Practice today was nothing but awful. My entire body has seized up. I could hardly forward bend in my surya namaskar. And, as well as hurting from the sciatic pain, my whole buttock now feels incredibly stiff. I can barely stand up from ardha baddha padma padangustasana on my first leg, and hardly get into it on the second side. Purvottanasana hurts, as does the second side of all of the janus, as well as mari B and D. Back-bending was appalling because my spine was so stiff and my shoulders weren’t open and lotus was particularly hard to get in to. In fact I was dreading back bends as soon as I got to the seated postures.
Most of my practice I thought about giving up, not just for the day, but forever. Well, maybe until things stop hurting. Should I keep at it, or rest up for a while? A difficult question. Is it just my state of mind that is making me want to give up, because despite coming back to my mat everyday, my practice is getting more difficult, or is it a genuine plea from my body to rest?
August 13, 2007 at 12:55 pm
When I have gone through similar pain and stiffness in the past, I’ve kept trucking. In my opinion, it is good to learn to practice in a way that minimizes/deals with a current pain. But that’s just what I would do, not necessarily the best or right thing to do.
August 14, 2007 at 5:54 pm
I’m sorry to hear about this struggle. I’ve gone through similar. What I’ve found was that it can be beneficial and rewarding to continue the practice, except that to do things gentle. Perhaps stop at the point where it starts to feel pain, and go back a little bit before relaxing and really breathing into the asana.
In this way, the nice bonus is that you’re more and more aware of your body, of what parts are stretched when, how, and understanding why this asana is like it is, with help from the sensitiveness of your injury.
Any injury can be an annoyance but they’re also your best teacher in the short, mid and long term – certainly when your injury lessens.
August 14, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Thanks for your encouragement! I’m going to keep at it, I am not a good defeatist.