Push for perfection or accept status quo - Are some battles worth fighting for?

Just as I was about to write this post about my experience in class yesterday (it was painful and unbearable!), my human resources manager walked in to complain how the tax department in India had not given her a refund she was owed for the last two years. She will lose the entire amount if it is not refunded to her before March 2009. By paying a 20% bribe she could get it all back, but she is reluctant to do it as she feels the company owes her that money (even though technically it was not the company's fault).

What does one do in this situation? I couldn't encourage her to pay a bribe, but at the same time, some battles are not worth fighting for. In the end no one wins. Without being judgement about the state of affairs of the Indian Tax Department, this battle I know will result her in losing the entire amount. So I asked her "Would you rather lose 100% or get at least 80%?". Her response was "I just want all 100%" implying the company give her a 100% and take the loss.

This didn't seem like a fair transaction to me. So I shared some personal experiences where I settled for something less than what I deserved, because I knew if I fought for that 20% more, I wouldn't get the 80% no matter how unfair it felt. At the same time I have engaged and seen other folks engage in meaningless battles, where there was no winnder. I am not sure if she got the message completely, but it certainly re-assured me of my decisions in the past to not engage in certain battles in life. Its better to accept "status-quo" in order to move forward vs fighting battles that you know you can't win. They result in unwanted pain and suffering and there is no learning from that pain. Some battles are just not worth fighting for!

So here is the connection back to my class yesterday. It was with the lady who I described as awesome from the class on Thursday as she so diligently focused on ensuring we spent time in executing all the small steps to get into poses. She also teaches the Tuesday AM class (yesterday). I was glad to see her. The theme was restorative and forward bends mostly in sitting down positions, Adhomukha Virasana, Sukhasana with forward bend, Badhakonasana in forward bend with head resting on bolsters.

These poses can be painful if you have not done some warm up stretches prior. She pushed us to extend and push down the sacrum in order to get the thigh muscles down to get extensions in the spine. It was a repeat of the class from yesterday, except that I had already tired myself out from walking for an hour prior to the class. I didn't ease into them, such as using a chair to rest my head on vs a bolster and blankets. In this quest to push, I was battling against my body and my body was telling me "NO"!. Was it Ego, was it intimidation or was it the quest to fight my own body that made me not get up and just get a chair. I went against my own gut feeling, because the teacher was pushing everyone to go for the maximum stretch.

Did I ever lose this battle! My glute muscle pain around the sacrum returned this morning with a vengeance and so did my right shoulder pain. I overextended myself as I fought the battle against my own body for the sake of perfecting the pose and showing the teacher that I could meet her expectations. I didn't let go of my Ego! Was it worth it? - NO! Will I suffer the consequences - YES! Do I expect to fully recover - YES! But, I expect to be in pain for the remainder of my time in Pune and then some.

Some battles are just not worth fighting for - that was my lesson for today!

Namaste

The Yogi

Eliminating Toxicity from your body and mind - Iyengar Yoga at its best!

The last three yoga session have been eye opening for me to introspect on the subject of Toxicity. Our bodies gain plenty of toxins from environment we live in - the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. Similarly our minds are polluted by negative and toxic toxic behavior of people. Nature has an amazing way for our mind and body to absorb such toxicity in life and continue to function as humans. But in the long term these toxins burn us out, mentally, physically and emotion.

After two years of practicing yoga, I can say with some confidence that I have been able to eliminate some of this toxicity from my life. This has become more obvious to me recently as I am bombarded with toxicity at a personal level. I find that inversions and back bends have a huge in impact on managing my stress levels. Its amazing how a combination of a Sirsasana, Setu Bandha Saravangasana, Sarvangasana, Halasana and a back supported Savasana can relax you. Abdominal twists such Bharvajasana are analogous to twisting a wet towel and squeezing the water out. With abdominal yoga twists, you work your internal organs and squeeze out the toxins.

A weekly 90 minute Iyengar yoga session covers enough ground of such Asanas to eliminate toxins from your body. Give it a try. Visit bksiyengar.com to find an Iyengar yoga teacher near you. I am so wedded to Iyengar Yoga, that no matter where in the world I am I will find a teacher or Iyengar Studio and take at least one class there. This week I am in Winnipeg Canada. Tomorrow morning I hope to attend a level 3 class at the North Winnipeg Iyengar yoga center.

Namaste

The yogi

Day 7 in Pune - Wise Cracking Yoga Teacher

I missed the Thursday class. Work fires and meetings early morning. But there was something to look forward to on Friday. It is to be with Gulnaaz, a short fair Indian-Irani lady who has wise crack style. She is incredibly funny and her style just lends to learning and pushing without it being too serious. I saw her practicing Urdhva Parsarita Padasana in the main hall prior to class. Guess what? It ended up in the class and it is tough, especially if you are asked to do 10 reps twice in a row. We did the usual typical poses, like a wide Uttanasana to adho mukha savasana and then the various Supta Padangusthasana variations. This pose is done pretty much in every class. My hip and sciatic pain has completely disappeared. I really liked her instructions. They ask you to pull your arms back with the belt in the I pose and then in the II variation she asked I not take the raised leg down completely to ensure the other leg was straight. She showed how in the quest to get the leg down, we lose alignment. Nice tip! And then came the wise crack. An older gentleman in his quest to stretch his leg wrapped the belt around his neck. She yelled "Sirji please don't do that, I need to see you in my next class"! We all just cracked out laughing. I have a hard time keeping composed and I find her class the most enjoyable and look forward to next Friday's class. There is so much to learn. I feel I have gained a new level of flexibility in one week.

Namaste!

Day 2 in Pune - Enjoying the ambiance

April 13, 2008. 1 am IST

Its 1 am and I am jet-lagged. I wake up to complete silence and quiet. Its in the middle of the night and the chatter outside, the honking of horns, the traffic, the chirping of the birds all subsided to a complete quiet silence. Its meditative and hypnotic. I feed myself some toast and tea. I missed my first class yesterday evening. I slept through it after a nice sumptuous lunch with my hosts, Neena and Manu Sahani. We had a pleasant conversation about Iyengar Yoga, the center, Geetaji, Guruji - they are both practitioners of Iyengar Yoga, technology business, life. I climb the three floors upto my room and crash.



I crash back again only to wake up at 5 am. Its time for a walk to explore, observe and experience my first real day in Pune.

The gluteal pain - Its over and gone

I was travelling the last 4 days and was at a trade show. Ever since the last yoga therapy session with Nuvana I have become even more aware of my posture, I have been pulling up my knees, pulling up my feet and stretching my calves, performing supta padangusthasana. THE PAIN IS GONE... It really has gone. So now I look forward to getting back to my yoga classes. Its been one month since I was at the Sunset Yoga Center. I will probably skip the advanced class for now and start again as a novice level 1/2. I also have finalized a plan to visit Pune in early to mid April for 2 weeks for business. I hope to stay next to the Iyengar Center and I hope they will let me take classes. I will blog every day. I can't wait for it.

Namaste

The Yogi

No Yoga Today with Nuvana

Since I am in resting mode and waiting for physical therapy to start next week (I found a therapist who is also a certified anusura yoga teacher), I didn't make it to Nuvana's place for yoga therapy. Instead she advised I roll up a towel and sit on it while I work and try a supported "supta padanga gusthasana" on the stair case at home. Worthwhile try. I have mostly just tried to relax the leg with the pigeon pose folding of my left leg. The pain continues to sustain itself and experts tell me it could be sciatic pinched nerve.

I do plan to attend her her back-care class at sunset yoga center tomorrow http://sunsetyoga.com/ which should be less taxing and more rest-full. In the meantime enjoy another one of my iyengar yoga video picks from youtube. It has no music but a nice set of surya namakar. And for those of you interested in expressing an opinion please visit my alter ego at http://haveopinion.blogspot.com/. May the sun shine in your life with vigor and energy of surya namaskar pose! And sunshine is renewable energy!

Namaste

Iyengar style:


Ashtanga Style just for kicks:

Yoga Therapy - the gluteus muscle saga continues

It was back to yoga therapy yesterday evening with Nuvana as I continue my journey of pain. First we tried supported supta=padangagushthasana, dandasana on the stairs and half uttanasana on the wall. They were all very painful. We finally settled on supported chair twists that brought some immediate relief. Then two straps around a pillar, one below the waist and covering the painful area, one around the upper back for support, left (painful) leg straight and right leg bent, raised and pushing agains the pillar, hands on the pillar pushing back... 15 minutes of this action brought some badly needed relief. This position seems to bring the most relief. I went a second time with the same action. I will be practicing this all day today. Pain -- It does a body good!

Journey of pain -- Sciatic, Gluteal Muscle.....Ever tried accupuncture?

My journey of bearing this gluteal muscle pain continues and it has now become sciatic. At my last massage Jeremy suggested trying accupuncture for relief. So today when the pain became more severe I called up Angelic Healing, http://www.angelichealinghands.com/ and made an appointment with Brett, their resident accupuncturist and herbalist. I was apprehensive at first, but when he started talking about doing the "pigeon pose" and "child pose" I felt immediately at home. The poking of needles was scary at first. He put needles on my right arm, right upper shouler, left and right upper hips, left hand, right foot and then 25 minutes later turned me over and put needles in the back, sacrum, both calves. Every time a needle was inserted I could feel a reaction. That was expected!

I can tell you honestly, it brought immediate relief in the thighs and hamstrings, as they had just tightened up with sciatica pain. I could do the child pose a lot easier after the treatment. I went home a lot more relaxed. I continue to use the strap, do a variety of therapy poses all day long including in my office, so I can manage this horrible pain. Tomorrow is another evening with Nuvana and I look forward to it.



So I have learnt a lot more about pain lately. Both physical and mental. I can say it is just too hard but then rather than succumb to it, I have been trying to deal with it the best I can.

Namaste

The Yogi

Managing the pain in the butt -- Gluteal muscle pain!

So I suffer the butt pain for three days. I miss Nina's yoga class Monday evening. Tuesday afternoon -- I have had it. I have to do something more than just a strap around my butt. So out come my props with support from kids, the two yogini's always there to help. Here is part 1 of the series... enjoy, I would love comments and please don't try this without supervision of a certfied iyengar yoga teacher.

Namaste!