Practice what you preach

Part 1 of this duo was all about how the ego can get caught up in your asana practice. It's time for part 2, and we're talking about practicing what you preach.

The idea we ended the previous post on, that what's important is that you know what YOU need TODAY on your mat (versus what the teacher is offering, what your neighbor is doing, what you did in a previous practice), is something that I talk about a lot in my classes. It's important to recognize when to push yourself and when to honor your limitations in anything, but especially a power vinyasa yoga class where some crazy stuff might be happening around you. I also speak from personal experience.

During college, when I was really starting to get into my asana practice (remember, asana means the physical side of yoga), I pushed through months of wrist pain. The only concession I made was wearing a brace on my wrist, but I persisted in taking every vinyasa and arm balance offering. Later I found out that I had been rounding my shoulders in my chaturangas, which strained a tendon in my shoulder but it manifested in my wrist!

Rocking the ACE bandage at a Kathryn Budig arm balance clinic.

I've always been a strong yogi, rather than a flexible one. I get, "Oh, you're so strong!" a lot. So somewhat unconsciously I associated my ego, part of my identity with my practice. When an arm balance, inversion, vinyasa is offered, I always felt/feel like I need to take it. That's my thing, so I should always do it, right? Well… As we talked about in part 1, maybe that's not the best thing for me to do that day. Just because I know I'm physically capable of doing crow or a handstand, doesn't mean I should ignore a twinge in my shoulder to do it when I took a handstand clinic the day before, for example.

Don't worry, I'm back to handstanding and running!

The last few weeks has been a huge "practice what you preach" practice. A feeling of soreness in my shoulder developed into a crick feeling in my neck developed into a spasm. So not only was I not swimming, lifting weights, or handstanding, but I was full-on propped up in bed with pillows behind me for a few days. In this instance, it was easy to take time off because I literally couldn't do anything without pain. Once I started not actively spasming, it took a lot of mental effort to not jump right back into trail running, spinning, playing on my hands, etc. I kept reminding myself that I needed time to heal. I was teaching, but not demoing. I allowed people to carry heavy things for me. On my first day feeling the closest back to normal, I was stretching in standing forward fold when I started to put my weight on my hands to feel it out, and didn't go further because it didn't feel right in my neck. This past week as I started practicing vigorous yoga again, I didn't take every vinyasa or inversion offered once my neck and shoulders started to feel tight. 

Cupping and acupuncture to ease the spasm!

During this time of treatment and recover, no less than 3 alternative medical professionals counseled me on balancing my intensity with more yin activities. My acupuncturist phrased it that "this body is our vessel for our entire life, and it's our responsibility to take care of it for the long term." Yes I love all the yong (running, spinning, power vinyasa yoga, handstanding everywhere), but I know I need to calm my intensity a bit. This will be a great time to find my softer side, and maybe focus on my flexibility and yin a bit more! 

Check the ego with the "om"

I've made it explicitly clear that I'm not a flexible yogi. I've always been the strong yogi. So what does a strong yogi do when she's dealing with an injury that prevents her from doing all the fun, strong-yogi-poses? Part 1: How the ego can get tangled up in our asana practice.

Asana is a physical practice. And just like any physical practice, you can't attach your ego to it. Yes, many perks come with physical pursuits (have y'all seen those Superbowl Championship rings?!). Those activities that gain fame and wealth are competitions, but yoga isn't a competition. The thing about anything physical is that there are so many factors that affect it: hydration, diet, sleep, stress, your emotional and energetic state, physical exertion of the previous day(s) (i.e., sore from a new barre class or hiking a peak), injuries, pregnancies, etc. The slightest shift in one of these factors can affect your ability to "perform," whether you're going for the big gold trophy in front of thousands of viewers or showing up to your yoga mat for your personal practice.

When you progress, it's easy to feel proud. On the flip side, it's easy to envy someone their practice, their ability to get into certain poses.  Some pride is natural. Yoga is a practice; it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to show up day after day and progress with your practice. Envy should be let go. When you see someone on the yoga mat next to you, you have no idea what is or isn't natural for him/her, how hard and often he/she's practiced, how some of the factors listed above have affected him/her. See if you can replace your envy with inspiration!

For me, yoga is about balance. I love yoga, am a certified instructor, and am a dedicated practitioner, but it's not the only thing I do. I'll be affected by the other things in my life: a long trail run, a mountainous hike, a new fitness class, a late night out dancing… I don't expect a steady progression forward within my practice. I'll have days where I feel tired, stiff, sore, and tight. Days where I am stressed and emotional. Setbacks due to injury, childbirth, and aging. Dealing with injury and illness is the hardest for me, especially when I'm starting to feel better. I have a habit of diving right back in to where I left off instead of easing in gradually. I could stop, drop, and handstand, constantly before tweaking my shoulder, so why shouldn't I just jump right back in to handstanding throughout the day… Um, maybe because my body isn't ready for that yet!

When you're running/yoga-ing/cycling/etc, why are you doing what you're doing? There are edges to be pushed in order to progress just as there are limitations to be honored. It's all about balancing the two, which takes some serious introspection, self awareness, and checking of the ego. Just because the teacher offers (I phrase it that way very intentionally) 40 vinyasas, doesn't mean that you have to take 40 vinyasas with 40 chaturangas. Just because your neighbor is doing 40 handstands with their 40 vinyasas and chaturangas, doesn't mean that you have to, too. Just because you took 50 vinyasas with double chaturangas (which means 100 yogi push ups!) yesterday, doesn't mean that you have to today. It's about knowing what YOU need and are capable of TODAY on your mat!

Keep an eye out for part 2: Practice what you preach!