LOOKING BACK TO FACE MY SCOLIOSIS BY VICKY GROGG Elise Browning Miller uses a strap to adjust author Vicky Grogg in Ardha Uttanasana. never thought of my scoliosis as that bad. Yes, I wore a brace to straighten my spine throughout most of high school, but it was a space-age plastic design that extended from below my chest to just above my hips, the type that I could hide under my clothing. I became skilled at selecting artful and loose clothes—something easy to do in the mid- I 1980s—to conceal the fact that I was wearing a bulky contraption 23 hours a day. After three years of wearing the brace, I was finally free of it. Like contributing to my pain. He determined that X-rays and other many people with scoliosis, I thought I was done or “fixed,” and diagnostic testing wasn’t needed. Instead, he summed up by I put the whole experience behind me. saying, “Because of your scoliosis, you would be in a great deal of pain if it weren’t for your regular yoga practice.” At this time, I Nearly 25 years later, I found myself experiencing lower back had been practicing Iyengar Yoga for 15 years. pain on my left side. It wasn’t debilitating, but it was annoying and present all day. After trying unsuccessfully to find relief in The doctor prescribed physical therapy to strengthen my core yoga and looking for answers in books that explained back muscles and told me to keep practicing yoga but to stay away pain as an emotional trigger, I went to a primary care physician from deep back bends until my back felt better. The physical who was familiar with yoga. therapy exercises were intended to strengthen my back and core muscles, and I found some of the movements similar to During my office visit, the doctor immediately saw my spinal Setu Bandha Sarvangasana and Salabhasana. They helped curves and reminded me that they were significant and likely me a little bit but not enough to keep paying for the physical Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017 13 AS LIFE BECAME BUSY, I RELEGATED MY LOWER BACK PAIN TO A LOW PRIORITY ON MY LONG TO-DO LIST AND FORGOT ABOUT MY SCOLIOSIS. therapy sessions that were not covered by my insurance. Again, as life became busy, I relegated my lower back pain to a low priority on my long to-do list and forgot about my scoliosis. Fortunately, I recently had another opportunity to tune into what my body was trying to tell me—this time in the form of a yoga workshop. Elise Browning Miller, who has an MA in Therapeutic Recreation and is a senior Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, was coming to teach at the studio where I regularly take classes, Jewel Students lengthen in a variation of Utthita Trikonasana at the wall, a pose that is beneficial Yoga (formerly Julie Lawrence Yoga Center) in Portland, OR. for all curve patterns. Intro to Yoga for Scoliosis Elise suggested that I had a “right thoraco-lumbar” pattern, or The promotional flyer for Elise’s workshop, called “Intro to Yoga what’s commonly known as a “C” curve. It’s the longest of the for Scoliosis,” promised the class would identify the different four major curves and the curve starts at the bottom of the types of scoliosis and “how to adapt yoga poses with breath shoulder blade and arcs down into the lower back. When I awareness to improve structural alignment and relieve pain.” looked at the picture in the handout she provided, my X-rays Eager to find a break from my ongoing pain, I quickly signed up from so long ago and the shape of my brace came flooding back for the workshop. to me. It all made sense. Yes, this was definitely my pattern. At the beginning of the three-hour class, Elise explained the Some people in the class were already intimately aware of their four typical patterns of structural scoliosis, which are caused by curves, citing the exact degree of each bend (a measurement uneven growth to the sides of the vertebrae during the juvenile called the Cobb Angle Measurement taken by a physician, the and teenage years, deformities at birth, or as a result of an severity of which determines whether a brace or surgery is accident. Structural scoliosis may be diagnosed at any time recommended). Yet just as many people were like me, choosing from birth into young adulthood. Most cases are diagnosed to forget they had any spinal deformity until pain forced us to during adolescence. When X-rayed, if the spine shows a lateral remember. (or sideways) curve of more than 10 degrees, it is considered scoliosis. However, imbalances usually are not noticeable until It was cathartic to see so many people in the same room who the curve is more advanced at 20 degrees or beyond. live with scoliosis and struggle daily with compression and discomfort. And it was humbling to see so many people coping Next, Elise went on to differentiate structural scoliosis from with spinal curves far greater than mine. Most important, it was functional scoliosis, a condition that can cause pain and a relief to know that even basic yoga asanas can help if they influence the spine after years of repetitive action but is not a are practiced accurately for your pattern of scoliosis. congenital spinal distortion. Once everyone in class understood the various patterns of scoliosis, she helped us identify the After 40 years of teaching and practicing yoga, Elise knows that pattern of scoliosis we each have so that we could modify yoga can help alleviate pain and symptoms of scoliosis. poses based on the specific location of the convex and However, she makes it clear that yoga does not and should not concave curves of our spines. replace your doctor’s recommendations. She is also careful to tell teachers not to give medical advice to their students. To identify everyone’s curve pattern, Elise asked each student to Instead she advises, “Give empathy, not sympathy, to your bend at the waist for the Adams Forward Bend Test, an students. Empower them to do something for themselves.” accepted method to determine structural scoliosis. When it was my turn, my mind went back to the day in middle school when Lengthen, Breathe, and Strengthen the gym teacher did the same test, and I was sent to stand with As Elise taught, the importance of lengthening, breathing, and the small group who needed further evaluation. As Elise traced strengthening a body with scoliosis became clear. She my curves with her index finger, I remembered the physician suggested that we lengthen our backs by using a rope (or a explaining where my curves are and how my spine also twists strap around a doorknob) around our hips and stretching our closer to my lumbar. torso and arms forward with our hands on a chair. As space is 14 Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017 IN HINDSIGHT IT SEEMS our backs. A couple of the asanas reminded me of the physical OBVIOUS, BUT DIFFICULTY therapy poses I was given years ago but stopped practicing. BREATHING IS AN ISSUE Returning to poses such as Salabhasana and Setu Bandha THAT I NEVER RELATED TO Sarvangasana with my rediscovered “curve awareness” is SCOLIOSIS. helping me build strength and stamina in areas that are weaker from my scoliosis. created, you can slowly take your hands to blocks and eventually the floor. Elise ended the workshop by sharing one of her guiding principles, “Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you In her new book, Yoga for Scoliosis: A Path for Students and CAN do.” They say you find teachers and the lessons you need Teachers (www.yogaforscoliosis.com), Elise presents another only when you’re ready to hear them. Thirty years after being method of lengthening a back with scoliosis, called the “Three- diagnosed with scoliosis, I think I’m finally ready to listen. Part Kitchen Sink Pull” (see sidebar). This trio of modified poses—Downward Facing Dog, Chair, and Garland—can be Vicky Grogg took her first Iyengar Yoga class in 1996. She done anywhere there is a sink, and it works as a simple way to lives in Portland, OR, with her husband, dog, and two cats. get spinal traction. I feel instant relief from pain when I do this and have incorporated it into my daily practice. THE THREE-PART KITCHEN SINK PULL Poses for spinal traction During class, Elise taught new ways to think about familiar poses such as Parivrtta Trikonasana, Prasarita Padottanasana and Bharadvajasana and how different movements and different focus points influence the curves in our backs. For example, in Prasarita Padottanasana, I need to bring my hip back strongly on the left side to lengthen my back evenly. While many teachers have told me to take my hips back in this pose, those instructions made more sense to me after I gained a clear understanding of the curves in my spine. Another “aha” moment for me came when we did Parsvottanasana. For the past couple of years, this has been my favorite pose to 1 avoid. I don’t feel pain while in the pose, but I always feel lower back discomfort on my left side after I come out. I shared this with Elise, and she suggested that I do the pose using a rope around both hips in an effort to lift and stretch back the left hip. Because of my pattern of scoliosis, my left hipbone is higher than my right hipbone, and this naturally creates a shorter left side that is challenging for me to correct on my own.