Ow.
Ow. Ow.
Freaking OW!!
My body hurts! And I feel a little bit sick. And I still have 2 long papers to finish writing before Friday. SIGH! At least I managed to do my yoga this morning and now I am curled up with a fuzzy blanket, in my big ridiculous pink Bikram yoga fleece (I look like a yoga marshmallow), drinking some kind of awesome ginger drink from Whole Foods before diving back into work. And at the end of the week, all the craziness will be over, so life ain't too bad. But still... at the moment... UGH!
In a disgustingly predictable turn of events, I hid in my office at my computer and just didn't practice all week. (At the same time, I kept periodically hopping on facebook and fixing up the Bikram 101 fan page for the 101 consecutive days of yoga that we're doing in January. That irony was not lost on me.) At the end of this week, I have an observation to make. NOT doing yoga hurts WAY MORE than doing lots of yoga! Holy. Crap. It is ridiculous. I spent the week just sitting at a desk in a cold room, getting zero exercise and being stressed out - which seems to be how a lot of people are forced to spend their lives on a regular basis - and my body freaking KILLS!! Legs, neck, and whole spine - lower back, middle back, upper back - just completely shot.
So my last couple classes - last night and this morning - have been interesting exercises, to say the least. They haven't been fun, but they've definitely been instructional. I definitely had some new experiences. (Be careful what you wish for... ) Like um, not being able to lock my knees in freaking padahastasana (which I could do in my first class in 2004 - I was a ballet dancer at the time.) Like not being able to do a backbend. You know how the first part of the backbend is "drop your head back, look at the floor behind you"? I think this was the first time I ever dropped my head back and couldn't see the floor. (At this point you're all thinking, Yeah, yeah, yeah, cry me a fucking river! Hah.) Holy hell! I didn't know what that felt like! I've gotta say... it really SUCKS. If that's what "normal people's" spines are like, then yes, everyone definitely needs to start doing yoga. I barely even went back in the first set - leaned back a little, got dizzy, and stood back up. Second set was okay, as I remember "don't be scared!" and just got my arms back and went for it, but it was pretty uncomfortable!!
With half-moon pose and hands-to-feet pose being a total and utter train wreck, it was surprising that a few postures didn't give me ANY trouble. Awkward pose. Eagle pose. Freaking STANDING HEAD TO KNEE, which I absolutely NAILED - did all 4 steps, put forehead on knee, hung out there for a bit, then backed it out step by step. Totally bizarre. That's actually, finally, become a good posture for me lately.
I feel like having a messed up body is a test of technique, more than anything else, right? If you know the right techniques, you should be able to apply them to your body no matter what condition it's in. You just have to think about it a bit more when your body is not in its usual condition, which can be a good thing!
Oh, and I think I broke my butt! Sigh. Not really. But my left glute (or maybe very top of the hamstring) was bugging me a bit a week or two ago, and then I guess I pushed it a bit too much yesterday, cause now it kinda hurts. I DID completely baby it today (hence the bent knees in padahastasana and my forehead being nowhere near my feet in paschimo), but too little too late. Oops. What can I say - I've never done that before! I didn't realize what was going to happen! Any thoughts? I'm hoping it's just a mild strain that'll get better FAST, as I have a lot of yoga plans coming up! I tried a heating pad last night and that made it worse. Maybe ice? It's so cold, I just can't bring myself to sit on an icepack! Maybe Arnica and Aleve...
So to sum up:
1. Whine whine whine.
2. You always have your technique.
and 3. Just don't stop going to yoga!!
