06/08/2021
A tale of injury and healing !!
While yoga helps us in healing in mind body and soul.. you may sometimes injure yourself while doing asana practice.. this is very common (just like any other thing in life).. So is Yoga to be blamed.. the answer is no.
I recently experienced my first yoga injury while doing full splits which i have been doing for a while now but suddenly i pulled my inner thighs or may be my glutes and was not able to get up. Heard some crackling sounds and thought that my hip is broken :)Thankfully i was able to walk and do my normal routine stuff but doing few Yoga postures was just impossible.. i was very scared that it happened all because of me.. how can this happen to a Yoga teacher? How will i teach my classes?
So why am i telling you all of this, just to share my experience of healing :-
myself heal - Itโs crazy how judgmental and impatient we can be with ourselves at times. Trust me healing is not easy. There were plenty of days when I was grumpy, annoyed, and frustrated as i was not able to do some poses. But i decided not do so poses which keep straining those muscles and don't let my ego come in the way.
off the Mat - And while I wouldnโt necessarily call my injury a gift, it took my body giving out for me to remember and return to many of the things I loved about yoga to begin withโthe things that have nothing to do with perfecting the asanas....but it helped my practice.
Off the Mat literally for few weeks. I have increased the duration of my meditation sessions and read a lot about Yoga Philosophy.
my body more than ever - Although it is a small injury nothing major thankfully but i learnt a BIG lesson of my life.. to love my body, nourish it, keep it healthy. If something feels forced or strained, I back off or modify the pose and just follow what suits my body. Now a days, what I remember most is not the pose that I couldnโt do, but the joy of practicing each and every day!
Itโs not the destination but the journey, the experiences which makes it beautiful. If we think about the end we will surely miss the magic which gets us there!