discomfort after inversions

[Questioner]

I have been practicing yoga for approximately 4 years now, and spend time doing pranayama, asanas, deep relaxation, and meditation each day of the week. I have noticed that when I do inversions, I often feel like my back and sides are being compressed afterwards (this has been going on pretty much since I began practicing yoga). However, I do not always experience this, but most of the time I do. It makes it difficult to breathe, because it can be uncomfortable. If I lay on a soft surface after inversions (like a couch), then the discomfort goes away, but no matter what position I lie in on the floor (back,stomach, side, etc.) after inversions, I still get the backache. It happens in my lower and upper back and sides. It goes away after approx. 10 minutes and then I feel O.K. again. I have done spinal twists (supine position), and forward bends after, yet they do not alleviate the discomfort. Do you have any suggestions for what I might be doing wrong in the inversions, or what I can do to prevent this? It mostly happens during sarvangasana and sirshasana. Namaste, J

[Mukunda]

From your description it sounds like you are experiencing the effects of a weak latissimus muscle. It runs from the shoulders to pelvis and is the primary muscle to contract during both shoulderstand and headstand. I would recommend you develop it by doing cat bows. This is pushups from cat position-done while keeping the elbows close to your sides. Optimal is to built this up to a comfortable 20 repetitions with chest not head coming to ground. Details are in Structural Yoga book page 179. I give this as a preliminary practice for all wanting to do full shoulderstand and headstand. I find that without sufficient strength here these are unsafe poses. Half shoulderstand is safe for all provided they follow directions in my book. Namaste