I'm a sixty two year old woman who believes passionately in the practice of yoga asanas on a daily basis.
I'm an Ashtanga devotee. I love this form of yoga as it is prescriptive, I know what's next. It matches movement to breath and it's a form of moving meditation. With it comes the potential for injury.
If like me you travel frequently and are in and out of temperate to tropical zones you are much more likely to incur an injury.
Practicing in the heat allows so much flexibility and with it a confidence that your body can achieve much more than you would have thought. Here in lies the potential for injury.
On a recent break from the winter cold I visited Bali. Practising ashtanga at my old Shala with my yoga guru I was in seventh heaven. I felt I was back where I belonged, my practice, developed, my fitness level and confindece improved and then......pushing too far in sleeping tortoise pose ( Supta Kurmasana) I felt my chest plate fold resulting in an injury that has disallowed practice for over a week and looks like I won't be practing next week either.
All my gains have been lost, confidence zapped and fitness level plateaued or quite possible regressed. Can't help beating myself up about this!
On the other hand practicing in a cold climate brings it own restrictions. It takes longer to warm the body, you need to layer up which restricts flexibility. The muscles contract and shorten, cramps and stiffness can result.
Soooo what to do! Every visit to my beloved Bali brings another injury.
- Slow down
- Listen to my body
- Heed the warning signs, intuition is a powerful tool.
- Follow my own practise, not influenced by others,
- Run my own race
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