Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017 13

LOOKING BACK TO FACE MY SCOLIOSIS

BY VICKY GROGG

I 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-

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

many people with scoliosis, I thought I was done or “fixed,” and

I put the whole experience behind me.

Nearly 25 years later, I found myself experiencing lower back

pain on my left side. It wasn’t debilitating, but it was annoying

and present all day. After trying unsuccessfully to find relief in

yoga and looking for answers in books that explained back

pain as an emotional trigger, I went to a primary care physician

who was familiar with yoga.

During my office visit, the doctor immediately saw my spinal

curves and reminded me that they were significant and likely

contributing to my pain. He determined that X-rays and other

diagnostic testing wasn’t needed. Instead, he summed up by

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

had been practicing Iyengar Yoga for 15 years.

The doctor prescribed physical therapy to strengthen my core

muscles and told me to keep practicing yoga but to stay away

from deep back bends until my back felt better. The physical

therapy exercises were intended to strengthen my back and

core muscles, and I found some of the movements similar to

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana and Salabhasana. They helped

me a little bit but not enough to keep paying for the physical

Elise Browning Miller uses a strap to adjust author Vicky Grogg in Ardha Uttanasana.

14 Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017

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

Yoga (formerly Julie Lawrence Yoga Center) in Portland, OR.

Intro to Yoga for ScoliosisThe promotional flyer for Elise’s workshop, called “Intro to Yoga

for Scoliosis,” promised the class would identify the different

types of scoliosis and “how to adapt yoga poses with breath

awareness to improve structural alignment and relieve pain.”

Eager to find a break from my ongoing pain, I quickly signed up

for the workshop.

At the beginning of the three-hour class, Elise explained the

four typical patterns of structural scoliosis, which are caused by

uneven growth to the sides of the vertebrae during the juvenile

and teenage years, deformities at birth, or as a result of an

accident. Structural scoliosis may be diagnosed at any time

from birth into young adulthood. Most cases are diagnosed

during adolescence. When X-rayed, if the spine shows a lateral

(or sideways) curve of more than 10 degrees, it is considered

scoliosis. However, imbalances usually are not noticeable until

the curve is more advanced at 20 degrees or beyond.

Next, Elise went on to differentiate structural scoliosis from

functional scoliosis, a condition that can cause pain and

influence the spine after years of repetitive action but is not a

congenital spinal distortion. Once everyone in class understood

the various patterns of scoliosis, she helped us identify the

pattern of scoliosis we each have so that we could modify

poses based on the specific location of the convex and

concave curves of our spines.

To identify everyone’s curve pattern, Elise asked each student to

bend at the waist for the Adams Forward Bend Test, an

accepted method to determine structural scoliosis. When it was

my turn, my mind went back to the day in middle school when

the gym teacher did the same test, and I was sent to stand with

the small group who needed further evaluation. As Elise traced

my curves with her index finger, I remembered the physician

explaining where my curves are and how my spine also twists

closer to my lumbar.

Elise suggested that I had a “right thoraco-lumbar” pattern, or

what’s commonly known as a “C” curve. It’s the longest of the

four major curves and the curve starts at the bottom of the

shoulder blade and arcs down into the lower back. When I

looked at the picture in the handout she provided, my X-rays

from so long ago and the shape of my brace came flooding back

to me. It all made sense. Yes, this was definitely my pattern.

Some people in the class were already intimately aware of their

curves, citing the exact degree of each bend (a measurement

called the Cobb Angle Measurement taken by a physician, the

severity of which determines whether a brace or surgery is

recommended). Yet just as many people were like me, choosing

to forget they had any spinal deformity until pain forced us to

remember.

It was cathartic to see so many people in the same room who

live with scoliosis and struggle daily with compression and

discomfort. And it was humbling to see so many people coping

with spinal curves far greater than mine. Most important, it was

a relief to know that even basic yoga asanas can help if they

are practiced accurately for your pattern of scoliosis.

After 40 years of teaching and practicing yoga, Elise knows that

yoga can help alleviate pain and symptoms of scoliosis.

However, she makes it clear that yoga does not and should not

replace your doctor’s recommendations. She is also careful to

tell teachers not to give medical advice to their students.

Instead she advises, “Give empathy, not sympathy, to your

students. Empower them to do something for themselves.”

Lengthen, Breathe, and StrengthenAs Elise taught, the importance of lengthening, breathing, and

strengthening a body with scoliosis became clear. She

suggested that we lengthen our backs by using a rope (or a

strap around a doorknob) around our hips and stretching our

torso and arms forward with our hands on a chair. As space is

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.

Students lengthen in a variation of Utthita Trikonasana at the wall, a pose that is beneficial for all curve patterns.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017 15

created, you can slowly take your hands to blocks and

eventually the floor.

In her new book, Yoga for Scoliosis: A Path for Students and

Teachers (www.yogaforscoliosis.com), Elise presents another

method of lengthening a back with scoliosis, called the “Three-

Part Kitchen Sink Pull” (see sidebar). This trio of modified

poses—Downward Facing Dog, Chair, and Garland—can be

done anywhere there is a sink, and it works as a simple way to

get spinal traction. I feel instant relief from pain when I do this

and have incorporated it into my daily practice.

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

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. Working with the rope

has noticeably changed the pose for me. It’s still not my favorite,

but it’s one I no longer dread.

In hindsight it seems obvious, but difficulty breathing is an issue

that I never related to scoliosis. I regularly hold my breath and

can attribute irregular breathing to stress and anxiety; however,

my physical make up may also contribute to an unevenness of

breath. Looking at X-ray photographs of ribs in people with

scoliosis in Elise’s book and handouts, it’s clear how the ribs

can be affected by scoliosis. Typically one side of the ribs is

collapsed while the other side is overextended. This imbalance

creates breath restriction on one side and usually leads to the

opposite lung taking on the majority of breathing duties.

Lengthening and practicing breath awareness or pranayama

every day is important for everyone, and it can be especially

helpful for people with structural scoliosis.

Finally, Elise shared poses that strengthen core muscles and

our backs. A couple of the asanas reminded me of the physical

therapy poses I was given years ago but stopped practicing.

Returning to poses such as Salabhasana and Setu Bandha

Sarvangasana with my rediscovered “curve awareness” is

helping me build strength and stamina in areas that are weaker

from my scoliosis.

Elise ended the workshop by sharing one of her guiding

principles, “Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you

CAN do.” They say you find teachers and the lessons you need

only when you’re ready to hear them. Thirty years after being

diagnosed with scoliosis, I think I’m finally ready to listen.

Vicky Grogg took her first Iyengar Yoga class in 1996. She

lives in Portland, OR, with her husband, dog, and two cats.

IN HINDSIGHT IT SEEMS OBVIOUS, BUT DIFFICULTY BREATHING IS AN ISSUE THAT I NEVER RELATED TO SCOLIOSIS.

THE THREE-PART KITCHEN SINK PULL Poses for spinal traction

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