Yoga And Pots

[jknh9]

I was wondering if any of you are yoga practitioners? Yoga was one of my favorite things to do once upon a time, and I've tried to keep up with light practice, but around the time I was diagnosed earlier this year, I noticed that doing yoga made me feel extremely ill and fatigued and I could do little afterwards. These days, I seem to have a slightly better tolerance for it, but some days I just can't do sequences with lots of ups and downs. I try to do only sitting poses, then only standing poses. My goal is (and has been) to work up to a great handstand, but I'm worried that won't ever happen for me because of the POTS. Today, I did a handstand prep pose with my feet up on the wall, and I lost my hearing-- that tinny, static-y sensation that happens before you faint.

If you do yoga, do you take a class? Or can you recommend DVDs for me? I can handle 30-45 minutes of yoga on good days. Right now I really like Shiva Rea's Power Yoga Flow DVD because it's programmable and separated into types of sequences.

How much yoga can you tolerate on a good day?

[misstraci]

Hi, I really enjoy yoga as well but haven't been able to find the time or energy for it here recently. On a good day, I can do about 45 minutes. About two weeks ago I did a yoga video for the first time in forever. It felt so good and peaceful, however, it was a very laid back routine. Not very strenuous whatsoever. I felt good afterwards but haven't done it since. I've never been to a class but have done several DVDs. I don't have a super awesome to suggest to you though, just wanted to say that I enjoy it and can do a good 30-45 minutes.

Good luck with your handstand, you can do! I think that sensation that happened is normal, maybe from all the blood rushing to your head, i get weird feelings like that if i just bend over ,so, hopefully its normal because I get that too.

[songcanary]

I think yoga is one of the most helpful things I have done since diagnosis. If I had known, I would have started decades ago.

Last year I started out in a class at the local wellness center. There were many, many times where I barely got seated and had to leave; I had nausea and felt lightheaded. It was a real pain to drive there and go back home. But I kept trying and now I can do over an hour of vinyasa flow. I go three times a week. I also attend the power yoga class but modify it because I can't handle that yet. Too much up and down for me.

Yoga also really helps my fibromyalgia as an added bonus. My legs are much stronger and I think it helps with the venous return. I love it. I would like suggestions on DVDs as well. I have a couple but they are not as good as the class I take.

[lizababy]

My doc said Yoga (and any form of stretching) is one of the best forms of exercise for me for a myriad of reasons. It is low impact and I am able to do "desk yoga" at the office if I want to.

Some days, I will just do a few basic stretches to keep my muscles working. When I am crashed (like right now - ha!), I actually spend a lot of time doing that basic pilates technique of pulling my belly button towards the floor (well, couch cushion!) and holding. When I feel better, I am more comfortable streaming yoga instructions through my gymbox.com account than going to an actual class. I tried going back to a class; however, my inability to control the temperature became a huge issue for me. It also allows you to work at your own pace, pause as needed, and stop to cool down if your body is not adjusting very well.

Edit to add:

songcanary, I use gymbox.com. I stream yoga and pilates instructional videos through a roku box to my tv (you can also watch them on your computer). They have a wide variety of instructional videos and add new ones for each categories each week. On the rare occasion that I actually have copious amounts of energy, I will watch a cardio dance video for about 5-10 minutes of workout :-)

[Chaos]

I taught yoga for 10 years before "getting sick" and have practiced since 1995. Had to quit teaching 2 years ago when I was incapacitated with POTS etc following surgery, a post op infection and Mono...all within 2 weeks. At that time I couldn't even tolerate restorative poses without ending up back in bed for a week. Depending on the day, I can now do about 30 minutes and be alright with it. I have gone back to classes (90 minutes) but usually left them feeling awful even though I could "do" them.

Now I just practice at home, sometimes using sequences from various books, sometimes going with my intuition. I like BKS Iyengar's Yoga, Path to Holistic Health book. It's a big one, but the last third of it is a series of sequences for various ailments. It gives reference page numbers for each pose so you can go back and look at details and what each pose is supposed to help. Another book I like is Yoga as Medicine by Timothy McCall MD. Again, he describes many various medical conditions and offers sample yoga practice sequences for them. The magazine Yoga Journal always has some sequences in them and you can get online and get more from them.

I think doing yoga was what kept me from having problems with this autonomic stuff for as long as I did. When I look back, I've had a lot of these symptoms for a long time but doing Yoga helped with a lot of them for years and years. When I read Iyengar's writings on the effect of each pose on the body, I'm always struck by how many of the poses really influence the autonomic nervous system and the organs and glands in the body.

As far as the handstand.... it's not unheard of for people to have odd sensations of various types when doing them. Ironically, handstand (especially those with your feet on the wall) was a pose I kept doing from the very beginning of my illness so when I couldn't stand upright, I'd go do a handstand against the wall to get some blood to my head.

I think the Yoga Philosophy, at least as I was taught, is to work as best you can toward your goal (handstand), but at the same time to remain completely detached from the ultimate result (whether you do it or not.) You'll get benefits from the practice whether or not you do the perfect handstand in time.

good luck and happy "dog pose".

[starby]

Yoga was what triggered my pots and put me in hospital. I was only doing light stretches. My advice would be to trust your body and don't do it if you are severely exercise intolerant like I am. Peeps with pots and M.E/CFS are often told yoga is good but in my case it wasn't.

[songcanary]

Thank you Lizababy and Chaos for that great info. Will use it this weekend as I can't attend class today, coincidentally.

[MightyMouse]

I take yoga classes at a studio usually 3 times or more a week. The classes range from 45 minute lunchtime classes, to intense 1.5 hour classes. My tolerance just depends on the day. Sometimes, I need to take rest breaks often, and other times, I can get through the entire class doing my maximum expression of the pose. I've found that, overall, it's improved my general health...and some poses are perfect for potsies...like chair. And, if you're in your mountain pose, and you're doing the muscle contractions correctly in your legs, you can help keep your bp stable. Sometimes when I'm having a dizzy day, I drop onto my knees instead of standing so that I can avoid the big bp changes that can happen when you go from folded over to standing.

And then there are days when my body wont comply and I have to cancel my class. Just follow the first Yama of Yoga: A Himsa... no harm.

[yogini]

I love the other responses to this post. I started yoga a couple of years after getting POTS and have no doubt it has helped me feel better. I wasn't interested at first, but a lot of people were telling me to try it. Then I got really into it and fell in love with it! It's even helped in other aspects of my life not relating to yoga - like dealing with stresses of work and family. This is great, because being worn down from stress makes us more vulnerable to a POTS spell.

I have done almost all of my yoga through a studio. If you find a good studio/teacher, they are very understanding and tell you to modify your pratice however you want. You can always sit out of any pose. I do have the OM yoga CD which is good, as well as the Yoga Shakti DVD (I think it's Shiva Rea) and you can pick and choose different segements ont he DVD to create your own practice.

The trick with any exercise is to push yourself gently. I think it's OK to have a few more symptoms after exercise, but if you're getting migraines, having to spend a day in bed, etc., then you're probably pushing too hard.

Doing some of the more active/challenging poses is great for building strength. But there are lots of ways to enjoy yoga seated or lying down which I think would have few if any effects on POTS. You can get in all of the different types of poses - forward bends, back bends, twists and inversions without even having to stand up. Legs up the wall is one of my favorites, and a great way to get blood back to your head. I could literally stay there all day sometimes!

I hope you find a way to do yoga that works for you.

Edited August 27, 2011 by yogini

[yogini]

By the way I am the least athletic person ever, but I can do a handstand and a headstand (against the wall). It just happens by itself whenever your body and mind are ready. Good luck!

[MightyMouse]

Yogini, Legs up the wall is one of my favorites too. My low back is out and that's one of the only poses that feels good right now--all the furniture moving upstairs in prep for the hurricane really killed me today (we're expecting to get the winds soon, been raining all afternoon).

I also like supported fish b/c I have constant spasms in my chest and upper back, and that helps to allow them to open a bit. Eagle also helps my upper back too. I sometimes struggle with downward dog, so I alter to puppy instead. I've found all the core work and isometric movements really help keep my bp better than other types of exercise. Most challenging poses for me are in vinyasas (for those unfamiliar, that just means careful transitions from move to move to move in a sequence, usually repeated a few times in a row). Most teachers run a vinyasa that involves bending at waist, doing some poses down on floor, then back to bending at waist then upright--If I'm going to get dizzy it's, of course, during the transitions from floor to upright. If the studio isn't cold enough or even if it's cold but doesn't have good airflow, it makes it even harder. Those are the times I'm on my knees instead of standing up.

And I WAS a very athletic younger person--ran cross country team all 4 years of HS, as well as track, was an avid hiker and camper, but can't do that any longer. Loved gymnastics and was really good, just didn't have the money for it. If there was any grieving for my former life, it was that I am less able to be active.

Nina

[abnel]

This is an interesting topic and thanks for raising it.

Unfortunately I am one person who has not responded well to Yoga. In fact Yoga was one of 3 things that triggered my fully blown POTS symptoms in 2009.

I am not familiar with styles of Yoga, however the one which set off my symptoms involved considerable bending at the waist with face/chest down towards the floor, lots of floor work but holding quite difficult positions over the floor, etc. Immediately after the class (and at times during the class) I felt very strange, my BP was all over the place, and from that moment on I slipped into a POTS hole. That's why I find it interesting that some of you say that Yoga actually helps stabilise your blood pressure, as the opposite has been true for me.

I tried to do a type of Yoga called "Dru Yoga" several months ago, but the room was very hot, no air circulation, incense was burning and I really couldn't breathe and felt light-headed. I then saw a Yoga practitioner for a one-on-one session and she had me practise a pose that me feel worse after and I had another relapse.

For those of you who can do Yoga, is there a type of Yoga that helps you/other Potsies? Are there particular styles that those with POTS would be best to stay away from initially?

[HopeSprings]

"Yoga was what triggered my pots and put me in hospital. I was only doing light stretches. My advice would be to trust your body and don't do it if you are severely exercise intolerant like I am. Peeps with pots and M.E/CFS are often told yoga is good but in my case it wasn't."

Wow, what?? How did yoga trigger POTS? What happened? I can't do yoga - it makes me feel lightheaded - I don't know if it's all the breathing, or the movements, but it makes me worse. And anything that lowers BP... not good for me.

[yogini]

I'd recommend hatha yoga over vinyasa. Vinyasa is the flow which has faster positional changes. Hatha is more like stretching.

When I started out, I only went to beginners classses. The poses are modified. So, for example, instead of doing plank pose, you drop to your knees. You always have the option of modifying in any class, but it is a lot easier when the class is slower and filled with people who themselves are learning, injured, etc. And if you go to the back of the class, noone will even see you! I wouldn't go to an intermeidate or even open level classes, especially if yoga has triggered your pots symptoms in the past. As for hot yoga, I have never tried it. It can be dangerous, even for people who don't have POTS.

I couldn't exercise more than a few minutes when I first got sick, and I have built up in 5 min increments. If you have gotten sick from yoga, it might be best to do a DVD at home instead of trying whole class and just pick the poses that look easiest. That being said, yoga may not be for everyone, I agree. If you want to try it (or any other kind of exercise), I think going slow is the key.

[Chaos]

Just to add to Yogini's good advise...I'd also stay away from Astanga yoga. That is also a flow type of yoga. Personally I have EDS, so any of the "flow" type practices are not good for me. They require you to move through various poses so quickly that I don't have time to check all my joints to make sure they are in ok positions.

If you have any studios near you, you could check to see if they have a "yoga therapeutics" class. Those are specifically taught for people with various health issues and tend to be more gentle classes usually. "Restorative yoga" classes are generally very gentle. You are supported by lots of props (blankets, bolsters, blocks, chairs, whatever..) and then you stay in a position for some length of time. It's a very relaxing practice.

Finding the right teacher would be very important I think. A lot of gyms have trainers who take a weekend course in yoga and get "certified". That's a really scary thought to me. For people new to the practice, I kind of don't like to recommend videos because what you think you are doing vs what you are really doing is sometimes vastly different. It's good to have a very knowledgeable teacher who can watch to make sure you're doing things right. HOW you do a pose is really important to avoid injuries.

[abnel]

Thanks for the tips re avoiding Yoga with fast positional changes. Having experienced a style of Yoga where we were doing lots of transitions from what felt like a push-up position for much of the class, I'd have to agree with you.

I might check out the different poses you guys seem to be able to tolerate and see if they are the sort of thing I might be able to build up to.

[cmreber]

I was doing yoga for a little while once I started trying to get back into exercise. Always before I was too hyper for yoga and opted for kickboxing, but POTS definitely changed that! I was going to a studio just once a week and the instructor knew so had the condition & helped me find the modifications I needed to be able to make it through an hour an a half long class. I'd have to say for the most part it was something I could do...with a few exceptions here and there (or if I was having a bad POTS day). I had to stop going around July because it just gets too hot in the studio in the summer and that really aggravates my symptoms, but come fall and winter I'll be going back for sure. The best thing you can do is listen to your body. If you can tolerate something then keep doing it, and if not maybe modify and try something different. And don't be too hard on yourself! The first thing I had to learn was patience and giving myself a break when I couldn't do something I used to be able to. But as I have kept at the mild exercise thing I have noticed some definitel improvement and I've been having a lot more good POTS days. If you go to a studio just let your instructor know and maybe they can help you make the most of your time there. And I'm rooting for you on that handstand! Hope things get better for you

[yogini]

Yes, ashtanga is supposed to be invigorating. It has the complete opposite effect than what I am looking for. I leave my yoga classes feeling relaxed and calm. Often my hr is lower than when I walked in. I have had a real problem doing cardio in the past bc I couldn't get my HR to slow down after. So ashtanga is definitely not for me!

And I agree that having a good teacher makes all the difference. Teachers need to explaina and be gentle and compassionate. I've walked out of class before bc someone adjusted me by pulling my ponytail or stepping on my foot. When you have proper alignment, you are less likely to get hurt and you get more from the exercises...and they are a lot easier.

I am not a yoga teacher, so I defer to others here who are. I am so jealous. I would love to do a teacher training someday!