After my last post about taking it easy, I got a great comment from a reader that reminded me about my owner personal experience with fitness and weight loss goals and how those things fit in with a yoga practice. We live in a goal-oriented society, don't we? Many of us want to lose weight, be healthier, have more prosperity, get a good job, find a mate, etc. When it comes to the fitness/exercise culture, the messages are pretty hard-core -- no pain, no gain.
I don't believe that the "goal" of yoga is merely physical, but that's a whole other post entirely. For now I'm just going to address the idea of applying the fitness/exercise mentality to the practice of yoga. In the interest of full-disclosure, I feel I should admit that I'm a bit biased in that I don't quite understand and/or agree with the gym culture. I don't think that pumping iron is the only -- and right -- way to build strength. I don't understand why anyone would think that multi-tasking by reading a book and/or watching TV while running/walking on a treadmill is an effective -- or safe -- method of exercise. I don't agree with the idea of pushing it, pumping it, feeling the burn, or looking at exercise as bootcamp (where is it written that exercise can't -- and shouldn't -- be fun?!?!? To me, exercise is a celebration of our amazing bodies.). The truth is, my motto with myself and my clients is -- No pain, no pain. Yep, I'm what you call a fitness rebel. Personal trainers everywhere shudder when they hear my point of view.
You have to push hard to get results scream fitness fanatics everywhere!
My response to that? Been there, done that.
Before I started practicing yoga regularly, I had a regular workout regime that consisted of cardio and weights (I mostly used resistance bands, but I did also use weights). I gradually built my workouts up and eventually started an extreme sort of program that included all sorts of physical exercises such as one-armed push-ups and plyometric moves. It was hard-core and I went at it full bore. I figured I was in the best shape of my life. I was strong. I had stamina. I was fit. Wrooooooooong!
What I really was was sore and frequently injured. I "felt the burn" and I "pushed" myself all the time. I did the whole push it until exhaustion routine ad nauseam. Then one day I woke up and my body staunchly refused to be subjected to the abuse for one more day. I started to invent excuses not to work out. That's when I started to think about what, exactly, I was doing. The whole reason I had started working out in the first place was because I wanted to feel good. That was the first -- and major problem -- I wasn't feeling all that great. I was achy and I often had to take days off to recover from injury. I took more over the counter pain medication during that time in my life than I had before or since. When I looked towards the future I saw a pretty grim picture in which I would have trouble getting out of bed and that I would hurt every time rain was imminent.
Around that time I started my regular yoga practice. That's when I was smacked in the face by the ultimate irony -- despite my years of pushing myself and building up my strength and stamina, I had a heck of a time getting through my first 90-minute power yoga class. Despite all of those pushups and weight lifting, 45-minutes of chaturanga to up dog to down dog vinyasa series felt like an impossible feat. Gee, I guess all of that strength training didn't exactly help me in the bodyweight department, eh?
When struck with the irony of the situation, I decided to drop my workout regime altogether and focus solely on yoga. Despite the fact that I felt better and noticed gains in my strength and flexibility, I still harbored some concerns about dropping my typical cardio/weights routine. I let all of that fitness trash talk get to my head and thought that if I didn't work out that way that I wouldn't be a fit and/or healthy person (and yes, vanity reared it's ugly head because I also feared gaining weight and getting flabby). Rather than get sucked back in to my former routine, I did some bodyweight exercises a few times a week and started walking. Of course I practiced yoga 4-6 days a week as well.
Now here I am -- I still mix in bodyweight exercises and I do cardio in the form of jump roping, rebounding, and/or hiking but my mainstay is yoga. And despite all of my misgivings about dropping my old fitness routine, I can honestly say that I'm stronger and fitter than I've ever been. Best of all, I feel great. No more muscle pulls or strains or injuries. I'm not stiff when I get out of bed. I no longer care about feeling the burn. Now I concentrate on feeling my body and my breath.
This morning I did something that I haven't done in years -- I broke out one of my old "feel the burn" workout DVDs. I chose the hardest workout of the bunch just for fun. Surprise, surprise -- I got through it without problems. Did I sweat? Heck yes. Did I not have the stamina to do the workout despite the fact that I haven't worked out that intensely in years? No. Although doing the workout brought back some good memories, my little morning walk down memory lane only served to remind me of the power of my yoga practice. And while I certainly doubt that I'd be in the condition to do plyometrics when I'm in my 80s, I have little doubt that I'll still be practicing yoga (yep, I'll be the gray-haired lady standing on her head, thank you very much).
Of course when I'm working with clients the questions about pushing oneself and results always comes up. I always say that pushing oneself does not always equal results. There's a fine line between pushing your edge and going over the edge. It takes a while to know your body enough to tell the difference. Early into my yoga practice, I thought that intense sensation meant that I was gaining flexibility. What it ultimately translated into was injury and pain. That's when I learned the power of easing off. Often I would start with dynamic postures and end in static postures (for instance, I would bend my knee into Warrior three times in a row and then hold the pose when I came into it for the forth time). I learned when sensation went from just right to too much. My powers of discernment paid off physically in ways that I hadn't seen from my fitness workouts.
When you push yourself to the point of pain, your body reacts by tightening up. If you relax and breathe into a forward bend (and play with your edge by easing up and gradually going deeper) you'll get better results than if you just bend as far as you can as fast as you can. Think about it -- if you get on your mat after having a fight with someone do you think you'll be more or less flexible than if you got on your mat after having a pleasant experience? I'd vote for less flexible.
To me, yoga isn't about pushing. That's not to say that you can't build strength and flexibility and lose weight through your yoga practice. It just means you're approaching fitness goals in a more conscious way. I don't rely on my yoga practice to build my strength, tone me up, or increase my stamina -- I practice for reasons that go deeper than that. Still, all of those things have happened and I do credit yoga.
It may sound like radical thinking if you're coming from a gym environment, but my experience has shown me that shifting perspectives from pushing to consciously practicing can have some powerful effects. That's not something that I never found by working out with the ""no pain, no gain" mentality.
Namaste!
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