Packing here ( and last minute prep) for my workshop in Spain this weekend, heading off straight from work tomorrow to a hotel by the airport then an early flight the following morning. A talk on Krishnamacharya Friday evening, Krishnamacharya approach to asana workshop Saturday morning and in the afternoon a Vinyasa Krama workshop. Sunday I think I get to explore the beautiful city of Leon then on Monday another class or two (Q and A/workshop) I think and the chance to sit in on my friend Oscar's Vinyasa Krama class,
So I'm away for a few days, until Tuesday in fact. While I am away here's a guest post that I'm quite proud of bringing about. A good friend of mine told me this story a short while back, she's the 'kind pharmacist friend and Yoga enthusiast' mentioned in the story. I asked her to try and persuade the person involved to share the story here and here it is. Thank you so much for sharing it.
FROM
YOGA SCEPTIC
TO
AVID NOVICE
For some 3 years, I had been enduring the excruciating pains from my back originating from the region between L4 & L5, hampering my daily mobility. I have sought a multitude of cures, ranging from physiotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic and medication. Pain-killers and pain-relieving gels became instead my daily must-haves. In my last visit to the Orthopaedic surgeon early in March this year, desperation finally succumbed me to the dictate of an operation to be performed in December 2013.
While in London in mid-2013, a kind pharmacist friend, a Yoga enthusiast herself, told my wife of the goodness of Yoga for general health well-being and perhaps Yoga could even be the answer to my long suffering. Until then, I was a Yoga Sceptic. In the past, I regarded Yoga as not a good enough exercise for man, effeminate, too gentle and too benign on muscles to toughen. Through this good soul, I was introduced to a Senior Yoga Instructor. She gave me the first set of Yoga exercises followed by Myo-fascia massage. The immediate effect was scintillating. I at once felt that my body was stretched backed to proper coordinates, feeling less stiffness and less twisted up. I could walk a little longer before pain set in. However, relief wore off the next day. Following the advice of the Yoga Instructor, I faithfully kept up with the daily Yoga exercise and the weekly Myo-fascia massage. Soon after, a turning point began to be noticeably felt. The relief from pain and stiffness, seemed momentarily at the outset, began to straddle over a longer and longer period.
Three months later, I was back in Singapore and returned to face the Orthopaedic Surgeon. Lo and behold, my current MRI shows that between L4 and L5, some sign of healing is taking place. The nerves and blood vessels are back in their proper canal showing less of a crushing by the degenerating soft tissues. I walked away with the happiest verdict in life – NO OPERATION is necessary at this stage unless further degeneration sets in!
This whole episode drives me to the full and humble acceptance of the SOFT POWER OF YOGA AND ITS HEALING and now I am an AVID NOVICE, rigorously and conscientiously practising Yoga every evening before retiring, to allow the body after exercise, an opportunity to heal during restful sleep. The path is firmly set towards a fuller recovery. Complete recovery will be a bonus as my problem is one of ageing and degeneration. But now, each morning I get up with joy and hope to welcome a new day without scrambling for pain-killers and gel!.
My heartfelt thanks must go to both our pharmacist friend and my Yoga Instructor, who is very sincere in stretching out her helping hand, with a strong conviction in what she does.
So I'm away for a few days, until Tuesday in fact. While I am away here's a guest post that I'm quite proud of bringing about. A good friend of mine told me this story a short while back, she's the 'kind pharmacist friend and Yoga enthusiast' mentioned in the story. I asked her to try and persuade the person involved to share the story here and here it is. Thank you so much for sharing it.
***
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FROM
YOGA SCEPTIC
TO
AVID NOVICE
For some 3 years, I had been enduring the excruciating pains from my back originating from the region between L4 & L5, hampering my daily mobility. I have sought a multitude of cures, ranging from physiotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic and medication. Pain-killers and pain-relieving gels became instead my daily must-haves. In my last visit to the Orthopaedic surgeon early in March this year, desperation finally succumbed me to the dictate of an operation to be performed in December 2013.
While in London in mid-2013, a kind pharmacist friend, a Yoga enthusiast herself, told my wife of the goodness of Yoga for general health well-being and perhaps Yoga could even be the answer to my long suffering. Until then, I was a Yoga Sceptic. In the past, I regarded Yoga as not a good enough exercise for man, effeminate, too gentle and too benign on muscles to toughen. Through this good soul, I was introduced to a Senior Yoga Instructor. She gave me the first set of Yoga exercises followed by Myo-fascia massage. The immediate effect was scintillating. I at once felt that my body was stretched backed to proper coordinates, feeling less stiffness and less twisted up. I could walk a little longer before pain set in. However, relief wore off the next day. Following the advice of the Yoga Instructor, I faithfully kept up with the daily Yoga exercise and the weekly Myo-fascia massage. Soon after, a turning point began to be noticeably felt. The relief from pain and stiffness, seemed momentarily at the outset, began to straddle over a longer and longer period.
Three months later, I was back in Singapore and returned to face the Orthopaedic Surgeon. Lo and behold, my current MRI shows that between L4 and L5, some sign of healing is taking place. The nerves and blood vessels are back in their proper canal showing less of a crushing by the degenerating soft tissues. I walked away with the happiest verdict in life – NO OPERATION is necessary at this stage unless further degeneration sets in!
This whole episode drives me to the full and humble acceptance of the SOFT POWER OF YOGA AND ITS HEALING and now I am an AVID NOVICE, rigorously and conscientiously practising Yoga every evening before retiring, to allow the body after exercise, an opportunity to heal during restful sleep. The path is firmly set towards a fuller recovery. Complete recovery will be a bonus as my problem is one of ageing and degeneration. But now, each morning I get up with joy and hope to welcome a new day without scrambling for pain-killers and gel!.
My heartfelt thanks must go to both our pharmacist friend and my Yoga Instructor, who is very sincere in stretching out her helping hand, with a strong conviction in what she does.