Yoga for Geeks

Largely inspired by my Anusara friends Elsie and Hillary, I spent Sunday afternoon at a workshop with Todd Norian and Ann Greene, at YogaSpace. The focus was on therapeutics – healing injuries and common ailments through good alignment, and careful attention to a few key actions, in a few key poses.  I learned a lot, and wanted to jot down a few of the things I appreciated the most.

Todd started by reminding us that pain and injuries are blessings in disguise. This can be a hard thing to remember, but it's really very true. :) We learn so much from our pain and from our injuries – far more than we learn from perfect ease and constant comfort. The important accompanying belief, though, is that life always moves in the direction of healing, and wellness, if that is your intention. Our bodies do want to heal - they just need our co-operation, and our attention. If you suffer from chronic pain or discomfort, like so many of us do, don't ever believe that it won't get better. (Do recognize, though, that it likely won't get better if you keep all your old habits in place and willfully ignore the information your body is trying to share with you! Healing is an act of co-creation.)

From that opening reminder, we moved into working specifically with the hips, and the shoulders – the four corners of good alignment. Todd and Ann maintain that almost all injuries in our bodies trace back to mis-alignment in one of the four corners, so we spent a lot of time working with them. Most of the shoulder work involved counteracting the common tendency towards "slump-asana" (which is just a little yoga joke for those of you not in the know. Almost every yoga pose ends in with "asana", so "slump-asana" is a fitting name for the posture that we almost all default to while typing, driving, watching TV... etc!). I will try to put together a little video showing a couple of good exercises for the shoulders, because they really helped my body to get a sense of where to go. I'll also try to post a picture and description of the "Pointy Butt Trick", so check back soon. :) 

All in all, a helpful workshop. I love learning more tips and tricks for working with injuries and limitations... because I think the truth is that most of us fall into that category more than into the "flexible and comfortable" category (at least some of the time). The good news is that our bodies are resilient, and able to heal, and that moving in that direction is a tremendously empowering process.

If you've been wanting to try Yoga for Geeks, but have been too nervous (or busy) to come to a regular class - don't miss this special workshop! Please join me for my last Toronto teaching engagement of 2007.

What: a Saturday afternoon class for serious beginners and stiff people, as well as for anyone interested in learning how to prevent and work with existing repetitive strain injuries, and/or other work-related pain. ALL are welcome!

This will be a mostly chair-based yoga class. We'll stretch out and explore:

• the arms and shoulders - how to stretch out the connective tissue that gets tight from too much keyboarding and mousing
• the hips - often tight from too much sitting
• the chest - often restricted due to hunching over a computer
• the spine - to learn what good alignment feels like
• anything else you identify as a sore spot or area of concern.

Come and learn some general principles for stretching and breathing, and practice listening to the body and the feedback it offers.

Why bother? Because a modern work-life takes a toll on the body, but it really doesn't take much to start to feel better. Increased mobility, better balance, and enhanced mental clarity are commonly reported benefits.

Where: Indoor Playground, 364 Richmond Street West, Toronto, top floor

When: Saturday, November 24th, 2007. 2pm - 3:30pm 

Cost: Sliding scale, $10 - $25.

Please bring a yoga mat, or let me know if you need to borrow one.

No yoga clothes required - but please dress comfortably.

RSVP to info@yogaforgeeks.com to reserve your place!

I'm a big believer in bodywork as an occasional (or regular!) complement to body-mind practices (like yoga). If you are lucky enough to find a fabulous massage therapist who you trust and enjoy working with, that's a fabulous way to invest in yourself and your well-being. However, there are times when it's great to be able to help yourself!

To that end, may I recommend: self-massage with a tennis ball. A time-honoured trick and a good way to get yourself lying on the floor and breathing deeply (both really therapeutic things, in my opinion)!

Here's a good article that provides some detail and instruction. An excerpt, for quick reference: 

Lie down on a tennis ball, placing it in approximately the right location. “Explore” by moving slowly and gently, until you’ve got just the right spot. Trust your intuition. If it feels like the right spot, it probably is.

The sensation should be clear and strong and satisfying; it should have a relieving, welcome quality — this is what we call “good pain.”

The key to successful tennis ball technique is to achieve a “release” by applying just the right amount of pressure: enough to do some good, but not enough to irritate the knot. The sensation should be clear and strong and satisfying; it should have a relieving, welcome quality. This is what we call “good pain.” If you are wincing or gritting your teeth, you need to be more gentle. You need to be able to relax.

Once you have adjusted yourself to achieve the right pressure, relax as much as possible and wait for the sensation to fade to at least eighty percent of the original intensity. This is the “release” — a change in the physiological state of the tissues, or a “melting” of the knot. This can take anywhere from ten seconds to several minutes.

The same therapist, Paul Ingraham of Vancouver, also offers (for $15) an article on Myofascial Pain Syndrome and how to begin to help yourself out of it. Perhaps this describes your experience?

If you have any problem with chronic muscle pain or pain that comes and goes and then always comes back, if you have an injury that seems like it should have been healed ages ago, if you have strange aches and pains that have never really had a good explanation … please keep reading! This tutorial is the most detailed and readable trigger point information for patients available anywhere online.

Since that above description describes me TO A TEE (that pain he describes is what led me to start Yoga for Geeks in the first place, actually), I may actually purchase his ebook and try out his recommendations. If I do, I'll report back with results...

Quick question...

Is your breath shallow? Could it be deeper? Are you holding your breath?

Okay, that was three questions... but if you answered YES to any of them, then there's something very important you need to do.

Stop what you're doing right now and push all the rest of the air out of your lungs.

See, the lungs work like a vacuum pump. If you exhale completely, the inhale is automatic. I was just reminded of this by a massage therapist earlier today.

If you are like so many people in our culture, then you don't get enough breath through your system – and over time, this affects everything from your digestion to your nervous system to your musculature. Rather than trying to remember to breathe deeper, instead just try asking yourself one of those above questions, as often as you can remember. And every time you get a YES, just exhale completely. That's all. Push all the air out, and resume computing. Or walking. Or talking. Or cooking. Or whatever. 

It's all about the exhale. Ahhhhhh.  

I had coffee with a friend on Monday, and he told me about walking desks. The basic idea is that you have a treadmill under your desk, and you walk really slowly (less than one mile per hour) while you work. Apparently, people report losing weight really easily, once so much of their sedentary work day is turned a little bit more active. 

(See the links on the sidebar of the above-linked blog, or start with this article.) 

Personally, I was excited by the thought of *not* sitting all day. The opportunity to keep the legs moving, to keep the blood flowing, to avoid the progressive tightness in the hips that seems to plague desk workers everywhere... what a great thing!

I would love to hear from people who have tried this. I might just consider trying to create one at some point...