Five Points Yoga

Writing yesterday about the science of stretching made me realize I have more to write about on a personal level.  For the past 4-5 months, I’ve been “aware” of my left hamstring, right at the origin where the hamstring connects to the sit bone (so, think at the bottom of the buttocks/top of the thigh).  

I am extremely flexible – partially, just naturally – and definitely because of a sustained yoga practice for the last 16 years.  I’ve never had a yoga injury, really never had any kind of an injury.  

Except that I got hit by a car 8 years ago.   I was walking in the crosswalk and the damn car hit me!   Thankfully, he’d started to slow down, so I wasn’t seriously injured (though, I’m still angry at bad drivers when I’m walking – my “pedestrian rage” is a post for another time though). 

At the time of the accident, I didn’t go for treatment – there was nothing really wrong.  But over the weeks, I realized my back was sore and it wasn’t going away.   After a visit to my regular doctor (useless), lots of chiropractic (marginally helpful), and lots of massage and yoga (tremendously helpful), I was back to normal.   Except I could feel a bump on the right sacro-iliac joint – scar tissue that had formed.    The bump is still there to this day. 

For years, I had no problem.   But then I started running, and I kind of overdid it. I did too much too fast (very common when people discover something new and challenging).  For the first time in 4 years, I felt my back again.   I was surprised – I didn’t think I had anything still in there.   I stopped running and it went away.   I started running again 6 months later – it came back.   This time I’d also just ended a long-term romance and that really seemed to compound the situation.   It took longer to sort out my back, and more treatment from bodyworkers.   I stopped doing backbends during this period of time, which in retrospect, was a mistake. 

Over the 4 years since these recurrences, I’ve felt my back off and on.  A flare-up always happened if I got overzealous in physical exercise, or if I had an emotional stress in my life.  It’s very interesting.  I’ve learned that my back is awesome and strong, and it also tells me what I need to know.  And I’ve been lucky that on the painscale, all of this has been pretty minor.  I haven’t ever been laid-up in bed, unable to teach or in a lot of pain. 

The hamstring is a new manifestation of this old injury.  It’s been telling me I’ve been overdoing certain parts of my yoga practice (leg stretches like triangle and straddle – things that typically feel really good) and underdoing other parts (leg strengthening, back bending).  Also, a big thing is that I’ve been demonstrating postures too haphazardly in class – just popping into a triangle as I’m talking about a certain aspect of the posture, for example. 

I’m consciously learning that I have to use other people to demonstrate.  I teach 15 sessions a week – it’s very demanding on my body, and I have to recognize that if this hamstring is going to stop nagging me, I’ve got to let it be when I teach.  I’m also realizing that it might help to “admit” this to students in class.  It’s hard, because it doesn’t really “hurt.”  I’m not really “injured.”  I want to demonstrate postures, because it makes it easier to teach.   I don’t want to talk about myself, because class is for the students, not for the teacher.  But I think I need to treat this as if I am injured, and be honest in order to model how to work with your limits in yoga practice.  Otherwise, it feels clear that it’s only going to get worse, not better.

I’ve gotten some good chiropractic to adjust my pelvis.   I continue to get massage on it, and self massage (more on this in a later post).   I’m working on changing my own practice.   Now you can help me by not letting me overdo it in class 🙂  

This has gotten long, so I’ll write more in a future post about what I’m doing to help this injury.  Lots of you have hamstring or other issues, and I’d like to write more about how to develop a therapeutic yoga session. 

Thanks everyone, for helping me with this latest “inquiry” into the power of yoga and the beauty of our body’s messages.  Even when they’re messages we’d rather not hear 🙂

Namaste,

Barrett

I meant to write on here that I’d be gone for a week of vacation – I’m sorry to have left with no explanation!   You can expect posts every day this week now that I’m back 🙂 

I had a great vacation on St. John, mostly scuba diving, which is something new I’ve taken up this year.  Interestingly, I find it to be very “yogic.”  The most important thing about scuba diving is your breath – to keep it relaxed and effortless.  This is something that yoga teaches us from the very first moments on the mat.  Often we don’t realize that out in the world, we’re breathing short, shallow breaths, almost as if we’re hyperventilating.  This is something you can witness on the yoga mat and begin to change.  Scuba divers also notice this breath pattern as they start diving, and need to change it if they want to have an enjoyable and safe experience.    

Scuba diving is very safe and low-risk, as long as you have good training (I know, because I’ve had good training AND bad training!).  One of the aspects of good training is having a teacher who will take as much time as needed to help you ease into the skills needed when you dive.  It is a bit scary at first for most everyone, so having a teacher who you trust and who works at your pace helps you stay calm and not breathe too quickly.  

When I was first learning, with only some very poor training, I would immediately notice that I was slightly hyperventilating underwater.  I was very nervous and not enjoying myself at all.   I used my yoga experience to help me stay calm and keep my breathing as relaxed as possible.  Once I had good training, this all became quite easy because I knew what was going on and had a thorough understanding of the techniques for diving. 

Now that I’m comfortable and a little more experienced with diving, I can really enjoy myself and the beautiful underwater world.  I still love to notice my breath – I guess I am endlessly fascinated by what the breath and body can do.  When you are diving, you strive to be “neutrally buoyant” – that is, you neither sink nor rise.   On the gross level, you do this with the proper amount of weights on your body and air in your vest.  But on the subtle level, you do this with your breath.  When you breathe in and hold your breath, you rise a bit, and when you breathe out and hold out your breath, you sink a bit.  

It’s been one of my favorite things to “play” a bit with my buoyancy through my breath.  I love when I can glide through the water to exactly where I want to go.  It feels so much like the pranayama breath ratios in yoga (more on that tomorrow).  

Funny enough, I just read the following at Yoga Flavored Life:

“Several online sites have proclaimed that for the year 2008 “Scuba is the New Yoga.”  Scuba is being touted as the new way to relax and relieve stress—much as yoga does.”

I agree – scuba diving is very relaxing and very enjoyable!   I still practiced yoga every day though 🙂

Namaste,

Barrett (this is me this past week diving on St. John!)