   
Location: London, England | Hi Erin,
This is something I copied off the internet-it's very difficult, but don't give up! You may consider doing it with the knees on the ground until you are strong enough. It may be that with a stronger core, you may be able to attend a yoga class-the strong core will allow you to hold onto a neutral spine more successfully, without a strong core you may not be able to stop the spine from hyper-extending.
I'll go more in-depth later, got to get my son to school!
Nick
How to conduct the test
The Core Muscle Strength & Stability Test is conducted as follows:
• Position the watch on the ground where you can easily see it
• Assume the basic press up position (elbows on the ground) - as in the picture above
• Hold this position for 60 seconds
• Lift your right arm off the ground
• Hold this position for 15 seconds
• Return your right arm to the ground and lift the left arm off the ground
• Hold this position for 15 seconds
• Return your left arm to the ground and lift the right leg off the ground
• Hold this position for 15 seconds
• Return your right leg to the ground and lift the left leg off the ground
• Hold this position for 15 seconds
• Lift your left leg and right arm off the ground
• Hold this position for 15 seconds
• Return you left leg and right arm to the ground
• Lift your right leg and left arm off the ground
• Hold this position for 15 seconds
• Return to the basic press up position (elbows on the ground) - as in the picture above
• Hold this position for 30 seconds
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Location: London, England | Hi Erin Jean,
Sorry to only get your name half right in my first post. I was in a similiar situation to you when I started in that I had crippling back pain and no access to yoga classes-this only lasted a couple of months and then I started Iyengar yoga classes. The problem for people like you and me is that one of the main reasons for doing yoga is gains in flexibility. The question is, how do we gain flexibility, in, say, the quadriceps, without de-stabilizing the lower back? As you hinted at, the answer is to strengthen the core muscles (abdominals, pelvic floor, multifidus, and the diaphragm). It is important to realize that strenghtening the core is not enough-life and exercise consists of movement, so that is neither possible, nor desirable, to attempt to keep the spine in perfect alignment when we attempt exercises. What is desirable, however, is to use the core stability work that we do to act as the reins do on a horse-to guide, limit, and protect both us and the horse (ourselves and our spines). In this way, when you do postures that extend the spine, and if you decide to go to a yoga class, you will ineveitably end up doing so, you will not let the spine extend as much as it can, but will stop just short of a range of motion which will damage your spine rather than nurture it.
Learning how to limit the spines movment in this way is called kinaesthetic awareness-our ability to detect and monitor changes in the position of our body segments. This has the advantage of giving the quadriceps and hip flexors a greater stretch, as you learn to tilt the pelvis to keep the spine closer to neutral, so that the attachments of the hip flexors and quads to the spine and pelvis are fixed-allowing you to stretch them much more effiectively.
You mentioned inflexibility in the hamstrings and wanting to not hyper-extend your spine-most yoga postures will not work on these two precepts at the same time-touching your toes will tend to stretch the hamstrings, and backward bends will tend to stretch the hip flexors. You will have to watch yourself in the forward bends as well as in the extensions, as hamstring inflexibility will tend to mean that you flex your lower spine to achieve the postures more easily. The core stability work will help with your kinaesthetic awareness of this. Good luck!
Nick |
| Gosh, I think taking a class from a well-trained and experienced yoga teacher is your best bet. I don't mean to be nosey but how come you can't take a class? Is it location? I am surprized to find yoga offered in small towns everywhere. In fact, that's where I've taken some of my best classes.
Anyway, getting back to you, I just don't want you to hurt yourself. To me, yoga is the best form of physical therapy! If your doctor prescribed conventional physical therapy to you she (or he) would refer you to a trained P.T. to teach you how to do the exercises so you don't hurt yourself and so you get the most benefit out of them. If your first experience with yoga is positive (with all the great side benefits) then you'll probably end up practicing yoga for life. If you have a crummy experience and hurt your back more then it will forever be a thing that caused you additional aggravation. It's good to have a teacher watch your form, to remind you of your breathing and give you small pieces of advice with big (and good) consequences.
Well, I don't mean to be a pain in the tukus. Good luck on your journey!
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pars defect
