Movement as Medicine
As I’ve said before, I’m not one to talk politics. It’s not that I don’t have opinions; believe me, I do. Take healthcare for instance. I believe that we, the people need to take responsibility for our own health as best as we are able. I’m not talking Obamacare. Remember? I don’t talk politics. I’m simply talking about eating right and getting up and moving. Making these two changes can do wonders for your health. Lowering blood pressure, strengthening the cardiovascular system, boosting immunity, or even reducing stiffness in arthritic joints.
It’s been about two weeks since I’ve stopped all yoga and took up walking three times each day. My break from yoga is only temporary – allowing my overstretched, sprained ligaments in my low back, pelvis, and hip to heal. In the meantime, at my chiropractor insistence, I’ve taken up walking no less than 15 minutes at a time three times a day. This task initially was as painful and slow as ever. The 1st ten minutes of each walk was no fun at all and I was compelled to go for another 15 minutes after I’d gained relief from the troubled portion of my trek. Now, I look forward to my walks and go for 30 minutes or more at a time. I feel great, and I have put a bug in my chiropractor ear about my return to my yoga practice (what I can and cannot do upon my return).
As for walking, I think I’ll keep it up. The movement has been good medicine for me.
Look on the Bright Side
Living in California, I am blessed to be able to enjoy a bit of color and sunlight most days of the year. It helps me see the brighter side of things for, most often, there is indeed a brighter side. Sometime, it’s just hiding behind the clouds and you just have to have a little patience for it to reveal itself to you.
And when it does… enjoy!
just thinking…
There is a fine line we skate between listening to our body and pushing the edge in the name of growth. I have certainly made my share of mistakes in my years of marathon training, but yoga is fairly new to me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I am hitting a few obstacles as I attempt to step up my yogic game. Hello Screaming SI Joint, Wonky Hip, and Tender Sacrotuberous Ligament! OUCH! But it’s hard not ask, “what the heck…am I doing?” and “why?”
It’s more than my ashtanga practice, although I am currently wondering to what extent the heavy forward folding (spinal flexion) of the primary series has led to my repeat experience of SI joint separation/sprain. I’ve been here before; it’s not all ashtanga. And I’d love to believe that the ashtanga method could help me build strength in my low back, hip, sacroiliac joint, and all the ligaments that keep that joint functioning properly. I’m just not sure if now is the time.
Bigger than what type of yoga I practice is whether or not my path to teach is right…or whether the timing is. This injury and, more specifically, the actions that made it so extensive point out the fact that I have much more to learn about myself, the vulnerabilities of my body, in addition to the practice. Maybe now is the time to simply focus on strengthening my own practice, my body, and my understanding. Maybe I need to rethink all the rest.
Maybe…
I am not exactly thinking clearly these days.
a fine mess i got myself into
You know how when you are hurting,
And it feels like you need to stretch an area of your body…
Because it’s really, really, REALLY TIGHT?
Well, that was what I had been feeling these past many weeks.
I was stretching, and stretching, and stretching…
And still it felt like I was getting worse and worse and worse.
Tighter and tighter and TIGHTER!
Which, of course, comes with PAIN.
Apparently, the tightening was my body’s way of protecting me.
It was trying to help keep me stabilized by tightening.
And when I would stretch it out,
I’d become more unstable, more in pain,
and my body would tighten even more to try to help return to stabilization.
Until…
It just couldn’t do anymore.
My ligaments, like over stretched rubber bands, have been rendered useless.
And *I* did that to myself.
Making Modifications
Over the weekend I attended a workshop on hands-on adjustments in the standing poses from the ashtanga primary series taught by my amazing Ashtanga Teacher, Erika Abrahamian. It was a workshop geared towards yoga instructors but was also made available to students. The front end portion discussed the relationship between student and teacher and highlighted the importance of the communication being a two-way process.
Our instructor advised the teachers in the room to use all of his/her senses to be in tuned to the student. “If one is not fully present,” she advised, “injuries can happen.” Even if the teacher is fully present, injuries can still happen. Our instructor stressed the importance for students to let the teacher know when this does occur.
This last point, of course, made me think about my recent right sided back pain following a hands-on-adjustment (also known as an assist) in mysore. I did not report this injury to the teacher. She found out by reading my blog. Honestly, I put the blame on myself, for not keeping up with my practice, rather than her. So I didn’t feel it was important to tell her about it. After I returned to mysore, I saw how important this information is to both student and teacher. Her new found awareness of my SI joint instability, scoliosis, and year-long battle with back pain and sciatica has changed how she assists me in my practice. It’s been good — especially since my practice has taken a crazy dive bomb.