Felisa’s Yoga

Hello Felisa,

Daily

Doing a few minutes most days helps reduce discomfort and helps you feel good. I suggest you do these poses in the morning after you have your coffee. I regularly update these lists as we increase your ability.

• Sit (seated vajrasana)
  Sit in the middle of a hard chair away from the back. Have your knees wider than your hips, shins vertical, and feet square on the floor. Place your legs so that you make no effort to hold them stable. Torso tall, shoulders over your hips, let your shoulders drop and elbows hang straight down, and rest your palms on your thighs. Look straight ahead in a way that helps you feel your neck straight and have no thought. Feel as you breathe, notice how all of you feels, for most of a minute. You sit this way to train your feel for how you sit; do not sit this way all the time.
• Forward fold seated (seated ardha uttanasana)
  Sit in the middle of a hard chair away from the back. Have your knees wider than your hips, shins vertical, and feet square on the floor. Tilt your torso forward from your hip joints and rest your forearms near your elbows on your thighs near your knees. Press your forearms firmly on your thighs, hold the press for a moment, then smoothly relax the press. Look down in a direction that helps you feel your neck straight. Rest into the pose for most of a minute. Then sit up smoothly with care.
• Forward fold standing supported (supported ardha uttanasana)
  Stand facing the seat of the hard chair. Tilt your torso forward smoothly from your hip joints and put your palms on the seat of the chair. Have your arms straight with your palms under your shoulders. Have your legs mostly straight. Press your palms firmly on the seat of the chair, hold the press, then relax it. Look down at the the seat in a way that helps your neck feel straight. Allow your back to relax into the pose for roughly 20 seconds. Stand up carefully: first bend your knees, then bring your torso up and look forward, then straighten your legs.

Before bed

Give yourself a few minutes before bed to ease and avoid discomfort.

• Stand
  Stand well for part of a minute. Leave the day behind. Look ahead in a way that you feel well balanced. Notice yourself and think of nothing.
• Sit well – Let the day go.
• Forward fold seated – Let your back relax into it.

Sleep

We need sleep to rest and repair. But it does not fully relax us. We have some tightening to protect us in our sleep. So like any animal, we should stretch a little when we get up.

Sleep on your side on a too soft bed and your pelvis will sink in and create an angle with your back and with your thigh. You want a bed with some superficial softness to increase the surface area of support but not so much softness that you sink in unevenly.

Sleeping in pain makes for poor sleep, makes you tighten up, and increases pain. Try different beds, perhaps firmer with a soft pad, and give each a few days to a week to find out how it works for you.

Sleeping with less comfort but also less pain can work better. Try sleeping in a reclined chair if available.

We want to sleep deep enough to dream for neurological repair. But if sleeping longer increases pain, it is better to have deep enough but shorter sleep, and then also have a long nap in the day.

Food

We will talk more about your digestion next time.

• Water
  Drink more water. Your cramps may come from having not enough water. Drink many small amounts of water throughout the day. Have only a small glass of water near or with a meal; avoid large amounts of water with food.
• Caffeine
  Have your coffee or tea, but not after noon. We process caffeine less well as we age. And the calmer you sleep the better for your comfort.
• Dairy
  Please try very much reducing all the dairy products you consume for the whole month of August to see if this helps your digestion.

Supplements

With age we absorb some nutrients less well. We don’t need most supplements. But with age a few can help.

• Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, & Vitamin D-3
  This may help reduce your cramps. These minerals and D-3 work together. Look for a supplement that provides 100% of the recommended daily value for each nutrient, and take that dose daily.
• Vitamin B12
  With age we absorb B vitamins less well from digestion. Look for a B-12 or B-complex supplement that provides 50 mcg of B-12. How often you need it is hard to judge, probably not daily if you eat a lot of meat. If the chiropractor suggests a B injection, get one.
• Vitamin C
  It is not the cure many people suggest it is. But we need it for tissue repair. If you eat very little of fruits and vegetables, take a low dose of vitamin C, like 500 mg, and take that dose a few times a week.

Finding

We can do things to help without finding the sources of your discomforts. But improving our understanding can help us be more specific.

I will guide you in ways of moving that will help us trace where you may have nerve compression. We will use specific ways of moving for you to feel inward.

Many of the discomforts you describe may connect to your sciatic nerves. Pain from sciatica usually comes from a problem with a disc. The chiropractor may request imaging. The chiropractor may also check how your sacrum aligns.

Covid infection can lead to neuralgia.

Have you had your A1C checked to check for diabetes?

Have you had the shingles vaccine? Shingles can also contribute to neuralgia.

Hip joints

With injury or age the cartilage around our hip joints can decrease. The chiropractor or we will check your comfort as you move your thighs through your range of motion. When we sleep or sit these joints can come slightly out of position. I will guide you in ways of moving to well seat and stabilize these joints.

Breathe

Pranayama is an old part of yoga that works on breathing. There are many techniques you can read about but please don’t experiment as some could harm you.

Pranayama can reduce tension and reduce the experience of discomfort.

Start by sitting well on a hard chair. Rest your palms on your thighs. Rock your pelvis slowly and feel yourself move and loosen your back.

• Closed nostril (nadi shodhana)
  Sit well. Hold your right palm in front of your mouth and let your elbow relax down. Close your right nostril with your thumb and take 10 normal breaths. Then take a few breaths through both nostrils. The close your left nostril with your forefinger and repeat the same number of breaths. Do this when you want, once most days.

Back

Try these poses when you have discomfort in your back.

• Standing reach (up downward-dog)
  I will teach you this next time; we will begin to work on your shoulders.
• Pyramid rest
• Knees up (gentle apanasana)
• Child’s pose (balasana)

Next time

I focus on how you move and feel as we work together and develop what we will do next. We will feel our way to refine and tune and go a little deeper, and I will introduce you to new poses that fit you. I look forward to working together next week.

• Stand to wuji with dhyana mudra
• Standing reach (up downward-dog)
• Forward fold standing supported (supported ardha uttanasana)
• Sit
• Breathing
  We start with closed nostril breathing (nadi shodhana).
• Forward fold seated
• Squat with chair (toward seated-chair pose)
• Pyramid rest
• Knees up (apanasana)
• Supine hip flexor extension
• Kneel (vajrasana)
• Child’s pose (balasana)
• Corpse pose

Future

I look ahead and connect and build toward what we will do together in weeks to come.

• Shift & leg rotate toward constant bear
• Seated spiral