Had a great regular class with my teacher today (I need to come up with a pseudonym I guess, since 'my teacher' applies to more than just her...)
I should first say that I discovered why I was feeling so terrible again yesterday, after having been on the upswing the day before - my body does not appreciate large amounts of vitamin c. I got some emergen-c, for the first time ever, thinking it would be a better alternative to something like gatorade because it had electrolytes and vitamins but not the sugar and fake stuff. While that logic is probably valid, I can't see how people use multiple packets of it in a single day. I was feeling very nasty with just one! Fortunately before I had any this morning I decided to use the google machine just to see if there was anything I should know about it. 1,000mg is a lot of C. Unsurprisingly, too much. Nevertheless, lesson learned!
It was wonderful to be doing yoga today and feel good. And also to be in the presence of so many great yogis who want to be in class, and have great energy, and to have such a great teacher. I realized that one of the greatest things about the teachers I have, and the classes I go to, and the yoga community I am a part of is the pure love that is shared. Every teacher loves teaching, every student loves the inquiry, and we all have a shared love of yoga. But it isn't just love as a passion for this common activity or path, it is love in a compassionate and human sense. It is interconnectedness and investment and respect. It is the balance of our humanity and our appreciation of our shared mortality, and also and intense positive recognition of what is possible.
The balance of light and dark, male and female, sun and moon. Hatha.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Sivananda, Day 14
It's a fine line between helping and hurting, and when you are ill or in a compromised state of health it is really important to know your body, know your current state, and know about the type of yoga you are about to practice.
I woke up yesterday feeling weak, dry, and uncharacteristically stiff. The stiff joints were the red flag, as I almost never have this problem. My knees didn't were heavy, my hips hurt, and my right foot was irritable. My shoulder, however, felt okay. I spent the majority of the day sleeping and hydrating. When it came time to head out to my usual sunday class, I took a long pause to consider whether that would be the best thing for me after doing 'damage control' all day.
Swami Sivananda was a medical doctor who, after receiving training in yoga, developed his own approach to yoga as a holistic way of living. Sivananda has a focus on relaxation and wellness, and was developed (as I understand it) so that anyone can practice yoga.
In my usual sunday class, we go through probably 12 postures, beginning and ending in savasana and also going back to savasana throughout the sequence. We spend several minutes in each pose, and the atmosphere is calm and relaxed. For this reason, I decided to go. Knowing that some of my health problems are tied in to the nervous system, one of the things that is most helpful in recovering is to use yoga to balance things back out. While I was low on energy through the class, I did feel more aligned afterwards.
I would not have practice astanga yoga feeling or being in the state that I was yesterday. I probably would not have practiced hatha either, at least not a full sequence or class. The more I study yoga, philosophy or physical tradition, the more solid I feel in my information and ability to practice appropriately. And in practicing appropriately, I am able to get to know my body and mind better, and unify my intellectual capacity with the more tangible aspects of practice.
It's all a lesson in the importance of practicing your yoga; we go to classes in studios with dozens of other people, or watch reknowned yogis practice on dvds or in books, and we are constantly approaching these from the perspective of 'oh, so that's what I should be doing.' The reality is, each of those practicioners, reknowned or unknown, is practicing his/her own yoga. We can observe this as an example of yoga, but we each have to decide what yoga is right for us individually in the present moment.
I woke up yesterday feeling weak, dry, and uncharacteristically stiff. The stiff joints were the red flag, as I almost never have this problem. My knees didn't were heavy, my hips hurt, and my right foot was irritable. My shoulder, however, felt okay. I spent the majority of the day sleeping and hydrating. When it came time to head out to my usual sunday class, I took a long pause to consider whether that would be the best thing for me after doing 'damage control' all day.
Swami Sivananda was a medical doctor who, after receiving training in yoga, developed his own approach to yoga as a holistic way of living. Sivananda has a focus on relaxation and wellness, and was developed (as I understand it) so that anyone can practice yoga.
In my usual sunday class, we go through probably 12 postures, beginning and ending in savasana and also going back to savasana throughout the sequence. We spend several minutes in each pose, and the atmosphere is calm and relaxed. For this reason, I decided to go. Knowing that some of my health problems are tied in to the nervous system, one of the things that is most helpful in recovering is to use yoga to balance things back out. While I was low on energy through the class, I did feel more aligned afterwards.
I would not have practice astanga yoga feeling or being in the state that I was yesterday. I probably would not have practiced hatha either, at least not a full sequence or class. The more I study yoga, philosophy or physical tradition, the more solid I feel in my information and ability to practice appropriately. And in practicing appropriately, I am able to get to know my body and mind better, and unify my intellectual capacity with the more tangible aspects of practice.
It's all a lesson in the importance of practicing your yoga; we go to classes in studios with dozens of other people, or watch reknowned yogis practice on dvds or in books, and we are constantly approaching these from the perspective of 'oh, so that's what I should be doing.' The reality is, each of those practicioners, reknowned or unknown, is practicing his/her own yoga. We can observe this as an example of yoga, but we each have to decide what yoga is right for us individually in the present moment.
Yoga with James Brown, Day 13
I am always amazed at the power of the mind.
I wanted to write that sentence to say "I am always amazed at the power of yoga" which is true, but in this situation inaccurate. Up until the moment I left my apartment this morning my body was absolutely falling apart. Having a chronic health problem, it is easy to forget how much of the situation is mind over matter. How I react to what is happening has a huge impact on how bad things get. And today was no different. It was pretty much like being in a building when the fire alarms are malfunctioning. The alarms just keep going off, evacuating the building, for no real emergency. And knowing that I had 4 hours of yoga, at least one of which would be really intense, ahead of me I was getting really worried.
I debated about whether to even go. Somewhere between knowing that I have to make the responsible decision for my body, and also that often the very thing I put off because of this problem is the very thing that will help. Ultimately I decided that I didn't physically feel that bad, and I did what I could to move toward the upswing and I headed on my way.
I walked all the way out to Bloomingdale, maybe a mile? Climbing some pretty serious snowbanks.
James' classes are grueling, physically. My muscles burn during the warm up. And during the rest of the class. His sequences are creative and deliberately planned from a physical perspective. He's funny. His music is good. It's a nice novelty to have once in awhile. I really value the opportunity to learn from him and experience his wealth of knowledge about yoga. But just as last time, I was listening to everyone rave about him endlessly after the fact, and I realized that for me there is a piece missing from his class. There is something that I get, associate, need, value, resonate with in my usual classes that wasn't there. Some element.
I'm still processing what that is, exactly. I'm close, but I haven't quite put my finger on it. I think it is an exemplary circumstance of "to each their own, to teach their own". If we never experience other styles, traditions, techniques, ideas we will never know what works for us. And if we never find what works for us, how can we then offer that unique perspective to someone else out there who maybe hasn't quite found their yoga?
And, I do feel better.
I wanted to write that sentence to say "I am always amazed at the power of yoga" which is true, but in this situation inaccurate. Up until the moment I left my apartment this morning my body was absolutely falling apart. Having a chronic health problem, it is easy to forget how much of the situation is mind over matter. How I react to what is happening has a huge impact on how bad things get. And today was no different. It was pretty much like being in a building when the fire alarms are malfunctioning. The alarms just keep going off, evacuating the building, for no real emergency. And knowing that I had 4 hours of yoga, at least one of which would be really intense, ahead of me I was getting really worried.
I debated about whether to even go. Somewhere between knowing that I have to make the responsible decision for my body, and also that often the very thing I put off because of this problem is the very thing that will help. Ultimately I decided that I didn't physically feel that bad, and I did what I could to move toward the upswing and I headed on my way.
I walked all the way out to Bloomingdale, maybe a mile? Climbing some pretty serious snowbanks.
James' classes are grueling, physically. My muscles burn during the warm up. And during the rest of the class. His sequences are creative and deliberately planned from a physical perspective. He's funny. His music is good. It's a nice novelty to have once in awhile. I really value the opportunity to learn from him and experience his wealth of knowledge about yoga. But just as last time, I was listening to everyone rave about him endlessly after the fact, and I realized that for me there is a piece missing from his class. There is something that I get, associate, need, value, resonate with in my usual classes that wasn't there. Some element.
I'm still processing what that is, exactly. I'm close, but I haven't quite put my finger on it. I think it is an exemplary circumstance of "to each their own, to teach their own". If we never experience other styles, traditions, techniques, ideas we will never know what works for us. And if we never find what works for us, how can we then offer that unique perspective to someone else out there who maybe hasn't quite found their yoga?
And, I do feel better.
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