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What if I have a medical condition?

have bad knees. I experience knee pain. Can Bikram Yoga help me?

I have degenerative disc disease (or bulging or herniated discs). Can I still do forward bends?

My back hurts after I practice Bikram Yoga. Do you have any suggestions?

Should I still practice if I have back problems?

Should I still practice if I have Arthritis?

Should I still practice if I have Asthma, Emphysema or Chronic Bronchitis?

Should I still practice if I have high blood-pressure?

Should I still practice if I have a heart condition?

I've started getting a sore neck (knee, shoulder, lower back) what's going on? What should I do?

I have Mesothelioma, can Bikram Yoga help me?

I have bad knees. I experience knee pain. Can Bikram Yoga help me?

Whether the knees are arthritic or injured, Bikram Yoga may possibly help. Bikram developed this practice after his knee was crushed by a 300 pound weight. With his guru's help, he recovered and developed this specialised series of yoga poses. You must move the knees to get circulation to them, and Bikram's Yoga helps you do this.

So how should you proceed? Make sure to listen carefully to the alignment instructions in each posture. When you are told to keep your feet parallel in standing postures, please do so. A half-inch in either direction away from parallel has its effects all the way up the knees and into the hips.

In standing balancing postures, it is also important to keep the standing foot straight and the standing knee pointing straight ahead. If your knee bows back (hyperextension) you should bring the weight forwards towards the toes so as to engage the quadriceps muscle ("lock the knee") and lift the kneecap upwards. This action brings the leg into one line and brings true strength to the knees.

When you are bending your knees in any of the standing postures, keep the knees directly over the feet. This will ensure that the knees and hips are strengthened evenly inside and out.

In Triangle Pose (Trikonasana), when you are told to push your hips forward as you bend your front knee, this will keep your hip in line with your knee in line with your foot. This is also good for even strengthening of hip and knee joints.

In some of the standing postures , it might be very difficult to bend your knee to a 90 degree angle. So do the best you can without creating pain. Better to keep proper alignment bending 1% than to go 100% in poor alignment.

In the floor postures , notably Fixed-Firm, Half Tortoise and perhaps Rabbit, it might be difficult for you to bend your knees enough so that the hips sit on the heels. You may have to begin from a position up on your knees, instead of kneeling and modify the postures by opening your knees to get your hips to the floor. With time your knees will improve in flexibility and strength.

To test your knee flexibility, keep lots of weight in your hands and bend the knees gradually to the point (but not past) of pain. You must be able to relax and breathe in the posture, holding it steady, for anything to happen. As the pain decreases and you start feeling more comfortable, you can gradually take the weight out of your hands and allow more pressure on the knees. Eventually you'll be able to go all the way into the posture, and you won't even remember the time when you couldn't even sit down!

You'll find that little by little your knee pain goes away and soon you'll realize that you can walk, climb up and go down stairs, even run a little without pain!

I have degenerative disc disease (or bulging or herniated discs). Can I still do forward bends?

Generally, doctors recommend not doing forward bends with such conditions. With degenerative disc disease, improper forward bends can cause slippage of the vertebrae. With herniated or bulging discs, in forward bends, the bulge can press onto the spinal nerves creating pain.

Backward bends are recommended for building strength in the spine and spinal muscles and they have the added advantage of taking the bulge away from the spinal nerves, relieving pain as well as toning the digestive system and strengthening the breathing.

However, it is important to learn to bend forward properly. At the beginning, learn to fold forward safely. Experiment gradually increasing the strength of your pulling on your heels in forward bends. Do not cause pain with this pulling--you must back away from pain. Also, don't do sit ups while in the acute stage of your condition--roll over onto your side to sit up.

Your practice of what you can do will gradually enable you to do more and more of the series as your back strengthens. Expect to practice regularly for the best results.

My back hurts after I practice Bikram Yoga. Do you have any suggestions?

Please follow the instructions carefully when you are doing forward bends. For example, in the Half Moon - (Padahastasana) series, the instructions are to bring your torso on your thighs, chest to the knees, no light space anywhere between the torso and the thighs. If you try to straighten your legs without having this first part accomplished, you can create pain in your lower back. Also keep in mind the instruction "360 degrees stretching." What that means is to make the stretch even throughout the whole back side of the body.

You also want to follow these guidelines in Separate Leg Stretching. Bikram says, "Suck in your stomach and bend your upper body down from your lower spine towards the floor." It is difficult to suck in your stomach unless you exhale, so make sure to exhale as you fold forward. When you suck in your stomach, it supports the whole pelvis to roll forwards with the rest of your spine--this eliminates strain in the lower back.

Working carefully, mindfully, allowing your breath to flow with your movement will help you to gradually deepen your experience of the postures.

Should I still practice if I have Back Problems?

Picture your spine as a series of ball bearings (vertebrae) one on top of the other, each separated from the next by a cushion (a cartilage disc). When the spine is shiny and new, all the ball bearings are smooth and round, moving freely in all directions, and the cushions are strong and thick. Now picture your daily activities. In one position after another, probably ninety-five percent of the time, that spine is leaning forward.

What is happening, then, is that each vertebra of your back is compressing its cushion in a frontward flexion direction. This goes on year after year until there is no resiliency left in the front of the cushions, while the two sides and back have grown weak and slack from disuse. In addition, lack of movement has made the bearings rusty and barnacles have developed. The result: backache, stiff neck, headache, and countless other complaints.

The cure: exercise! Make the spine work so that resiliency and strength are restored to each cushion, so that the rust and barnacles are worn off the ball bearings, so that an X-ray would show them smooth and round, sitting snugly on their fat, renewed cushions.

Beginning with Half Moon, this series of exercises is designed to make your shocked and shriveled spine work to both sides, to the back, and then to the front. Only by exercising in all directions can your spine be healthy; and only with a healthy spine can you have a healthy nervous system.

If your chronic problem is something such as sciatic pain, lumbago, sore back muscles, whiplash, vertebrae out of line, shoulder trouble, radiating pains down the arms, tension headaches, swayback, spinal curvature, pinched nerves, or "something not quite right that the doctor said I ought to watch," stop watching. Act! Get to work on these exercises. Even those who have had spinal surgery should get to work--with their doctor's okay and a qualified teacher who can lead them in this particular series of exercises.

People with "slipped discs" are often in such pain that Yoga seems like further torture. However, in numerous disc cases, determined Yoga can save the day. So endure the pain. But please note that those with disc injuries should also work under the supervision of a qualified instructor using this series of exercises.

As you can see, the best thing is to adopt a Yoga regimen before any of these troubles develop--for if you do, they probably won't develop.

Should I still practice if I have Arthritis?

Yoga may help arthritic conditions. That is, it may relieve symptoms. This is not a miracle; it is common sense.

Many people think arthritis occurs because of an overabundance of calcium in the body. But there is really no overabundance. The problem is that the calcium is deposited as a form of calcium phosphate in the joint-tissue, including the spine. At that point, the calcium phosphate deposit begins to build layers in the joint until no room is left for the joint to pivot smoothly in its socket.

Rheumatism? It is closely related to arthritis. You have only to do your Yoga and you may be free of rheumatism.

Sadly, the theory seems to be that with advancing "age" one should "slow down," "take it easy," don't exert yourself or do too much exercise. And if you get something like arthritis, take it even easier, don't move, except to open your mouth to swallow the latest pill being offered as a cure. This advice is simply more nails for an earlier coffin.

Exercise, meaning daily Yoga practice, maybe the answer you are seeking for your condition.

Should I still practice if I have Asthma, Emphysema or Chronic Bronchitis?

Without knowing the cause of your asthma, we can tell you that Bikram Yoga will be good for you in several ways. It is done in a warm room, which promotes relaxation of the muscles and nerves, and is the type of exercise that you can do with as little or as much intensity as appropriate for your needs.

In other words, you can do each posture with less effort if you're concerned about overexertion triggering an attack, or you can sit down and rest whenever you need to during the class.

It will relax your mind and help let go of tensions, toxins and negativity. It also strengthens your heart and lungs, improving your lung function. You will breathe easier and deeper than you ever have before.

With High Blood Pressure?

Unstable high blood pressure responds so quickly to diligent Yoga practice that doctors sometimes doubt their instruments. (This quick response of the blood pressure is one of the most telling demonstrations of Yoga's ability to regulate and synchronize body systems.) If you are tested about a week after starting Yoga, you may see a slight rise in pressure. Don't be alarmed. By the second week you may notice an improvement in your blood pressure that may continue as long as you maintian your yoga practice.

Consult your doctor, use common sense, and don't push hard in any of the poses for the first three days. The poses in which high blood pressure patients must continue to exercise caution until their blood pressure checks out normally are: the backward bending portion of Half Moon Pose, Standing Bow Pulling Pose, Balancing Stick Pose, Cobra Pose, the third part of Locust Pose, Full Locust Pose, Bow Pose and the Camel Pose.

Depending on the severity of your condition, the postures mentioned above should be done for a count of no more than five (count to five in your head), building to ten counts after two weeks. If you are supple enough to do Fixed-Firm Pose to the complete expression of the posture the first few days, limit that to five counts as well. Be absolutely sure to rest between each set. It is also essential for heart patients to breathe normally during the postures. As for the Bow Pose, (in the floor series) you must never perform the pose without a qualified teacher present (i.e. don't do this at home!).

Care is needed because the majority of these postures are backward bending positions that create pressure in the chest, and thus on the heart. Do not eliminate them however as they are the very postures you need to help your condition. Take it easy when you start and gradually put more effort into the postures as your blood pressure reduces.

Should I still practice if I have a heart condition?

If you have been diagnosed with a specific heart condition, it is necessary to speak with your specialist before beginning any new exercise program. The Bikram practice may offer benefit to people with cardiovascular issues by strengthening the heart muscles and reducing blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

I've started getting a sore neck (knee, shoulder, lower back) what's going on? What should I do?

Any physical movement may potentially result in soreness, but it is important to understand the difference between "physical exercise" and "yoga". Physical exercise is the use of the body to achieve a goal at any cost. A good example of that is any competitive contact sport. Players continually put their bodies on the line to achieve the goal of winning. Yoga, however, is using the body to heal. Your practice may be undoing a lifetime of bad habits, and uncovering chronic injuries that you are now pushing against. It's peeling back the years, a process rarely without pain. But remember, your body is incredibly forgiving, and the yoga will help your body find a healthy equilibrium. Try to move in and out of every posture slowly and with awareness to test your limits, so you are able to stop before bad pain. Practicing at a level of manageable discomfort is good, as you allow the heat and postures to work the healing process. And remember never, never, never be afraid of raising any concerns with the teachers - you may be just trying a posture incorrectly. Please ask! Speak with your teacher, and keep doing the yoga.

I have Mesothelioma, can Bikram Yoga help me?

Patients suffering from mesothelioma have seen an increased quality of life, renewal of energy and even improved survival rates thanks to yoga practice. In addition, incorporating yoga into a mesothelioma treatment regimen, which might include treatment for pain and discomfort, provides the added emotional relief needed during a stressful time.

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