On the last day of the training the topics were: exagerated spinal curves, kyphosis and lordosis, chronic lower back pain, asana series for diabetes, sacro-illiac joint stabilisation and vertigo.
The reasons why we want to minimize kyphosis (exagerated curve of the thoracic spine, ‘hunchback’) are not mainly esthetic but because it restricts the breathing, making it shallow. Aadil showed us a few exercises which, if done regularly, will reduce the curvature. They are shown in the photos below:
For lordosis (exagerated curve of the lumbar spine, ’swayback’), Aadil gave a very simple, yet effective exercises; pull the pit of the abdomen upwards and towards the spine while:
1. seated either in sukhasana (simple cross-legged), virasana (hero pose), or any preferred position;
2. in marjarasana (cat pose);
3. lying down with knees bent and feet on the floor.
For chronic back pain (where there is no acute problem such as prolapsed discs, inflammation, etc.), a few exercises were given.
Firstly, Aadil focused on the release of one of the hip-flexor muscles, psoas, which in most people, is very tight.
He also taught us one assisted twist which was originally taught by Mr. Iyengar. It is an amazing release for the lower back.
The diabetes series consisted of many twists with the aim to reach all the facets of liver, spleen, pancreas and gall bladder. The full series is very tough, including poses such as mandalasana (headstand position with the feet on the ground, walking around) and parsva sarvangasana (sideways shoulderstand). Since many people cannot do such advanced postures, there is a very effective modification for parsva sarvanagasana (see photo below).
For the sacro-illiac stabilisation, one of the exercises was designed to reset the SI-joint and to strenghten the muscles around it (see below).
For vertigo, the treatment was for the student to be in viparita karani (mild inversion) and the teacher putting his/her index fingers into the student’s ear canal and massaging in a circular motion. This was also originally taught by Mr. Iyengar.
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