficiently! Anyway, I look forward to future discussions.
Cheers.
If you try the Bhujang using the back muscle only, you will find that your curvature is severely limited. this limitation caused by the strength (or lack of strength) of the back muscle itself prevents any damage.
As the muscle strengthens with practice you will find the curve becoming sharper.
I personally am SO glad I found this out recently as I had been pushing up with my hands in cobra - until in a video class the instructor said “little to no weight on your hands” and even “without your hands”. I found I can lift only a few inches, and by no means can I curve my back up in a graceful arch! I have been practicing cobra like this for the last two weeks, and am already finding my back muscles are beginning to strengthen and I am lifting just a little bit higher. It is very encouraging.
I have injured my back in the past by pushing up with my hands, never really knowing exactly how to do the pose.
Good for you, Joanna!
I find it surprisingly common that people don’t want to do a pose in a way that looks like they’re barely moving into it. It certainly pays off to be humble. When you lift without the use of your arms, not only are you protecting your back, but you’re getting stronger and stretching your back in a slow, even, safe way.
David
Sarpasana is a pose in the classical surya namaskar. In that pose the hands do ground but they do not press and the arm do not straighten. Ergo the spine does not curve (much). It is a very nice warm up, appropriate for beginners, a place to teach actions. However it is not a backbend but rather a back strengthener - in much the way Salabhasana or Makarasana are not backbends.
Bhujangasana, as we do and teach it, does mandate that the hands press, the arms begin to straighten. This pose is a precursor to Ustrasana, Setu Bandha, Dhanurasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana and others. Yes it requires a more mindful student OR a more present teacher. And there should not be compression in the lumbar spine - the spine should curve uniformly in backbends. This is where actual teaching comes in. When a skilled teacher sees a student’s body and that body is lacking integrity in the pose, the teacher’s job is to intervene.
Now of course some practices are so rapidly executed that an intervention of any sort is minimized or impossible. And in that case it may be best to have students do Sarpasana instead.
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;51421]
Bhujangasana, as we do and teach it, does mandate that the hands press, the arms begin to straighten. This pose is a precursor to Ustrasana, Setu Bandha, Dhanurasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana and others. Yes it requires a more mindful student OR a more present teacher. And there should not be compression in the lumbar spine - the spine should curve uniformly in backbends. This is where actual teaching comes in. When a skilled teacher sees a student’s body and that body is lacking integrity in the pose, the teacher’s job is to intervene.
.[/QUOTE]
Not sure which school you are referring to. Most major ones in India, especially those based on Sivananda’s teaching - Kaivalyadham, Bihar School of Yoga etc, lay specific emphasis on the hands being only for lending balance. The muscles do the work. Using the arms is an invitation to hurt your back.