Too much of anything is bad.
Sounds simple enough right? But we often miss the point while pursuing things and people we love. Thanks to my new membership at Pure and my trial package at Sound & Light studio, combined with my twice a day practice at Hom, I've ended up with a knee injury. Sigh. I'd like to blame it on myself, saying there were a couple of asanas I did wrong and messed up with the alignment.
But the truth is, I pushed my body to the edge, it gave me signs of breaking down, my knees starting hurting, particularly my left knee and I could see the difference in the simple asanas like the Vriksasana, or the tree pose. While I had no problem bending my right knee, my left knee pained like crazy and I had to support it with both my hands. Also, Saturday and Sunday my usual rest days started getting busy with morning and evening practices as well. Add to that my intense focus on Ashtanga yoga! My jump backs and jump-throughs, the marchiyasanas, I think just about everything in my ashtanga practice put too much pressure on my knees. As much as i loved doing it and how wonderful i felt after it, it was quietly re-shaping my body, in a bad way. I mean, I still love Ashtanga, and I know I'll get back to it, maybe try and not do it everyday, but definitely one/twice a week.
But for now, I am taking a break from my practice. Or rather, I took a break last week, with absolutely no yoga and just exercises to strengthen my quads that my physiotherapist suggested. One of the things she said to me, (Poonam, lovely lovely lady) was that in asanas where I was supposed to be using my muscle strength, i was using my joints instead. Exactly what my yoga teacher (the one who comes to teach us every friday at work : Jyotsna) told me. Because I was flexible joints, I tend to use too much of my joints, and very little of my muscles. I can feel my body relax & thank me for the rest I gave it last week.
I went for my first Hatha class yesterday at Hom yoga with June (who is leaving by the way, i am devastated) I went slow on the asanas that needed me to use my knees : chair pose, eagle pose, to an extent even the dandayamana janushirasana or standing forehead to knee pose. It's funny how just a week's break had made my balance asanas a little unstable, or maybe it was just my left knee acting up. But overall, when the class finished, I smiled to myself, almost like I was alive again. Haha. Was so tempted to go for June's flow after it, but held myself back and went and sat down at the lobby instead and spoke to June for a bit, had loads of water and head home.
I think, I'm going to take it slow for a while, maybe just go to Hatha and Hom classes, and fit in a flow here and there, to see how that feels. My next physio appointment is next week, and I am meeting my doctor in August, so have to be in good condition before that!
Now, the real dilemma is the 108 sun salutations this Saturday. I tried doing a few suryanamaskars yesterday and it wasn't all that bad actually, of course, no jump backs and jump-throughs, I mean, I can't do the jump back yet anyway, haha. But I'll take a call after today or maybe tomorrow's class.
But the lesson I learnt it, too much of anything is bad, how much ever you love it. Yoga is a beautiful thing for your body and mind. And even too much of that, leads to this imbalance. And it's so important, so so important to listen to your body at every point, every asana. And just when you are still even, close your eyes and listen to you what your body is saying, what's it feeling today, what can it do. Our boundaries on how much we can do, or how far we can go with out bodies changes everyday. But that's life, nothing is constant, there ups and downs everywhere. Some days you feel good and want to go all out, other days, you're stiff and achy and want to take it slow. It's important to honour your body. And another life truth that applies in yoga, when everything fails, go back to the basics (= hatha for me. sigh)
Namaste!
But the truth is, I pushed my body to the edge, it gave me signs of breaking down, my knees starting hurting, particularly my left knee and I could see the difference in the simple asanas like the Vriksasana, or the tree pose. While I had no problem bending my right knee, my left knee pained like crazy and I had to support it with both my hands. Also, Saturday and Sunday my usual rest days started getting busy with morning and evening practices as well. Add to that my intense focus on Ashtanga yoga! My jump backs and jump-throughs, the marchiyasanas, I think just about everything in my ashtanga practice put too much pressure on my knees. As much as i loved doing it and how wonderful i felt after it, it was quietly re-shaping my body, in a bad way. I mean, I still love Ashtanga, and I know I'll get back to it, maybe try and not do it everyday, but definitely one/twice a week.
But for now, I am taking a break from my practice. Or rather, I took a break last week, with absolutely no yoga and just exercises to strengthen my quads that my physiotherapist suggested. One of the things she said to me, (Poonam, lovely lovely lady) was that in asanas where I was supposed to be using my muscle strength, i was using my joints instead. Exactly what my yoga teacher (the one who comes to teach us every friday at work : Jyotsna) told me. Because I was flexible joints, I tend to use too much of my joints, and very little of my muscles. I can feel my body relax & thank me for the rest I gave it last week.
I went for my first Hatha class yesterday at Hom yoga with June (who is leaving by the way, i am devastated) I went slow on the asanas that needed me to use my knees : chair pose, eagle pose, to an extent even the dandayamana janushirasana or standing forehead to knee pose. It's funny how just a week's break had made my balance asanas a little unstable, or maybe it was just my left knee acting up. But overall, when the class finished, I smiled to myself, almost like I was alive again. Haha. Was so tempted to go for June's flow after it, but held myself back and went and sat down at the lobby instead and spoke to June for a bit, had loads of water and head home.
I think, I'm going to take it slow for a while, maybe just go to Hatha and Hom classes, and fit in a flow here and there, to see how that feels. My next physio appointment is next week, and I am meeting my doctor in August, so have to be in good condition before that!
Now, the real dilemma is the 108 sun salutations this Saturday. I tried doing a few suryanamaskars yesterday and it wasn't all that bad actually, of course, no jump backs and jump-throughs, I mean, I can't do the jump back yet anyway, haha. But I'll take a call after today or maybe tomorrow's class.
But the lesson I learnt it, too much of anything is bad, how much ever you love it. Yoga is a beautiful thing for your body and mind. And even too much of that, leads to this imbalance. And it's so important, so so important to listen to your body at every point, every asana. And just when you are still even, close your eyes and listen to you what your body is saying, what's it feeling today, what can it do. Our boundaries on how much we can do, or how far we can go with out bodies changes everyday. But that's life, nothing is constant, there ups and downs everywhere. Some days you feel good and want to go all out, other days, you're stiff and achy and want to take it slow. It's important to honour your body. And another life truth that applies in yoga, when everything fails, go back to the basics (= hatha for me. sigh)
Namaste!
Comments
Post a Comment