Unexpected benefit

[christopher575]

I started doing yoga because my doctor suggested it for my lower back pain. There's definitely some progress there, and it always feels amazing the rest of the day if I've done some yoga in the morning. But I was a little worried when I started because the moves were very difficult on my feet. You know when you curl your toes and your foot seizes up? Laying the tops of your feet flat on the mat and putting tons of weight on them caused a very intense version of that.

But I kept up with it and it got easier, and now I find that my feet feel much better, generally speaking. Long distance walking was always hard on my feet. It was only back pain that could stop me from doing it, but I was putting up with a lot of foot pain, too. How cool that the dreaded yoga I didn't even want to try is helping with an issue I wasn't even trying to address.

Comments

[badgerpdx.livejournal.com]

Yay! Yoga is on my list, too. I've gotten a bit cuddly and lost my flexibility. Glad it's doing well for you.

[cattycritic.livejournal.com]

My mom had some serious back issues and she said yoga helped with that too. It doesn't seem like just improving flexibility and lengthening connective tissue would have such broad effects, but maybe there are other things going on. Yoga also is supposed to help with high blood pressure and lift the mood... I've actually been considering resuming my meditation/yoga routine from several years ago. Glad it's working for you.

[suxdonut.livejournal.com]

That's awesome, yay! I'm getting a lot of foot pain from all my walking. Sorry if you've already posted as much, but do you have a link to a suggested routine? I'd like to do yoga at home but it's been hard to motivate...I tried one DVD and didn't find it to be great.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I do! Adriene Mishler's on YouTube and she's great. Not too serious, but obviously knows what she's doing. I did her beginner's video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ6NfFIr2jw) for several weeks and have now moved on to her 30 Days of Yoga series. Not doing them every day or anything, just needed to change it up because it's hard not to want to work ahead when you know a video by heart.

I see that she also has a Complete Beginners' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7AYKMP6rOE) video, but I haven't watched it. It's 20 minutes, versus 40 for the one above.

[suxdonut.livejournal.com]

woo thanks so much! Trying it out this weekend.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

One thing I wish I'd thought to do that you might try is watch through it before trying it. Otherwise you might find yourself climbing back up from a move to figure out where you're at. If you have time. I thought of it several videos ago and still haven't done it.

[suxdonut.livejournal.com]

I just did it (i didn't watch it through first, but I was at a good angle to see most of the time). Now I feel amazing! Thanks soo much for this link, this was just what I've been wanting. I tried a DVD that was more 'power yoga', same with the one class I tried at gold's gym: all go go go and no actual feeling good or being careful with poses/deepening breath and space. This was just the opposite, easygoing and focused on balance and form...I unclenched my jaw and shoulders mightily. Ahh.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Yay again for how awesome you feel! I'm still lollin' about "desert stage with wind chime music and three people posing in unison" haahaaa

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Oh and I feel like it's worth mentioning, I have to make some adjustments because her body just isn't shaped like my body. I can't put my thigh up against my torso because my gut's in the way, and that's cool. I work around it. She could have done a better job of addressing that in the video, but oh well.

[cattycritic.livejournal.com]

I know there are supposed to be all kinds of modifications for different body types and flexibilities. Would be nice to see that addressed comprehensively somewhere. I've never seen much of that in yoga classes either.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

One thing I've noticed that she's doing in the 30 days series is throwing out a few difficulty level options at least, so that's good.

As far as body shapes go, I'm guessing there are some for pregnancy. But it cracks me up to see all these "yoga for weight loss" videos where the person is super skinny and bending in ways that aren't possible if you actually have that fat to lose.

[cattycritic.livejournal.com]

This link has some interesting modifications for plus sizes, but everyone in the comments is all offended. I thought the author (who teaches a yoga class specifically for plus-size students) made it clear that she wasn't trying to make all fat people sound like wounded animals with tons of shame, but whatever. Useful?

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/yoga-for-obese-people

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I almost said that I bet a barrier to modifications for plus sizes would be people being offended, but then I figured that would be stupid. People are always eager to disappoint.

[suxdonut.livejournal.com]

I have this 'yoga for weight loss' dvd and they had a plus size person in the back, doing modified poses, but it was weird having them in this secondary position - I'd rather have the plus size person up front leading the class. Although what I like about the link you gave me is its very informal, its not in on a desert stage with wind chime music and 3 people posing in unison, like the dvd I had. Just a gal in her living room.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Isn't she awesome? I love her attitude.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

Sounds great. Reminds us how all of our body parts connect somehow. Good for you!