With yoga we are taught that it's your mat and your practice. But trust me once you get into that room and see the things others can do, sometimes it's super intimidating. I will use my experience as an example. I took a strong vinyasa class, loved it by the way. The teacher had us in three legged dog, then to lower down, lower down again and make a shelf with your arms, and then put your right knee to your right bicep and balance.
It's called the running man. We did twice on each side.
Well let's just say this is my segway to this blog.
I had surgery on my wrist in 2015. I had a ganglion cyst on the back of my right wrist and carpal tunnel syndrome. I was told by my doctor that I would probably never really be able to bend that wrist correctly again. Fast forward to 2018 and the start of yoga. There have been days that my wrist was tender but not painful. I shrugged it off, massaged it and looked forward to the next time I was on my mat. Now I am in a strong vinyasa class and pushing myself to the point I had so much pain in my palm that I thought I had a hot poker sticking through my palm through my wrist up my arm into my shoulder. Dumb huh? I fought back tears to finish the class because I could hear my Mom's voice saying, "You can do anything for an hour." At this point I just kept going and breathing and praying to the yoga gods.
Now here's the first lesson that I'd like to pass on, DON'T PUSH YOURSELF. Yoga isn't about that. Yoga is about finding tranquility, finding peace. Hurting yourself for a pose, well that is dumb; it caused me to second guess my yoga practice. If I can't do this pose how can I continue practicing yoga? Again dumb, huh? Once I arrived home I told my husband about it, he looked at me and said, "How many times have to done a running man?", my answer was never. His response was, "Then why beat yourself up? You said yourself you had to look around the room to even know what that was." I hadn't done running man nor had I heard of it, but because I wanted to be like the cool kids balancing on my hands I beat myself up.
Which leads me to lesson number 2. I am already one of the cool kids, I do yoga. 😉
Just because something isn't in your practice currently doesn't mean it never will be, nor does it mean it ever needs to be. As a reminder I only started yoga in August of 2018. I can barely make in through a whole barre class let alone balance on my hands. I can now do wheel, not for long, but I push up! I can do a shoulder stand and legs up the wall without a wall, and stay there relaxed. These are all accomplishments that I couldn't do when I started 6 months ago. Yoga isn't about what you can do, or how you compare to the person next to you. Yoga is about self discovery. We all want to be more flexible, stronger, agile, fluid but we've all lived. I've had two cesareans and a hysterectomy. All three used the same scar as a 'cut here' line. Those muscles are being built back slowly, and like my wrists, I have to strengthen them. I Googled wrist exercises this morning. I read an article that compared wrists to tequila, they always show up late, cause an issue and f*ck up everything. LOL!!
Below are two of the sites I looked at to help me gain strength in my wrists.
https://blog.paleohacks.com/stretches-to-release-wrist-pain/#
https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/exercises-to-strengthen-your-wrists/#gref
If there is a pose you can't complete or you are feeling out of touch with the pose being offered by the teacher, please please please, go into child pose. Each and every one of us has that day. Some days things just flow, others there are mudslides that cause obstacles. It's called a practice for a reason.
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly.” Proverb
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I cam changing myself.” Rumi
“The creation of a thousand forest is in one acorn.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” Bob Harper
“Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self control. Energy within and energy without.” Ymber Delecto
Welcome to Eight Limbs, EssentialZen Yogas’ blog. Here we will grow together and experience a warm inviting yoga community. Here everyone can be free to be yourself and let Eight Limbs guide you. And remember: Go without expectations. Set an intention. Breath. If you have any questions or comments, ideas or thoughts, things you’d like to see on the blog, things you don’t want to see please send me an email at ezblog.sarah@gmail.com.
Aurora’s Community Yoga Studio Meet peace, contentment, and strength amidst the warmth of community. Join us at our home studio in Aurora’s Depot District or at Signature of Solon Country Club. We look forward to welcoming you.
Classes Drop by for classes of varied styles and levels at our Aurora studio, located at 330 East Garfield Road. Enjoy additional classes and BARRE at EssentialZen Yoga at Signature of Solon Country Club, 39000 Signature Drive, Solon (Clubhouse open to all).
Workshops & Events Specialty workshops allow deeper study of yoga techniques and interactive exploration of life-shifting practices you can apply on and off the yoga mat. We offer a broad range of workshops, including Yoga 101, and special events, such as Bring Your Dog to Yoga, throughout the year. Please check our calendar for upcoming events and experiences.
Comments