Alternative Poses

[purpletopaz]

Hi fellow yogis,

I come to you all with a question. I have a medal plate in my head replacing a part of my skull from a brain surgery i had years ago. I'm not allowed to put any weight on my head. No headstands, no wheel pose, nothing like that. Nothing where there is any pressure on the crown of my head at all. I am cleared to practice inversions so long as they are forward facing (i.e. downward facing dog), but not backward where i could slip and fall onto my crown (i.e. fish). My instructors aren't so great yet at remembering to give me an alternate pose that acomplishes the same opening or release as some of the poses I can't do.

So, I come to you all for suggestions. For example, much of the time I do bridge instead of wheel, but that is starting to get boring as I'm also using it for fish. I'm clueless what to use in place of headstands. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Right now I'm going either into downward dog or child's pose which are both far from my ideal. I know I'm forgetting other poses I can't do. So, if specifics come to mind, please volunteer them. I haven't been doing yoga all that long - about a year. So my pose name retrieval is still rusty.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

I'm clueless what to use in place of headstands.

Dolphin? It gives you a similar effect in the shoulders and some inversion.

ETA: There's also an Iyengar-style modification of headstand which uses stacks of foam blocks or two chairs under the shoulders so there's no contact between the head and the floor at all; that might be an option if your teachers know it and are able to help you get in and out of it safely.

[muck_a_luck]

To replace the backbend and quad opening components of Wheel, you could use Camel and Bow. You can take Bow pretty deep using a strap. And check out Lucas Rockwood's awesome video on Camel, which can get pretty intense if you can develop this practice.

[muck_a_luck]

Sorry! Replied to the wrong "Reply" button! :D

[willful_zephyr]

If you are flexible enough for it, there is
Upward-Facing Staff (Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana)

A bigger opening than Wheel, but lower to the ground.

[muck_a_luck]

Check out this article on hand stand. In particular, in the section about handstand preparation, Build Your Foundation, she suggests: "Ardha Adho Mukha Svansasana (Half Downward-Facing Dog Pose)—standing with your legs perpendicular to the floor and bending forward to place your hands on a wall a little above hip height—is one of her favorites. Bending and straightening your elbows not only helps you find just where the tight spots are in your shoulders, it also helps you discover how actively pushing with your arms and hands can help open those knots. And keeping the spine extended in Half Dog, instead of sagging where it's most flexible, helps you learn to maintain the same integrity in Handstand."

[daedala]

Yoga Journal has poses categorized:

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/finder/browse_categories/backbends