To not expect to put my neck out during a yoga class?

[user1477282676]

I know IABU but I'm so annoyed! I went to a "Beginners Dru Yoga Class" on the weekend and during the class (2 hours!) I was aware that my shoulders felt tight...this feeling happened right at the start of the class...as soon as we began to move.

I carried on thinking it would ease up and it did....or so I thought!

I woke up the next day with the left side of my neck sort of locked and really painful.

Today it's even worse! I thought a beginners class would be gentle? It only had 2 others in the class so she should have corrected me if I was doing something wrong? Or AIBU?

[user1477282676]

I'm in South Australia :D it's bloody hot here....but thanks. I know what you're saying.

[user1477282676]

Thanks for all the good advice and help. It's a lot better today! I spent a bit of time lying flat and doing gentle arm stretches etc and it seems to have freed up!

Re hypermobility I don't know if it's that exactly...I don't have those super weird finger joints or anything...I'm just a bit "loose" as in I can touch my palms flat to the floor when touching toes and do the splits etc.

My shoulders do seem rather "flappy" if you know what I mean....

[MsJamieFraser]

You should have stopped when you felt uncomfortable, no ones fault but your own, you should know your own limitations.

[CurbsideProphet]

It's a bit crap, isn't it Yamadori?
User I've been doing yoga for 12 years and sometimes a particular class just isn't for you. I went to a class once where suddenly she had everyone doing shoulder stands, without any preparation or checking about injuries etc Half the class went out rubbing their necks!

[Yamadori]

She didn't adjust anyone's posture or give any corrections at all during the entire class? Not good.

[Shellym13]

I do classes every day , the instructor always says work to your abilities. You can't blame them if you over did it and didn't stop when it hurt. There's a clear difference between uncomfy and painful.
I hope you recover and build it up next time.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I'm certainly not someone who would find basic, intro yoga too much!

Do you think you might just be a bit pissed off it was harder than you thought?

[CustardShoes]

Flexibility requires care & strengthening work with good technique & alignment. I'm extremely flexible, but this tends to make me over-push, and be a bit slapdash about technique sometimes. For example, I can do a forward fold, put my palms flat on the floor, and bend my elbows (nose on knees) with straight knees. But if I don't do other kinds of strength work to balance this forward flexibility, I can get grouchy hamstrings, even though they're not actually 'tight.'

[InTheRedTent]

Just seen you mention you are very flexible - do you have hypermobility? This is the one question I ALWAYS ask verbally even to students who have done their registration forms because it's one they can forget. If you are hyper mobile only ever work to 80% of your range to avoid damage, past this it's a false flexibility and making your movements unstable.

[InTheRedTent]

Different styles work for different people, it depends if you are looking to work on your physical flexibility or a more holistic approach where your whole movement practice is a meditation. Dru works wonderfully for some people, but it is difficult mentally to adjust to if it's your intro to yoga, in many ways I'd recommend it for someone deeper into their yoga journey and moving away from asana a little into the more mental benefits yoga brings.

A teacher should always correct if you're doing something dangerous or obviously damaging to your body, however some teachers are more likely to give postural adjustments than others. Most teachers will give verbal cues to the whole group, rather than a hands on adjustment, because saying 'Emma, can you pull back your right hip it's too far forward' will not only make many people uncomfortable, but also Emma might well be already aware her hip should be back, but due to her anatomy she is doing the best she can and actually is already really pleased that it's so much further back than it was 6 months ago. Go to the same teacher regularly and they will start to know the bodies of the students in their class, who struggles with which joints, who has tightness in which places, but for a new student unless your teacher has been aware of specific issues they won't know if something isn't right for you unless you tell them, I will remind my students throughout the class, especially in a beginners session, that you should feel a stretch, but never pain. If something hurts, pull back to the last place you were comfortable. Dru generally is a very gentle form physically, so I would imagine this is an old injury or tightness that has been exacerbated rather than a dangerous pose that was too advanced for a beginner, although it is possible that your neck wasn't fully mobilized during the early stages of the class.

[WaitrosePigeon]

Pigeon I'm 44. I've used all my muscles by now at some point I'm sure.

Not necessarily, especially in yoga.

You must speak up next time if something doesn't feel right. Yoga is all about what is good for you.

[user1477282676]

Pina that's an interesting point. I am VERY flexible. Maybe I'm over extending all the time!? I've never considered that.

[YelloDraw]

if people stop every time they're "uncomfortable" then how on earth do people make changes?

There is 'uncomfortable' as in I am out of breath and my muscles are tired, and uncomfortable as in my knee is hurting and is getting worse with every step. One of those would make me stop.

[mickeyjohn]

Yabu. At the age of 44 you should be able to know enough about your own body to stop if something doesn't feel right. You were at yoga, not joining the marines! I'm sure it'll be fine with a few days rest - with only 3 in the class, any decent instructor would have told you if you were obviously doing something wrong. It's more likely to be a weakness/imbalance in your body & nothing to do with her class - you need to take some responsibility for what you do - harsh but true!

[ifyoulikepinacolada]

If you're very flexible that's probably a huge part of the problem OP. Apart from that I agree with everything lordemsworth said above.

[CustardShoes]

if people stop every time they're "uncomfortable" then how on earth do people make changes?

Well, think about it sensibly: you start to learn to distinguish between "good" pain - not really pain, just exertion, which might feel as if it's painful if you're using muscles, joints, ligaments etc that you're not accustomed to using. This sort of pain-but-not-really-pain is actually just your body adjusting.

Then there's real pain which is about damaging yourself.

A yoga class is the place to make adjustments to accommodate real injury or impingement, but also to stretch the capacity of your body. Of course that will seem to "hurt" but it's not really pain.

What you did was probably to exacerbate an injury - if you're not used to exercising, you may not have realised you were carrying an injury.

[ItShouldHaveBeenJingleJess]

I don't think you can complain, but I do understand about the not stopping because it feels uncomfortable - I had a running partner who told me I had to 'fight through the pain' or I'd never improve (the pain included breathlessness and throwing up!).

Needless to say, I don't run any more....

[user1477282676]

Curb no she didn't!

[YelloDraw]

She just talked a lot...nothing about checking or saying to mention it if something hurt...or even to stop if something was uncomfortable!

Oh come on, are you five? You KNOW to stop if something hurts!

[CurbsideProphet]

At the beginning of the class did the instructor ask if anyone had any injuries, or slightly dodgy areas? With only 3 in the class it's really silly that she wasn't taking it slow and going round checking everyone was ok. Around here you can have a 1:1 class for £30, so that might be an option if you are keen to try again with a proper instructor

[Sirzy]

I'm not unfit, but I am still aware of my problem areas and so make sure any instructor is too. That way we can work together to make sure chance of injury is reduced and if possible the exercises help strengthen problem areas.

[LordEmsworth]

The thing is, your original shoulder problem might have been fixed and come back because you have a habit of doing a repetitive action which overworks one part of your body. So if you only fix the symptom but not the cause, it will be a recurring injury... And I don't believe one yoga class can "fix" anything, so tend to agree with your DH...

Some yoga teachers aren't trained to correct or adjust. I teach Iyengar yoga, which puts a lot of emphasis on correcting and adjusting - if you want to try yoga again I'd suggest trying an Iyengar teacher, maybe contact them beforehand and talk through your experiences/expectations to get a feel before you go to class. I would really strongly suggest asking any yoga teacher if they're trained to adjust you before you let them - a bad adjustment is worse than no adjustment...

[Chippednailvarnishing]

I put my neck out washing my hair once, if you have pre-existing issues you need to tell the instructor before the class.

[user1477282676]

Sirzy the thing is, I'm not that unfit...I'm very flexible for my age and keep myself active. I'm certainly not someone who would find basic, intro yoga too much!