Restorative poses for bad knees - Restart of yoga practice with Nuvana

I arrived home after a long journey from Frankfurt. The return journey from India is most unpleasant, as it is difficult to get any sleep. Next time I will try Tylenol PM. For the first time in 6 years I had no trouble at customs. I was first to pick up luggage and first to be directed to the bus at PDX (Portland International Airport). I was prepared to explain the yogs props, including a bolster, halasana bench, belts and ropes. But no questions except for the usual "do you have any food items?". I had none to declare, so I received a simple directive to the exit.

Historically, I am part of the crowd usually from India and other "third world countries', that is directed to extra checks including opening and Xray of all bags to ensure we are not carrying banned food items, drugs or anything that may interfere with national security .

I have had a word or two with customs and the city of Portland a few years back when I and several of my Indian employees who used to live in Portland were given a difficult time at PDX. "Third world, developing nations, Aliens" - I hope some day these terms would just melt away from our society. For now I keep holding on to my indifference, but coming through US customs at PDX is one of my most stressful moments.

I returned to my usual jet-lag, where around 6 pm I am out like a light. The break in Frankfurt helped, as the nap lasted just a couple of hours and I was frequently woken by my kids, which helped. My knee pains returned. They started 8 weeks ago and have become worse, especially my right knee, which I had injured nearly 20 years ago in a skiing mishap. Walking up and down the stairs is excruciating.

I decided to skip yoga classes and wait till my Friday session with Nuvana. I am certain now that long plane rides of more than 4 hours hurt my knees. There is only so much "sucking up of my knees" I can do throughout the day. For those not familiar with this term, it is frequently used by Pune Iyengar teachers to instruct you to pull your knees up.

Nuvana started with a Dandasana, by the window. It is a built in bench at the base of the window in the room we practice. Its high enough to get my arms on the bench to allow me to pull up straight, with my back and behind completely touching the wall. Then some blankets between my knees and a hard push on my feet to get the legs completely straight. This puts pressure on the glute muscles, the calves, and the back of the thighs, stretching the back parts of your legs to release the knees. You can see a portion of this window bench in the pictue.


Next was a Viparita Karani , with my legs strapped at various parts and the buckle directions alternating. The picture says it all. This pose lasted for nearly 15 minutes and ended once my legs were pretty numb. "You achieve a different kind of blood circulation" remarked Nuvana and it is actually helpful re-aligning the ligaments on the knees that get mis-aligned as we live our life in bad posture hell.


I felt immediate relief, not to mention increased blood in my brain, making me more alert. Usually this is a relaxing pose - it seemed to make me more alert and aware. We followed this sequence with a BadaKonasana, sitting high on blankets and then Nuvana wrapped the ropes around the knees, and I had to pull those ropes out, while tightening the loops to give space between the knees. It was followed by a supported Navasan, with my back on the steps of her stairwell and legs at an angle supported by a chair, shoulders rolled back, with the steps for support. Its interesting how objects and items in her house become props.


We ended with a "knee traction". I lied down on my stomach with the knees on a blanket and then a rope is wrapped around the knee and pulled back while my foot and calf was pushed down towards my back. This traction is simply amazing and can release locked knees. Its brilliant. After several iterations of this action, I was done. As I rose up I could hear the crackle of knees being released. It was a good crack! I could immediately feel the relief. There seem to be some feeling of pressure, but the pain was gone.


I imagine my knee pain is mostly due to bad posture which over time can cause the pain to build up in the knees. I could get into some life analogies here but this time I shall refrain. The readers are invited to draw their own analogies, and if you do have some please comments.


Comments are always welcome; though I have come to know the regulars on here and I thank you all for visiting and spending time. I hope these posts help you. They certainly help me. If you haven't, please do try an Iyengar yoga class from a certfied Iyengar Yoga Teacher. Next week my classes at Sunset will resume. I have heard good things about Nina's substitute Jen. I am looking forward to taking a class or two from her in Nina's absence. Nina is blogging her experience in Pune at Nina's Yoga Life.


Please visit another interesting blog called Yogue Style by Insiya Rasiwalla Finn from Vancouver, Canada.


Namaste


The Yogi

Day 5 - 100 degrees and HOT YOGA!

April 16th - 9 pm

I woke up wednesday AM sore. My head was sore from the shirsana and the back from the fall. Despite the blanket the hard cement floor can be harsh. We (yes I include myself in the foreigners group despite being Indian born) are spoilt by our nice and soft hard wood floors, extra thick mats, extra firm and long belts and softwood blocks. The blocks in Pune are called "bricks". They are wooden, but they weigh a ton more than what we are used to. They are heavier than real clay bricks and you certainly wouldn't want to be in the way of one that maybe used as canon fodder. These bricks along with the short belts, the thin mats, the hard cement floor; for a tall guy like me can be quite harsh. Add the 100F temperature - whoo! this is hot yoga folks - seriously! I can see why there is a moratorium on foreign students from April to May.

Today's class was at 7 pm. I arrived 15 mins early only to witness the medical class on my way to my hall. This is probably the most intense part of yoga at RIMYI. It was an amazing sight, with several teachers including Raya and Abhi with guruji at the helm helping students with yoga therapy. All the amazing props in the main big hall were out and in full force use. I see a young disable girl being helped with various poses including Uttanasana using these props. What an amazing sight! I am reminded of the hustle and bustle of the outside world suddenly in coming into this hall, along with the heat and intensity.

My class today was intermediate and this might as well be advanced by our standards. The instructor simply gave the pose name and you are expected to "do it". There are no instructor demonstrations. There is not much one on one assistance, unless you tell the instructor in advance. Given the hot temperatures this evening, he asked us to do mostly restorative style hip opening and back bending poses - LONG restorative poses.

We started with call and response chanting and prayer. I love this part - the echoes in the hall make it so much more dramatic. Everyone sings loud. We started with Supta-Virasana, transitioned to folding legs in padmasana pose (or half for folks like me), then to Supta Badha konasa, followed by a Setu Bandha. These are usually relaxing poses - but the heat made them unbearable. I wish this was in the morning... - I just had to tolerate it. The uncomfortable feeling was there, but I recalled a comment from Nina Pillegi, the night before in an email, the essence of which was that the Sutras say that you should be indifferent to uncomfortable situations. It helps to maintain tranquility. That led to some tranquility for me this evening, but being indifferent to discomfort is really hard.

We moved on to Viparita Dandasana on the chair, that was very uncomfortable. Then a badakonasana on the chair with a back-bend. This was supposed to be very relaxing. I did the best I could. Then on to Setu Bandha Sarvangasana on the hard floor with the hard wooden brick. I had to keep the "brick" at the lowest height and then to Shavasana. Each pose was probably done for 10-15 minutes. Its rare to experience this. All in all the heat made it challenging - I can't imagine what happens to folks who do Bikram Yoga. What I took back with me was indifference and seeking comfort in the moments where I did feel relaxed, which was in the shavasana. I could have just fallen asleep.

As I left I could see the Iyengar family having their dinner through their open windows in the front of the house. Guruji on a chair in their TV room presumably with his dinner plate on his lap. Prashantji eating at an office desk in another room that is the main enterance to their house. I always see Geetaji in this room in the morning. I was humbled by the simplicity and dedication of this family. It reminded me that life is not about comfort and material things, but about inner peace and happiness which they spread through their love and dedication to yoga. Every time I return from India, I come back with this feeling that we can live on less and still be much happier people. I feel blessed I can afford to make several trips every year to experience this joy and happiness and simplicity of life. Its a life I once grew up in as a child and the universe has thankfully has brought me back to it.

Namaste

The Yogi