Patience, Patience / Yoga+

Sorry for the lack of writing — I felt uninspired this week and kinda bummed out, as my weight loss didn’t seem to be happening at MY desired rate.

Last night, after a pretty emotionally charged week, I decided to re-try heated yoga. For those who don’t know, this style of  yoga takes place in a heated room somewhere between 85-95 degrees. By the way..I HATE the heat. But I wanted to cleanse and detox, so this was a good way to.

I was soaked, dizzy and proud all in the same breath. WOW what a good burn! It felt energizing to be physically at your wit’s end, but as the yoga instructor said, “That voice you’re hearing right now telling you to stop? That’s just your mind — YOU are fine.”

I needed to hear that, in all areas of my life. My minds been racing lately mainly with thoughts of inadequacy in my life. Poisonous thought they are.  But I flag them quickly and work through them — knowing they pass and knowing they come in to remind me of who I really am. And I learn something new each time.

 

Yoga+ || Lower Back Pain

Since revving-up my running routine, my lower back and hips have been very sore and tight. I’m used to this, somewhat, but it’s always frustrating to move in a positive direction, but have pain and discomfort attached to it. Since a highschool injury during a soccer game, I’ve dealt with severe hip bursitis on my right side. It makes my muscles tight too, so the whole leg is a little off-kilter. Greater physical activity increases the pain —  but I’ve got a system in place to help, so that I can balance out.

Yoga has helped so much with alleviating the pain of hip and lower-back pain. As a plus-sized woman, I’ve found some techniques  that relieve the pain while being realistic for my body. One of my favs is “Bridge Pose”

This is “bridge pose” and works very well for lower-back pain. You can modify also by carefully placing a block right where your butt-cheeks meet the small of your back — it’s then called “supported bridge.” When my back is sore, I just gently rise & fall and an out of bridge. Keep your feet flat on the floor and as perpendicular as you can. Arms ly still at your side too. Often, they recommend clasping them together under you back — ya right! So I just keep them still to my side. Sometime, when I’m laying down, I’ll push my butt into the mat to give my lower-back that extra stretch. It’s very soothing too to have your knees above your hips. 

[ Introducing Yoga+ ]

Yoga isn’t just for the skinny girls. For over a year, I’ve been practicing yoga to alleviate my severe hip bursitis and center myself in a way that other exercise cannot. I’m a larger girl and my first yoga class was VERY intimidating. I was the only heavy person in my class, and now with over a year practice and classes at least 1-2x a week, I’ve only seen ONE other girl who was plus-sized in my class. …Really?

I love yoga because I’m strong, flexible and inspired by the way I feel after it. But I cannot help to think that the practice is missing a huge group of the population who would really benefit from yoga’s ability to soothe sore muscles, strengthen and build inner confidence,  and relax the mind & body.

So I thought of something called “Yoga+” [Plus] — a series dedicated to introducing yoga to plus-sized people. Yoga by nature is not bound to body image at all.  Overweight people may naturally feel intimidated by attending a class, because the image is that you’ve got to be skinner, flexible and in perfect shape to really get the benefit from yoga. Spandex & tight clothing is the norm — but that shouldn’t have to stop people from enjoying the tremendous benefits of the practice.

I’m going to share pictures of me in poses that I think might help common ailments of overweight people, like lower-back, hips and leg pain/tightness.

Today’s pose: Side-bend
This is a great pose if your hips and sides are tight. Kneel down and sit back on to your ankles [if your knees are tender, place a blanket or pillow under them. You can also sit flat on the ground with your knees in criss-cross, to your degree]. Slowly raise your right arm straight up, feel that good stretch, then lean over to the opposite side. Hold there for about 3-5 breaths then slowly come back. Do the same on the other side.

*I would like to mention that I’m in NO WAY a professional yoga teacher, so with any new routine, talk with your doctor first. This is just my experience with yoga and poses I think might be helpful. AGAIN — I’m not a yoga teacher [though I’m thinking of it one day 🙂 ]

[ The Plan ]

Writing this quicker than I anticipated, but looks like people found it sooner than I thought! GOOD QUESTION regarding my plan…

I’ve been on Weight Watchers (WW) on & off for the last 6 years. The first attempt when I was in college was awesome — I los 45lbs and felt incredible. But then….unresolved inner-critic voices shuffled in, and because I was ill-equipped at the time to challenge it back, I dropped the plan and it took 5 years for the weight to slink back on.

On and off and on and off I went — I was trying to recapture the momentum of the first WW success but never was able to.

Currently, I’m on WW online and really find this to be the best system for me because I’m a “go at your own style” type person. I learn best by personal trial and error. In addition, I’ve also decided to become a “flexitarian” which is a clever term for a part-time vegetarian. Right now, I don’t eat any meat for 2-3 days a week and I lean heavily on fruits & vegetables. I really like this style of eating.

Activity wise, I’ve always been moderately active — but again, mainly to maintain. I now hit the gym 3xweek and am starting a running program [at my own pace…lessons learned from pushing too hard = injury = recovery = inconsistent program] I listen to my body & we’ve got a great system going now 🙂

But the jewel in my mind-body mission has been yoga. For over a year now, I’ve gone to class at least 1xweek — it’s a GOD SEND. I love, love, love it. and wow….I’m uber-flexible 😀

So as you can see — my plan is well into place, but now it’s about consistency & sticking to it despite getting off track from time-to-time. The plan is to keep on WW, go to the gym 3xWeek and do my yoga class. I really feel that balancing those and doing them earnestly will pay off.

Oh…and writing about all this, which is my mode of inspiration and revelation.

: )