{"id":175246934,"date":"2013-02-12T14:56:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T14:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotidiantruth.posterous.com\/yoga-lite"},"modified":"2013-02-12T14:56:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T14:56:00","slug":"yoga-lite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adriennemichetti.com\/truth\/2013\/02\/12\/yoga-lite\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoga lite"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m 4 days into an involuntary and strict 6-week “no weight on your left arm” lifestyle adjustment<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This is a problem.<\/p>\n

You see, for the last 6-ish years, I’ve done yoga nearly every day. Some days it’s only 10 minutes, or on the really bad days, only 5 (even one down-dog held for 30 breaths can do wonders). But I still do it. I rely on it. SO MUCH. I can’t remember how I lived before I did it, to be honest.<\/p>\n

(Okay, that’s not quite true. I remember. I was a lot more stressed and a lot less balanced. It wasn’t fun.) <\/em><\/p>\n

And so since my radial head fracture diagnosis, I’ve been trying to figure out how I can still do my morning yoga thing while not making the fracture worse — because the Doctor was 200% clear that that’s pretty much what I have been doing the last 6 months<\/strong>, as I repeated sun salutations and made a bad thing worse every time I encountered chatturanga — even with just two sun salutations, that’s a lot of pain (“I just need to strengthen it! It’ll get easier over time!”<\/em> -me, in my head, three weeks ago) and a lot of more-messed up bone. \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n

For the last 4 days, I’ve been trying my morning yoga routine sans mon bras gauche<\/em>. <\/p>\n

It’s really quite the challenge. <\/p>\n

It means I’m doing almost entirely floor yoga — on my butt — interspersed with a few standing poses. But I have to be careful even moving from one pose into the other. It has made me acutely aware of how much I use my arms to bear my weight when just transitioning from, say… baddha konasana<\/a> to camel pose<\/a>. Even doing that without using my left arm is tricky and requires concentration.<\/p>\n

I don’t mind spending so much time on the floor, to be honest — especially since I took up running. I hate<\/strong> what running is doing to my hamstrings, hip flexors and rotators<\/a>. I’m focusing more on pigeon, knee-to-ankle pose, forward folds, happy baby, and frog pose. It’s all good. <\/p>\n

But it’s not the same. I miss down dog already. I miss cobra. I miss headstand and side angle pose. <\/p>\n

I feel like I’m doing yoga lite<\/strong>. And it doesn’t feel entirely like me. I feel like I’m missing out, like I’m not quite complete without my “usual” practice. Yet at the same time, I hate the thought that I’ve become accustomed to a routine, and that I can’t bear the thought of adjusting and changing to meet my body’s needs and circumstance. What has yoga taught me, after all these years, anyway? How embarrassing… <\/p>\n

This evening I came to the conclusion that it means I need to strengthen my meditation practice. Typically, I go through phases. I’ll spend weeks focused on a meditation practice to complement my yoga practice — this typically happens after I’ve read something<\/a> particularly<\/a> inspiring<\/a>, or when a friend \/ family member has invited me to explore a new type of meditation<\/a>, or after I’ve taken a yoga\/meditation\/spirituality course or workshop<\/a>. Typically, I stick with it for anywhere from 3-6 weeks and then slowly settle back into my yoga-focused practice, interspersed with some meditation here and there. I have a hard time keeping up with the pranayama and meditation side of things, but I know I need to be better at this. <\/p>\n

So, this little sojourn away from all things left-armed is leaving me to think I should re-focus. I’m already running, even if I’m not really enjoying it… at least I’m doing it. So I have physical activity. And I’m stretching those hip abductors and hamstrings, so I’ll be okay. Maybe I should use this time to go inward a bit more. Hrmmmm… <\/p>\n

I don’t like it — I don’t like that I’m being nudged into this rather than having chosen it. But hey, sometimes that’s the way the cookie crumbles — so I might as well embrace it. Right? (right?<\/em>)<\/p>\n

But I’m struggling. And that’s my truth today. Big sigh<\/em>. I’m not good at going inward when the universe nudges me that way. <\/p>\n

So if anyone has any helpful tips or suggestions for me — either<\/strong> yoga-for-runners poses sans le bras gauche<\/em> or<\/strong> deepening meditation-invitation primers that I can tackle on my own — please let me know. I’m quite willing… I just need a bit of a push in my mind-shift.<\/p>\n

Oh, and reading material on the either-or stuff would help too. I think it starts out psychological, y’know? <\/p>\n

(here’s a 30-second clip of BKS Iyengar on why practice is so important…)<\/p>\n