Whether you are a Yoga Instructor or a Banker when illness strikes it ain't pretty! Six days ago I got a terrible case of Laryngitis. I was given strict orders by my doctor to take complete rest of my vocal chords by not speaking at all. For a person who's done the Vipassana Silent Meditation Retreat lasting 10+ days you'd think this would be easy-peasy. Not so fast there, Skipper. In the real world, away from fellow retreaters it is really challenging not to talk.
At the moment I'm living with my Nepali in-laws. There are six of us who stay in the same home and our favorite pass-time is catching up.
"How was your day? Have you eaten? What did you eat?" A string of questions bombard each of us as we enter the door. Usually, ahem, I'm the one hurling questions left and right. You can imagine my grief when I was ordered to hush up. So, like the stubborn Leo I am biologically predetermined to be, I didn't listen to the advice.
I yapped away, laughing as usual. My voice began sounding lower, getting raspier each day. Teaching Power Yoga was like finding the balance/tipping point for my vocal chords. Hacking my lungs up to my throat as I tried my best to maintain a calm yoga voice, each day it seemed my voice was getting worse. Then yesterday I woke up and it was no more. My vocal chords quit and my throat killed.
Maybe it's time I rest? I thought as I rolled out of bed looking frumpy and feeling dejected.
I tried expressing myself to my partner but it was a disaster. Writing messages on my phone and displaying them to the whole family seemed to work like a charm... but how could I teach like this? I couldn't. I actually had to take a day or two off. I hate taking days off. Yup, I'm a yogini who uses the word "hate." Whaddya gonna do about it? So I tried to find a substitute, but when life happens it's hard to find replacements and I ended up canceling my class altogether.
I sat around watching old Simpsons re-runs and was analyzing the loss of my muscle mass by the hour. I started panicking--if I can't practice Yoga or exercise for the next few days, I'll lose all the strength I've acquired!
At the height of my anxiety I finally had to snap myself back to reality: for most problems there has to be a tangible solution. I started planning: this is what I will do to get back in shape as soon as I'm well.
Six Days of a set Yoga routine meant to gradually regain my strength. If you, yourself are not a Yoga practitioner, you can still apply this to your own life should it ever go into shambles. Maybe you exercise at the gym and got sick, or maybe you have a room that's gotten terribly disorganized and you're hoping to gain control again: whatever the case may be, map out a day-by-day strategy to get back to where you need to be!
I'm gonna start mine on Sunday. Here's what it'll look like:
For those of you interested in following along, here are some links to describe each routine:
(traditionally practiced in Ashtanga Yoga)
(also practiced in Ashtanga Yoga)
note that in this Ashtang-based sequence the back foot of Warrior 1-- #8 in this series-- stays at a 90 degree angle which is different from the instructions in the video.
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