Dear Yoga Chickie
Dear Yoga Chickie,
I have a "friend" who has a problem she is too embarassed to write about herself. You see, this "friend" practices ashtanga in a quiet shala, and this "problem" involves noise emanating from her lady parts. This tends to happen towards the end of her practice. My "friend" seems to have pretty good bhanda control, and she suspects that it could be a result of her using her bhandas (she believes that in pulling her abdominals in and up, she draws air up into said parts). Is that possible? Or is she not using her bhandas properly in the first place?
Any advice for my "friend"?
Signed,
NYC in NYC
Dear NYC/NYC,
Beats me. I have seen a similar question posed on EZBoard, and a lot of the answers seem to point to the yogini's moon cycle as the culprit (i.e., at certain times of the month, the cervix is more open than others). But to be honest, that doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense to me because I would think that the openness of the cervix is miniscule - maybe a centimeter at MOST, and anyway, if the cervix is the culprit, that would presume that the air that is being expelled is drawn up past the cervix and into the uterus. I doubt that is actually happening. I would think that the air that gets expelled is being pulled in only as far as the vaginal canal, and no further.
Of course, that doesn't answer your question, and it doesn't solve your "friend"'s problem.
But if any of my readers have any thoughts, it would be great to hear.
YC
6 comments:
I seem to find that I suffer the "same" problem, especially after handstand. I seem to think it might be the upside down nature of the pose, pulling the bandhas in and air getting stuck. In Child's pose, the breakthrough happens.... not sure what it is all about, but seems to just before my period... so maybe somehting to do with lengtheining of the cervix as the uterus is getting ready to contract and expel mestrual fluid!
I seem to find that I suffer the "same" problem, especially after handstand. I seem to think it might be the upside down nature of the pose, pulling the bandhas in and air getting stuck. In Child's pose, the breakthrough happens.... not sure what it is all about, but seems to just before my period... so maybe somehting to do with lengtheining of the cervix as the uterus is getting ready to contract and expel mestrual fluid!
Well, this is the bane of my yoga existence. I have been practicing for 6 years. I used to think it was because I had a baby, but I know sufferers who have no children. hmm. For me, it is cycle related. after about day 16, I start to dread pincha mayurasana and handstands. I don't worry about it in shoulderstand or headstand because i have found a way to get the air out without the noise (tricky me). But, with pincha, there's no avoiding it. ugh. I have no idea why it happens. I have a friend who is learning 3rd series and has practiced for about 13 years who says it has lessened for her over time. She attributes this to bandhas. My husband says if my ego was really not in my practice, I would not mind. Perhaps, but that's easy for him to say :). When I practice at home, I really just let rip and enjoy it. I am tossing around the idea just practicing at home when it's my noisy time. The worst thing about it is that it makes me approach parts of my practice with extreme hesitation and that doesn't help.
Unlikely that gas gets into the uterus. More likely it becomes trapped in pockets in the vagina around the cervix. Mucus becomes thinned around the time of menses, so it's possible that air that is sucked in and retained when the bhandas are held can be expelled when the bhandas release or relax during child's pose and all-fours positions.
Just a thought.
~HDJ
That is a GREAT thought HDJ!!! Thanks!!
Lauren
Hi Lauren!
I guess you haven't had that many opportunities to practice Swedish since leaving here, so no wonder you don't remember much! You almost got your word right, only it starts with an s...
Yep, I am a native swede, blogging in English as practice and trying to get better at expressing myself.
//TriYogini
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