There is a new challenge on Instagram asking yogis at what age they first tried yoga.
My number is 18. I was 18 years old when I first gave yoga a try.
I failed miserably.
Not because I couldn't practice, but because my body had limitations that I didn't know about until then.
I took a yoga class at University, and every single time I went to that class, I would wind up vomiting through the entire class.
I wound up having to take a Withdrawal With Cause. From yoga!
Turns out that my spine is not properly connected at the top. So, when I try to sit or stand up completely straight, my body responds with an instant vagus nerve reaction: vomiting.
What I didn't understand then, as I thought I physically could not practice yoga at all if I could not sit up straight, is that I can still practice. I simply have limitations.
The age I tried again was age 26. That's when I was taken out of physical sports because of the Ankylosing Spondylitis diagnosis.
I have never looked back.
Yoga offers me a way of staying active (especially through the winter months) and retaining some form of strength and flexibility. Yoga helps keep me as mobile as possible, since the AS has progressed.
It keeps me grounded while allowing me time to meditate. It improves my own strength and flexibility and encourages me to learn and do more in the confines of my own little space.
Just a tiny little stretch each day helps immensely.
No comments:
Post a Comment