Oh why, oh WHY can't I maintain a regular, yearly, yoga practice??! I push myself until I'm on the verge of collapse, and then I'm MIA for months at a time. Here's to hoping that changes upon getting a fantastic deal at my home studio for a three month unlimited pass. Yay!
Well, it's my 5th class of the season ... technically speaking, since my last Bikram's class prior to the past two weeks occurred on about June 25th, the week after my 50 day challenge, which I successfully completed! I missed three classes in total - one due to not realizing that a class had been cancelled due to some holiday back in May, argh! - which resulted in three doubles crammed into the final week of my challenge. That was pretty tough, if my memory serves me correctly, as one would expect. However, I ended the challenge with a bang, feeling good, strong, energized, flexible, and minus a lot of the back pain I'd experienced throughout the past year, (which I've chronicled in this blog). That was my goal. The last time I'd attempted a challenge (a 60 day challenge), I quit at about Day 40, feeling very low energy and lethargic. I knew not to let any dips or ebbs get me down this time, and I stayed ultra hydrated, rested, and listened to my body about when to take it easy. Towards the end, though, I was going very strong. That being said, I wasn't to be seen again for another two whole months!
As anticipated, I had a very busy summer, working six days a week. A lot of that was spent working as a tour guide, so I was on my feet tons. My program also included a considerable degree of physical activity as we were outdoors most afternoons and all day Saturday. During this time I was biking about 40 minutes to an hour per day, total, and doing a bit of exercise in my living room in the evenings, such as jumping rope, pilates abs exercises (though clearly not enough as my abs are feeling mighty weak these days), and a bit of mild stretching. That was my summer exercise routine in a nutshell. Although my diet included lots of my usual stuff, like oatmeal, nuts, veggies and fruit and a good base, I was snacking a lot and eating stuff like ice cream, cookies, and candy bars. Hot dogs and hamburgers. A consequence of being so busy, and also the monotony of leading groups on trips - it got pretty damn boring, and I frequently felt the need for an edible pick-me-up. By the way, I'm well aware this issue is quite common, and can be nipped in the bud through planning, but unfortunately I found myself hungry and foodless with nothing but convenience stores and fast food joints in the vicinity on several (dozen) occasions! The program required a lot more calories than I'd properly anticipated when packing my regular lunches.
Anyway, summer food, lack of yoga, fatigue, etc. took its toll, and I felt due for a maintenance class far sooner than I actually got my butt to the studio. But here I am, five classes in, feeling better than I have in a very long time!
For this first post, I do want to mention that I am still experiencing lower back issues, though not as intense as the discomfort, pain, & reduced flexibility I had last winter. Still, I have had a reduction in movement that I wanted to address. Yesterday, instead of attending class, I did my own yoga routine, which included postures not featured in Bikram's 26 posture series. Included in my own series was this quick routine that I've been doing on and off for a year or so now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-PYY_f1is4
All I have to say is, WOWSA! Today's Bikram class (as opposed to the last couple of weeks, prior to doing these types of stretches) was smooth as silk. I felt a big difference.
I got some wonderful advice from Jerome two days ago: set your intention. I've heard and read those words countless times, but what do they really mean? Stop being vague. To me, now, I believe that what one wants can usually be summarized in a sentence, and it's important to speak that sentence out loud and see what happens. I really feel I'm back on the yoga train for the long haul. No challenges (I may never do another challenge), no weeks without practice, no pushing, no avoiding. Listening. Knowing. Realizing. Admitting. Saying OK. I did not heal my back during my challenge, but whatever I did helped. I never said, "I want to heal my back completely." I thought more along the lines of, "I hope this helps. I'm going to do this 50 day challenge and hopefully I start to feel better soon, and hopefully I don't make my back even worse. Then I walked around in flip flops all summer. Well, this time around, I do have a clear intention, and that is to heal my back completely. I don't have any problem with my elbows, do I? No. I don't have a problem with my neck. Some people do have problems with their elbows and their necks and their knees and their ankles, and I don't, and I am grateful. However, I have a problem with my lower back, and my intention is to eradicate that problem. I want my lower back to be like my elbows. I want a pain free spine and a proper (as nature intended it) range of motion for movement and flexibility.
I want a healthy spine, and I will stop at nothing to achieve this goal. There, I've said it! I intend it.
As I've said many times, I love the Bikram series and I would hate to see it altered in ANY way. That's very important, that that never happens. But as an individual, one can clearly see that there are dozens of other postures that exist within the realm of hatha yoga, and some that are not included in Bikram's series might be very well suited to a particular injury. No matter what any teacher, chiropractor, doctor, or fellow back pain sufferer advises me, I see immediately what is helpful and what isn't, in MY body. Someone else could be suffering the exact same symptoms and find something else helpful; I don't know. But if you, like me, suffer the lower back issues and do not find that Bikram yoga is relieving your symptoms to the degree that satisfies you, OR - like me - a daily practice seems as though it is actually aggravating your condition, here are some suggestions:
1. try the video I linked to
2. focus on core strength exercises outside of class, such as pilates
3. keep your stomach sucked in throughout the whole Bikram series. Yes, that means 90 minutes of sucking your stomach in. If that seems too challenging for you, and you have lower back issues, then you absolutely need to work on your core, because that means your core is WEAK. Core strength is imperative when it comes to back health, and if your health care practitioner didn't already tell you that, he or she is a fool.
4. take it easy on ANY forward bend. who cares if you used to be more flexible. Just because your body can't bend to the degree of flexibility it used to, (while all you're thinking is "yoga is supposed to make me more flexible, not less! Yes, I know, but that's life) does not mean you can WRENCH it that way without consequences. this is the stupid, stupid way of thinking i used to be slave to, and yes I want the teacher's verbal praise but you can't always get it- this wrenching I did is probably a factor in my back pain.
5. any advice that the bikram yoga teachers give you should be taken with a liberal sprinkling of salt. I do not know what they learn in that 9 weeks of teacher training, but most of them don't know a lick about the body more than delivering that dialogue. i have been practicing for 7 years, and I have asked many different teachers many different questions. you wouldn't believe the divergent - as well as bad - advice I've been given. It's actually hilarious. (And yes, I've received really good advice as well, and talked to some fantastic, knowledgeable people that I have grown to truly respect and admire.) But is it really a surprise?! Look at the contention between chiropractors and doctors, and experts and specialists of all kinds! Your average 26 year old yoga instructor might know which foods and lifestyle factors keep her slim and trim and chipper, but she knows JACK about your body. Only you do.
6. you can heal your back. I don't know how. But it can be done.
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