Jane’s Story

Beware of Injury

My story on the road to good health has incurred injury, simply because I was exercising in ignorance and more importantly I was not what is referred to as present in the run-up to the injuries.

This is an important message, because that’s when injury can occur and many of us have been there right?

My experience as a newbie to Yoga (Iyengar is how it started) was where my first teacher, seeing I was very flexible (and boy was I proud 🙂 of that) would manipulate me to stretch further and further.

At the time I was 48-yrs old and although had been attending a gym, I wouldn’t say I was super-fit.

And the problem was I just didn’t understand how to respect my body or recognize it’s limitations, until the day my back well and truly snapped (at least that’s how it felt lol) and it took 3-mths to recover (the first time).

Understanding How Your Body Works

But a very interesting conversation with the Physiotherapist ensured, where she shared that flexible people have less sensitivity around their physical limitations and can often extend way beyond where they should due to lack of body-awareness. 

On the contrary a less flexible (or stiffer) person will receive quite immediate signals from their brain/body and know immediately when to stop, and likewise a flexible person takes longer to recover from injury. 

More Learning (And Injury) Ensued

I learned to appreciate those words over a much longer period of approximately 5 yrs, and with further study I’m now at a place where I recognize the importance of being engaged with the process while it happens, rather than allowing my mind to wander.

I no longer daydream or think up shopping lists while carrying out an activity, and the benefits can be very rewarding as there are clear messages to be found in discovering when a part of you is a bit weak, in need of TLC, or less use. Similarly, by listening there is a sense of when it needs to start working again (gently) and when it needs more work, because it will tell you.