Yoga

Once upon a time, I got up  every morning (or so) and did a session of Yoga or Pilates. I'm not certain why I stopped, but likely it was because I've been leading (or attending) the senior exercise class three days each week.

The Yoga "class" was on several different audio cassettes. I would rotate among four different ones for a variety of exercises and stretches. The cassettes are getting very old and sometimes they'd get "eaten" by the player. I could usually extricate and rewind them but I began to get anxious about playing them.

I found some of them on CD (which I can play on my DVD player) so two of the sessions are now available worry free.

Today is a holiday and there is no senior exercise class. This morning, first thing, I pulled on my sweats and spent the next half hour stretching and strengthening my back using Yoga poses. I feel great.

About a year and a half ago, I strained by back. I don't know how. One day, my lower back was feeling stiff, but that usually goes away in a couple of days. This time it got worse so that I couldn't lean forward or backward without extreme pain. I also could not cough or sneeze without extreme pain. I could sit, stand, lean from side to side and lie down. My PCP prescribed an NSAID, recommended icing by lower back (fortunately it was summer; I refuse to ice any part of my body in winter) and the spasms eased.

My acupuncturist recommended some exercises which are some of the same ones included in the Yoga CDs.

Though I no longer have pain, my lower back still stiffens if I'm stationary for a long period of time. I often wake up during the night with a stiff back. In the morning, my back is stiff.

I really need to stretch more and strengthen those back muscles. Obviously senior exercise class is not enough. I often tell the participants in the class that Mother Nature is working against us and we need to keep active to offset the effects of aging. Clearly I need to take my own advice.

I'm hoping that 2-3 days each week when there is no senior exercise class, I'll pull on my sweats first thing in the morning and stretch and pose while listening to my Yoga CDs. Writing my intention down will help make it a reality.

Chair Yoga and Tolerance

The Hatfield Senior Center offers Chair Yoga on Tuesday mornings. I've been going for a couple of years now. I'd prefer to practice "full-blown" mat Yoga, but this is free and convenient. It's also more of a workout than one might think.

Whether on a mat or chair, a Yoga practitioner is to remain focused on his/her own body and not watch what others are doing (or not doing). That's part of the discipline.

There is a woman named D. who often attends the class. She usually arrives a few minutes after we've begun, and I find it a little distracting. If there is not an empty chair, the instructor has to fetch two more. (We use two chairs for several of the postures.) D. has many physical limitations and cannot lift even a light chair.

D. also chooses to do a couple of the postures standing. She uses a neoprene knee support for some, but not all, of them. The knee support attaches with velcro which makes a distinctive sound as she puts it on and takes it off.

I have to admit to getting annoyed. Is D. oblivious to the multiple distractions she creates for the others in the group? Or am I the only person who feels this way?

I try to remember that D. is often in pain, that she comes to Chair Yoga to help mitigate that pain and to try to keep her body functioning as well as it can. I try to treat the distractions she causes as a challenge and keep focused on my own postures. After all, that's part of the discipline.

I do, however, wish she would arrive on time.

Back to Yoga

I haven't practiced Yoga in several weeks.

Because I've been leading the senior exercise class every Wednesday morning, and on the days I work at DGI, I've been walking the 1 1/2 mile trail along the Farmington River and also bacause I did the Hatfield Education Foundation 5K walk, I figured I was getting plenty of exercise. Big mistake.

None of those activites provide the stretching that Yoga does. As a result, a little over a week ago I lifted with my back instead of my legs and pulled a muscle in my lower back. For the next few days, getting into and out of bed was painful; getting into and out of the car even worse. I was okay while sitting or standing, but I needed to be very careful while changing from one to the other.

My back has been slowly getting better and the good news is that I'm redeveloping good habits in terms of posture. And I've gone back to my morning Yoga routine.

I will not neglect Yoga again.