My Name is Imran. I am from Saudi Arabia. Have heard miracles of yoga from my indian friends and coligues. i am hoping to have a miracle in my life as well since i have been diagnosed with “slip disk” at L5 S1 and have been in pain and numbness of right foot.
i believe that yoga can help me but unfortunately i do not have any expert available here. I look forward to have some good help from the community here.
Keep on smiling!
Imran
Hi Imran,
welcome to the forum. It is wonderful that we can communicate and connect from all over the world!
Hello and thank you for joining us all here at yoga forum… Your first miracle has already happened. Perfect…
Welcome to the forum!
Hello Imran and welcome,
There is a lot of information offered here on L5 S1. It is the most common spot for low back issues. Use the search function and look for Mukunda’s advice and recommendations. I am not sure the specifics of your issue, but here are some links to get you started if you are interested in seeing what is already here that might be helpful:
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/lower-back-pain-565.html
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/lumbar-discs-317.html
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/sciatica-herniated-disc-703.html
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/protruding-l-5-a-45.html
If you have more questions, please start a new thread with information on your injury in the Q&A on Yoga Practice and Yoga Therapy and people will offer you what they can.
Kind wishes,
I sincerely thank all of you to welcome me on this forum.
Nichole: i saw those links but think that i will have to read some material to understand yoga terminology. Can anyone guide me in that.
Googling terms will give information and context for Yogic terms. In addition to that, I think there many here who will be happy to help you with the yoga terminology. I am going to move this over to the other forum where it will get more viewers and then you can ask whatever you’d like. Because I’ve trained with Mukunda, I may be able to offer some insight into what he has offered if what you’ve read has produced more questions about your specific injury. While this forums was established to share Mukunda’s work, his traveling and teaching schedule is now substantial and he is on less. InnerAthlete is another wonderful source here at YogaForums for therapeutic Yoga and I hope he will add his recommendations too.
Imran,
Can you please provide more information about you.
How old are you? Are you male or female? What is your fitness background and general health? What sort of work do you do. Do you work normal hours? How is your diet, in specifics not generalities? Have you had an MRI for the diagnosis you state?
Yoga therapeutics, especially when dealing with issues of vertebral disc dysfunction, is quite complex, involved, and must be exacted with great care and mindfulness. I advocate this been done in synergy with a highly trained and competent teacher. Just as you would not perform your own surgery, so to would you not perform your own yoga therapeutics.
Of course after working with a teacher you should, ideally, learn those things which you can do on your own to heal this issue in the lower back, both physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
Thanks InnerAthlete for your valuable insights.
I m a 37y male. almost all my life never had a healthy lifestyle. remained an excellent athelete and brilliant cricket player till my late twenties and also played occasnally after that but most of that was on natural talent without any workout. IN FACT I HAVE NEVER SEEN A GYM NEVER BEEN TO A SWIMMING POOL IN MY LIFE SO FAR. i feel that the only sorry in my life.
Health has never been good especially after 1996’s jaudice which took a while to be diagnosed. Digestive system has never been good. blood pressure always howered around 60/100 till last few years.
Last couple of years had been worse: diagnosed with Anterior Osteophytes at C4,C5,C6; polyp in gallbladder; weight increased from 70kg (which had been my normal for years) to 75kg; and now this L5 S1. Though i had started a little excercises occasionally and also started playing cricket recently yet it seems that i may need to follow some fitness program now on.
I m an IT professional so work in the office but never sit for more than an hour continuosly. work in two shifts of 4 hours. 8am to 12pm and 4pm to 8pm.
Yes a had an MRI which clearly shows a disk bulge at L5 S1. The chiropracor is of the opinion that my increased tummy is also a big factor for that as it is causing my backbone to pull toward front in the center and hance causing a steep angle at L5.
As far as yoga expertise is concerned, unfortunately there is none in the rigeon am m living in. In fact yoga practices are deemed controversial here in saudi arabia. Even i cannot get any CD or material imported whcih clearly mentions that it is about yoga.
Internet is the only medium for me to learn and practice yoga, if possible.
Welcome on joining this forum
I have myself L5s1 problem in back.I am doing yoga for seven to eight years.The deformity is still there but stabilised moreover i am always fit.I do yoga and follow all dos and donts for back problem.But i love doing yoga it gives serenity and peace
Yoga helps to cope up physically your problem.Asanas and pranayam really help makes your internal system to work in a better fashion.
Please get a person who knows yoga very well.If possible buy swami ramdevs CD on yoga especially for these problems but under a trained person.
Doctor have told me my condition will worsen after baby and what not.But i am fine.Till the day of delivery i was doing yoga and had normal delivery.
do not expect miracle, slowly slowly you will recover and will be able to live normal life
wish you all the best.
If the student is unwilling to amend the yoga of diet and the yoga of lifestyle, then the yoga of asana will likely NOT remedy the situation you outline.
Thanks Rashmi to share your experience. Good to hear that yoga and following Dos and Donts haelped you. My problem here in Al Khubar, KSA is the availability of a trained yoga person. I tried but could not find one. I will try to get swami ramdev’s CD but it has to be brought here by someone personally due to strict saudi laws.
BTW can you share with me your yoga program and the Dos and Donts u have been observing. In fact i am visiting pakistan after a couple of days and there i know one old man who knows yoga very well. there i can discuss about my program and the excercise program if i have by then.
Thanks
Imran
InnerAthlete: I have never said that i m not ready to change my lifestyle. I rather wanted to emphasize the fact that i am ready to change 180 degree and thats the reason i am here on this forum. one more reason to give so many details was to tell u the state i am in, so that one may advise me the preliminary things to start with.
I need a direct help here because of unavailability of any expert near me.
thanks
Hi Imran,
Yes, Saudi laws are very strict, but what is the chances that you can order books on the internet perhaps? I think a book might help you more than a DVD, sometimes all the finer details are not explained or mentioned in the DVD. It is also difficult to describe the lenghty and sometimes intricate yoga asanas here on this forum to somebody who has no access to a teacher. There is a wonderful book called: [B]Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by H. David Coulter[/B], which will not only explain which asanas you can use for your problem, but it also looks as the physiology and anatomy of your body explaining all the finer detail.
Then I would like to recommend the following book which beautifully explains each asana with all its effects, benefits, contra-indications and most importantly what asana should follow each other in order to balance each other. Remember yoga is all about balance between left and right, back and front, top and bottom etc. the book is called: [B]Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.[/B]
These books are both available from VEDIC BOOKS at very affordable prices and they courier it off to you, which may help you to over come the strict laws of your country and you can study them at your own time and in your own privacy. Both books will add to you understanding of yoga in general as well. 
Hi Pandara
Thanks for your reply. In fact I am looking for good books. I contacted Mukunda as well to ask him if i can download a document. but he was not available. I am right now trying to make a channel to buy some recommended books via dubai. once it is done i will place on-line order to ship the books to dubai. from there the books will need to be brought here in saudia personally.
Yes I completely understand you did not say you were unwilling to change. I was also not asserting you had said such a thing:-)
If you are unable to access a yoga teacher then it will be a very challenging path. I will not say it can not be done but I cannot conceptualize how to do it over the internet alone.
You may choose to travel to see a teacher for some private lessons, or attend some workshops on the lower back and spine. Or you may choose to relocate if this yoga work really calls to you and it is unavailable there.
Many of the issues with the lumbar spine can be traced to issues with hip flexors in spasm. I speak specifically of the iliopsoas. Additional if the sacrum is unstable and the sacroiliac joints are loose or the ligaments supporting the integrity of the SI joint are loose, then there would be some additional work to stabilize the sacrum.
From a dietary standpoint, relative to Purna Yoga we begin with students by asking them to avoid CATS; caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and sugar. At the point where the student is abel to do such a thing we would then ask them to grow the list of foods TO eat and the list of foods NOT TO eat.
[QUOTE=imranbinyousuf;8436]InnerAthlete: I have never said that i m not ready to change my lifestyle. I rather wanted to emphasize the fact that i am ready to change 180 degree and thats the reason i am here on this forum. one more reason to give so many details was to tell u the state i am in, so that one may advise me the preliminary things to start with.
I need a direct help here because of unavailability of any expert near me.
thanks[/QUOTE]
spinalhealth.com has general exercises for lower back pain and the treatment of slipped disks, sciatica etc.
It doesn’t talk about straightening the curve in the spine, and then re-curving as IA mentioned, so I don’t know if it is truly suitable for your condition. It may be worth a look though.
Dear brothers and sisters,*
I am sorry to hear about your pain, I had same thing I hurt my back at work in November 2010, pain start at my lower back and shooting down my left leg, I went to one of the spniologist he said to me that I have my lower disc dislocated he put it back on but pain didn’t go away long story short I went back to him 5 time because it wasn’t helping and at the meanwhile I went to my doctor he give me lots of different *tablets ( I was visiting a acupuncture place I have been there 3 time and went to see Physio but nothing helped ) for about 7 weeks but they didn’t help I got the Xray done for my left hip and lower back then I went for an MRI we got the result within few days, it was L5 S1, then went to see a Neurosergine he looked at my report and the image of my MRI he knew what the problem was he said to me straight we have to do surgery. I didn’t have any insurance and the surgery it was going to cost me between €5000 to € 8000 ( I am living in Ireland that’s why I used Euro currency ) I didn’t had that much money my pain was getting worst minute by minute my wife couldn’t see me in that pain anymore so she decided to take me to public hospital we went to hospital they checked my reports and all those tablets that I have been taking for almost 2 months, because I was in so much pain the Neurosergine said that we can’t let you go home in this condition so they took me in ( Thank God ) they did surgery last month on 16/02/2011. They kept me in for 10 days altogether, but discharged me 3 days after the surgery, this my third week now after the surgery I feeling better now. The only reason I am writing this long story is because I have been through that pain and I know that was the most painful thing ever happened to me, I am stil recovering it takes some time about 6 weeks or so to recover. So if you are feeling the same pain get an MRI done straight way and your doctor will send you to a Neurosergine and do exactly what he recommend to you don’t wait or delay it’s very important to make sure your back is ok because we only have one back. By the way I am 28, this can happen to any one at any age. Hope this will help you to make up your mind what to do. Look after your self and people around you please pray for my good recovery may our Lord solve our problems Ameen. Thank you for reading. Imran