
Ashtanga Yoga Immersion with Matt Sweeney
July 14, 2016
Reflections of a yoga teacher on her training
August 18, 2016My introduction to yoga came unexpectedly in a Pilate’s class 13 years ago, when the instructor spontaneously demonstrated Sun Salutation A. What captured me the most was the breathing (Ujjayi breath). I instinctively knew that I had to learn how to coordinate my breath and movement. At forty years old, I was inflexible due to years of bad posture and muscular imbalance. I never trained as a dancer or gymnast and came into this world with tight connective tissue.
I started private lessons and practiced daily. I wanted to become an advanced yogi as soon as possible, and I was making great progress. But there was a lesson in patience awaiting me. After two years of practice I was involved in a serious car accident which resulted in injuries to my C3 and C5 vertebrae, right shoulder and sternum. This kept me out of action for two more years and any attempted practice sessions, resulted in a migraine.
Through consulting and seeking the help from alternative healers, I was able to slowly find my way back to yoga practice. Fear of falling on my neck and not being able to participate in yoga is a continuous mind debate. I am not the courageous, adventurous yogi I used to be.
My practice is no longer a goal to achieve or be the best at, as quickly as possible. It is a process where I can experience progress, not without frustration and often have to accept what is. The important lesson is that asana practice is still helping me to be a better version of myself.
Headstands, backbends and arm balances are challenging. My personal challenge is caution and awareness of my physical limitations. By creating this mental awareness, I ensure that I don’t aggravate or damage existing injuries, or be the reason not to exercise at all. My body’s positive response to this approach was demonstrated when we achieved the Sirsasana II – Tripod Headstand again a month ago.
Fortunately this is not where it stops. I am working on strengthening the rhomboids, trapezius and the infraspinatus muscles. I found that the following asanas: Ardha Sirsasana (half headstand support against the wall; Makara Adho Mukha Svanasana (dolphin plank) and Ardha Pincha Mayurasana (dolphin pose), are the most current workable and effective exercises for strengthening and conditioning these targeted areas.
Through the Anatomy training I received during the Teachers Training, I am enabled to realise that I can do certain asanas better through engaging different muscles to improve my base of support and shifting my center of gravity to improve my range of movement. Not to mention how paying attention to the breath and experimenting with different ways of entering the asana can change the experience.
I often wonder if I would have been on the same spiritual path if my practice was not slowed through the injury. Would I somewhere along the way have realised that it is not a competition or something to be good at, but a process of growth and a way of life?
I started Asana practice when I was a broken person. Yoga has helped me heal and find balance. When the chatter in my mind doesn’t stop – even while practicing, it somehow leads me to reflect on the way I acted, what I said and did. Through yoga I am reminded to say “thank you” and “sorry” or a simple “I appreciate you”.
Asanas do not have to look as perfect as depicted in books and other media; after all, it is only one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. It is a journey of self-discovery on and off the mat. I am learning how to care better for the vehicle of my energetic vibration, which will support me only as much as I support and cared for it.
The focus is more on the positive impact my practice has on the degree of injury which my humanness is causing myself, and all I interact with.
Namaste
Written by Christa Schutte