by Nina (with Shari)
Many of our readers are already practicing yoga and are taking regular yoga classes. Last week’s Friday Q&A: Ostepenia of the Spine and Headstand is a good example: someone with regular teachers wanted to know if she should continue to practice Headstand after being diagnosed with osteopenia of the spine. But what about people out there who are not already doing yoga? Do we have anything important to say to them? Shouldn’t we be encouraging them to get started, however simply, no matter what their current condition is? And furthermore, what about people who cannot afford to pay for yoga lessons? Although we often say things like ask your teacher, or have your teacher look at your poses, do we have anything useful to say to people who literally cannot afford to pay for an ongoing yoga class?
I’ve been thinking about those questions after reading a moving post on Facebook from a friend. In fact, her post provoked so much thought on my part, I asked her if I could share what she wrote with you. She gave her permission, so here it is:
"I have been discovering something about myself that was made painfully very obvious the other day. A friend posted a study a guy did where he had discovered that those who cannot sit on the floor and get up again without their hands live a shorter time than those who can. So of course I tried it, pulled a muscle, torqued my knee, and crashed into the door jamb. Nothing serious, just a little sore the next day. Anyway, for me that was the culmination of a theory I have been working on for a while: that my fall I took that smashed my face a few years ago not only made me more careful, but actually too careful, to the point where I have very little confidence in my body. As a result, of course I have lost my ability to do these simple things like climb up on stuff or traverse a steep downhill; things that have always thwarted me a little due to my lack of depth perception, but that I could do. Now I have to think twice just stepping off a curb and I'm sick of it. So, my goal is to start re-training my body to be stable and strong, stability being a key factor. I have a bit of research to do, and will take suggestions, but keep in mind there can be absolutely no financial investment at this time, so no trainers or classes or books or videos. If I had money, there is a trainer in town who looks to work on this kind of thing, so when my fortunes change, I hope to look into it."
When I read this statement, my first response was: yoga can help! I’ve actually taken a wonderful workshop from Shari Ser called “Yoga and the Fear of Falling” and I interviewed her about it in Aging and Balance: An Interview with Shari Ser. That’s the very workshop, in fact, that inspired me to ask Shari to contribute to this blog. So I knew I wanted this friend to learn something about how even a few very simple yoga poses could help her improve her balance and move toward having more confidence in her body. But because of her financial problems, I knew I couldn’t just send her to a yoga teacher I trusted. So I wanted to tell her—and others in her position—please don’t think you have to go to class or a personal trainer. You can do so much for yourself at home for absolutely no money at all!
Although people tend to worry about practicing yoga at home that they might not being doing it “right,” basic yoga is actually very safe, and starting to move again is so much healthier than not moving out of fear of hurting yourself. So practicing yoga at home—whether from a free yoga video (there are many online), from a book you find at library (I remember reading that well-known yogi Erich Schiffmann got starting with his yoga practice by practicing from Iyengar’s Light on Yoga), or from our blog or other online resource—is one of the best ways you can start to get in shape for absolutely not money at all. It also provides the advantage of letting you move at your own pace, and customize your practice by including poses that work for you and excluding those that don’t. Although I’m now a trained yoga teacher, when I first started practicing at home many years ago, I hadn’t yet gone through any training, and I just did poses I liked mixed up with poses I wanted to get better at (Rodney Yee and I actually discuss this in the book Yoga: The Poetry of the Body).
To prove my points, I asked Shari to design a little sequence for my friend so she—and all your readers out there—could see how some very simple and safe movements could help someone who is having balance problems, who has very little or no yoga experience, and has no money to pay for yoga or fitness class.
SHARI'S SEQUENCE
Balance is a multifaceted system. It involves an intricate interplay between a number of our senses. Vision, inner ears, joints and muscles all play a part in how we navigate balance, sometimes successfully and sometimes not (as you have experienced). You have been wise to be cautious after identifying this issue, and you are correct in your assertion that sometimes "too much caution" is detrimental to the ability to move smoothly in your environment. Because yoga is our medium on this blog, I’ll offer some yoga suggestions for you to consider in beginning to start to address your balance challenges.
Begin by exploring Tadasana (Mountain pose), standing with feet body-with apart and your arms by your sides. I like to start my students lying in Tadasana on the floor (with appropriate support, such as a folded blanket, under the head) to sense how the floor supports the different body parts. Notice which parts of your body are touching the floor in the pose and which are not. This is not a passive exploration but an active engagement of body sense. In physical therapy terms, this “body sense" is called kinesthesia. Here's a good free video of John Schumacher teaching Tadasana!
Next, step away from the wall to get a sense of your body in space. Start with both of your eyes open. Then try them closed. Next add some movement. Take a breath in, lift your arms overhead, and then exhale, returning your arms to your sides. From there, inhale and raise your arms overhead. Step your left leg back to a wide but comfortable stride. Stay in this position for several breaths. Then inhale and bring your left leg back to the starting (Tadasana) position and relax your arms. Repeat this exercise on the other side, stepping the your right foot back.
Starting again from Tadasana, inhale and bring your arms out to the side (like an airplane’s wings), step your left leg back, then slowly bend your right knee. Take several breaths. Then step forward and relax your arms. Repeat on the second side with by stepping your right leg back and bending your left knee. Do this sequence several times as you warm up.
Next, try a variation on Tree pose (Vrkasana). Stand in Tadasana with your left side near the wall. Shift your weight to the your left leg and lift your right foot on top of your left foot— but try not to have your right toes touch the floor. If needed, you can use your left fingertips on the wall to balance. Actively stand—don't just hang out. "Grow" up from your standing leg, up through the top of your head. Stay for 3 to 5 breaths, then turn around and do the second side. Here's a decent video demonstrating Tree pose at the wall. It shows the foot a bit higher, but you can try both ways.
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