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Dizzy Spells

Segovia Smith

SS_dizziness_03.16.09.JPGWhen I first began my yoga journey nearly eight years ago, I was introduced to a form of hot yoga – a modified version of Bikram in a 100° room. At that time, I found that during most of my yoga classes I would become dizzy, occasionally to the point of having a near blackout.

I just assumed this was a normal part of yoga. Then, after stopping for a few years, I convinced myself that it was just “a hot yoga thing.”

But I don’t find this to be the case either, because nearly every time I attend a yoga class, whether it’s in a heated room or not, at one point or another I find myself losing my balance. The world goes fuzzy and I really have to try to stabilize and ground myself in order not to collapse on my mat.

I consider myself healthy – I eat well and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Most people would look at me and say that I appear fit. So I’m curious to find out why I keep getting these dizzy spells during yoga.

Today, I managed to narrow the problem down a little further. I find that in nearly all occurrences, or at least 90% of the time, I get dizzy during the transition between ‘Uttanasana’ (forward fold) and ‘Samasthiti’ (standing prayer pose).

Once I realized this, I got to thinking that perhaps the standing prayer pose has more purpose than I first thought it had. The instructor often has us do this pose after we’ve done a ground/mat routine or a sequence of Vinyasa sun salutations or forward folds.

Perhaps this is by design, as it’s a way to ground ourselves before we continue with our practice. Part of me wonders, though, if this dizzying reaction isn’t a result of the fact that when I attend class, the pace of the class makes me practice my yoga faster than when I practice yoga on my own. Even when following along with a video, a studio class generally seems to have a faster tempo to it (unless of course it’s a Yin yoga class).

Am I alone in this? Or does anyone else experience this sense of dizziness?

If you know of any other explanations for this somewhat strange occurrence, I’d really appreciate it if you could share them with me.

Namaste.

[tags]dizziness, hot yoga, Bikram, vinyasa, sun salutations, yoga class[/tags]

Author: Segovia Smith

Segovia is not only known as one of the forerunners of the Internet Marketing world, but is also highly recognized and respected for his accelerated learning and teaching style. He began his career developing for the web in 1996.

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