hsapiens | Yoga Still Kicks My Ass

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Yoga Still Kicks My Ass

Every Monday is yoga night. It has been for several months now. I'm in level 1A, which is sort of like training wheels yoga, and it's kicking my ass. I enjoy it but some of the things we do? Jee-zus. Sometimes they're difficult things and I'm okay with not being up to it. I'm simply nowhere near being ready to do a handstand so I'm okay with sucking at attempting them. (I do NOT want to think about what upper level yoga students are doing. Pinky stands? Wrapping both legs around their necks?)

It's when the move is easy that I despair. Like tonight. During one of our rest periods, we're supposed to sit back on our heels with our toes flexed under our feet. This is supposed to stretch the bottoms of our feet. Wrong. I feel no stretch. What I do feel is intense agony in the knuckles between my big toes and my feet.

In a former life, I was an archaeologist. An archaeologist whose specialty was analyzing human remains, in fact. I regularly analyzed how a person's life wrote itself on his or her bones. You can tell that someone kneeled a lot during life with her feet in that hyperdorsiflexion position because it deformed the bones. Finding it in a skeleton? Way cool talking point. Having it in my own body? Totally not cool pain point.

Every Monday night for a couple of five minute periods isn't enough to deform my metatarsals radically but the changes it causes are associated with osteoarthritis in that joint in older individuals. A couple of hours after finishing the class, those joints hurt. I think that's a move I'm going to have to pass on in future sessions -- but I hate being such a wimp over something like *kneeling.*

I feel compelled to report that I'm not a complete loser in the kneeling department because after that we kneel with our feet pointed rather than flexed and that's 100% comfortable to me. :)

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I had no idea kneeling like that deformed the bones! That's fascinating.

Yoga = fun, but way more pain than those serene gently waving pastel cloths and orchid filled videos lead you to believe.

Isn't it, though? My favorite part of human osteology was studying all the processes that could alter bone during life. People who play tennis a lot develop denser bones in the arm bones on their dominant side and stronger ridges where muscles attach. People who wear tight, pointy heels a lot develop bunions (the end of the second phalanx on the big toes shifts inward, causing the joint to jut out). People who habitually squatted change features of their femurs. Very cool stuff.

No kidding!

Sounds like I've got a much easier yoga class--I can't imagine even _trying_ a handstand! And my yoga teacher says all the time that all of our bodies our different--not all moves work for all people.

Now I need to really work on that yoga every day thing. I'm sure even 15 minutes would help...

Oh, and I think I saw you in the grocery store several days ago, but you were heading out quickly and I was trapped at the register with two children and large quantities of groceries, so I wasn't able to catch you to say hi.

Believe me what I say I wasn't really trying one, either. Starting from a position where we're standing with our hands on the floor, we were first lifting one leg. Then we were lifting one like a kick up and followed by a second leg. My legs were nowhere near being up as in a handstand, I assure you.

We're often encouraged to try positions even if it's to barely move. For instance, last night we were working on hip flexion and one move was to grab a foot with the opposite hand and try to pull the knee downward. However, if the hip/thigh wasn't up to that, then folks were encouraged to cross the ankle over the leg at whatever height they could achieve without stressing their knees. I had no problem with the flexion (dance has a payoff!) but the balance turned out to be hard. I could do it if the instructor wasn't talking. Whenever I tried to listen, I forgot to balance. :)

Hah! That sounds like me! I try to get in and out of the grocery store as fast as possible. Do you shop at Randall's, Whole Foods, or Kroger's? I'll try to keep an eye open for you when I'm there in the future.

I admit, I have never tackled yoga. Pilates, yes. Yoga, no. It sounds painful!

Archaeologist. Very cool!

Done correctly, yoga is challenging but not painful. I have feet issues to start with and that sort of move has *never* been a good one for me.

Archaeology was very cool. Didn't pay for squat and as a self-employed person, I had no health insurance, paid vacations, paid holidays, or paid sick leave. But for a while I had a job that was just like college -- do a huge research project and write a long paper -- only I was paid instead of paying tuition.

But for a while I had a job that was just like college -- do a huge research project and write a long paper -- only I was paid instead of paying tuition.

God, that sounds like heaven. :) One of the reasons I'm SO hoping to get a teaching job that I enjoy at some point is that's kind of how I feel about teaching at a college - it's like being in college, only getting paid to be there.

Yeah, that aspect was great. Contract archaeology has its pitfalls but that part of it I loved.

I hope you get one, too. :) *fingers crossed*

Okay, just a thought here...

If the place where you take yoga considers handstands "level 1A" and isn't teaching you guys about the fact that not all bodies can do all positions, it's possible you need a different yoga place. I've been studying PRIVATELY for almost two years, and I've NEVER tried a handstand. Brandt JUST started me on the VERY first baby steps toward a headstand. As in I do a maneuver that is sort of like downward dog with my head resting on the floor between my hands. And that's IT.

Also, yoga should require effort. Balanced effort. But it should NEVER "kick your ass". If you are feeling intense agony anywhere while doing an asana, then you should either be adjusting that asana or not doing it.

Seriously, I'm terribly concerned that you're being taught yoga by someone who isn't a good yoga teacher. And that's something that is a BIG pet peeve of mine. :)

As a former archaeologist who studied bones, you might also be interested in this DVD, which I'm considering getting. I have so many problems with my knees. There are some poses I simply can't do correctly, such as a regular lunge. (The one where you're supposed to bring your back knee to the floor. Nope, not happening. In sun salutation, I substitute a warrior pose.) I'm hoping this DVD will help me identify when I just need to keep working on the pose until I can do it, and when it's a limitation of my skeleton.

Nobody in the class was doing a handstand; I didn't mean to give that impression. We were working on taking more of our body weight on our arms and one of the exercises was transferring weight from our legs to hands. I think you're correct that it was too much. We've backed off to an easier move where we kneel on the floor (toes pointed, yay!) and then lift the torso to shift some of our weight to our arms and pull our knees off the floor, however close to a micrometer that might be for some of us. *ahem*

I'm definitely planning to adjust or skip the foot hyperflexion in future practices. I've had to adjust what I think of as the inverse push-up because from the floor, you lift yourself into (as close as you can get to) plank but with forearms on the floor. I *can* do it but when I use my lower back? Sharp pain. I have to leave my knees on the ground until I'm up.

I think in some ways, I'm a special case. (I know, I know.) Yoga makes me sweat, which doesn't sound odd except that I'm a rare weirdo who barely sweats. (This is, of course, dangerous and I do suffer from flash heat problems occasionally.) Outside in Houston in the summer, other people will have huge sweat-stains under their arms and sweat rolling off their foreheads and me? I'll have some sweat under my waistband and on my lower back.

This is, I'm sure, TMI, but the isometric exercise for extended periods of time causes me to sweat. I have trouble in later poses that require grabbing body parts because I'm too slick. It's a very weird and draining experience for me. After an hour and a half, I drink almost a half gallon and the whole next day I still feel dehydrated. Today I'm feeling ragged but I'm also suffering from allergies (pollen time and Actifed changed its formula, damn them) so it's hard for me to judge whether the pain in my eyes and nausea is lack of water or allergies. I'm drinking water like crazy, though, in case it's dehydration. I'm a lousy judge of myself when I'm sick so it's hard for me to puzzle out what's yoga-induced, what's allergies, what's girl thing, what's due to taking a handful of various vitamins this morning (I commonly suffer nausea from that), and what might be a minor migraine coming on.

I find that holding a position for an extended time kicks my ass harder than aerobic exercise does. I'm out of shape so just delivering oxygen to my muscles to hold a position long term seems to tax my cardio-vascular system; resisting the urge to breathe through my mouth is still hard for me.

I have no desire to do headstands or some of the more complex yoga moves, honestly. I'm not looking to become a master. I want to relieve stress, regain my flexibility, and modestly increase my strength. In that order.

That DVD looks cool! So does the other DVD. That seems a lot like what we do, actually, which is to find a pose, concentrate on form, and then hold it for ~~800 years~~ about 5 minutes. It makes a lot of sense to know what's possible for your own body because I, too, wonder sometimes if what I'm feeling is "oof, that's a way I never thought to move" and what's "oh no, you don't work that way."

Oh, I know you weren't doing an actual handstand. But the work that leads to doing a handstand is NOT level 1A work. At the yoga center where I take yoga, you aren't allowed to begin work on any inversion poses until the more advanced classes. And, as I said, Brandt started me on the first baby steps toward a headstand after we'd been working together for almost 2 years.

I just worry whenever I hear someone talking about a yoga class hurting them or making them miserable. Because it isn't supposed to. And if the instructor isn't making sure that isn't happening, I think that's a problem. Just being overly protective. It's what I do. :)

You're still alive! And working out! Very cool.

My advice:
Instead of despairing of ever being able to do the tough stuff, focus on the stuff you can do and work toward expanding your skills from that end of the spectrum.

Indeed.

I don't despair over the hard stuff. I know I'm out of shape -- and it was never my goal to be able to do the hard stuff. I went into yoga for stress relief, mostly, and don't have any driving ambition to do a lot of the harder stuff. It's the *simple* stuff I can't do that drives me insane. However, you are, as ever, perfectly correct and I should concentrate on what I can do.

I'm still very flexible and while others are doing the beginning stretches, the instructor has me do some of the full stretch positions. I'm enjoying being stretched out again and suspect I'll regain most of what I'd lost over the years. Cardio-vascular endurance and muscle strength will take me a lot longer to regain. But yeah, I'm working out. Amy is very good at motivating me and she's started working on me to join her gym. The fees are very reasonable fees and personal trainers are also available. I will probably break down and do it because I know I need to and will be good for me.

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Yoga Still Kicks My Ass

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