Just Picture It: Giving Up Up Dog

Although this image of upward facing dog is beautiful, think about what she's doing to both her cervical and lumbar spine! Eek!!! Image via kristiekahns.com

Can you imagine a yoga practice without upward-facing dog, or urdhva mukha svanasana? Yeah, neither can I. 
But, for the next little while, I'm giving up up dog. Sigh. Inspired by my new Chiropractor (Dr. Moses, who is amazing, btw!!!), who thinks there is hope for my body after all and that "we can get this healed up real soon," I've decided to take a holistic approach to getting better--which includes giving up poses that may be aggravating my injuries. One of the perpetrators? Upward-facing dog. At least I think. So I'm mourning this pose. Not forever, but for now.  I've already practiced without it twice, and I'm doing okay...

I've also made time in my schedule for daily icing of my lower back, tennis ball pressure point exercises (intense!), and trips to the Chiropractor for adjustments. Sometimes, you just can't ignore your pain--or your body--anymore, and you must work to heal yourself. So that's what I'm doing.

My advice to you? If you're suffering from any sort of  pain, or are noticing any sort of tweaking anywhere in your body when you practice, begin to really pay attention--even if it's minor. What poses are causing the pain? Why might that be? Ask your teacher to look at your alignment, and see what could be causing it, or if there is a pose you should be skipping in your body. Upward-facing dog is a beautiful pose that can feel amazing, but for people who are super bendy in their lower backs (like me), taking a deep version of this pose, over and over again, can definitely put pressure on the lumbar spine and cause some issues over time. Just something to think about for those of us who practice almost every day. Yoga is healing and powerful and wonderful, but it is still a physical activity with a number of repetitive movements--a very important thing to remember for our dear bodies.

So here's to a day of listening to your body!

Now I'm off to paint :)

Namaste,
Mary Catherine

PS. Please look at what I found when I was looking for a good upward facing dog picture (below).  The caption read, "What's up dog?" 

I don't know why, but I think this is the funniest thing ever. 

Image via piccsy.com