blah, blah, blah
i suspected there was something wrong with me last thursday when i decided to skip yoga class that evening. and i had no excuse for not going. i didn't have to rush home. i didn't have to meet up with friends. the predicted rainstorm wasn't arriving any time soon. i couldn't even blame it on being cash-strapped because i still had a bunch of unexpired class passes at my disposal.
i didn't go because i just felt... blah.
at least i put the extra time to good use; i went home and started compiling the list of events for january and was able to round up a lot of interesting things, but in my state of blah-ness, i couldn't even decide on which ones i wanted to add to my personal calendar. it was that bad.
the next day, friday, wasn't any better. it was so slow at work that under normal circumstances i would've snuck out early to squeeze in a class before my massage appointment later that evening. but no, i chose to sit at my desk and stare at my computer screen until it was time to drive out to that appointment. so no yoga class again. blah.
i started getting really worried when i didn't even feel like getting out of bed the next morning for my saturday morning run/walk routine. i eventually made it to the bathroom... and found my thighs covered in red spots. what the?!? i knew it wasn't chicken pox nor the measles; i had them eons ago. writing it off as an allergic reaction to something i ate/touched, i rubbed some cortisone cream on my legs and continued to get dressed. i knew i'd be late, but at least i'd be able to get in some mileage. i ended up walking four miles, which was infinitely better than zero. and after hanging out with my friends and listening to them talk about how well their 23-mile training run went, you'd think that i'd be all fired up to prove my own yogic endurance. but no; i decided that running errands was more interesting. what was happening to me?!?!
at around 5 o'clock that evening, worried that i would keep finding excuses not to go to class, i finally got my butt in gear and found the easiest class i could take. 5:30pm. yin yoga. lynda carre. sacred movement. when i got there, i was so tired that i didn't even want to find street parking and walk a few blocks. i parked underground in their lot, knowing it would cost me $1.50 to do so. blah.
it took a while for my body to realize that it was actually enjoying the slow deep stretch it was receiving from lynda's class. all the connections in my joints were finally waking up. and i found myself doing what my physical therapist and massage therapist constantly remind me to do -- stretch my hip flexors:
Overdeveloped and tight hip flexors can contribute to lower back pain by causing the pelvis to tilt forward. To counteract this, you must stretch the hip flexors and strengthen the Abdominal muscles. This will reduce pelvic tilt and decrease lower back pain. Strengthening the lower back can also help improve the balance between the muscles of the hip region. (from anatomy of the hip flexor muscles)
at least something good was coming out of my doing nothing :)
by the time i got home, the spots on my legs had increased in number and in size. i didn't have a fever, though, and the itch was minor, so i rubbed on more cortisone, plopped myself into bed, and called it a night.
sunday was another blah day. i considered taking raghunath's community class at lulu beverly hills (after all, it was FREE!), but i didn't feel i had the energy for all his usual arm balances and inversions. instead, i corralled my daughter and spent the day brunching and shopping with her. when my friend cindy checked on me later that afternoon, she was shocked to find out that i hadn't done a single yoga class all day. and honestly, so was i. by now scared silly, i dropped off my daughter and headed once again to sacred movement for aaron reed's 6pm relax deeply class, which was subbed that evening by isabelle du soleil.
once we were comfortably lying on our backs, isabelle talked us through a yoga nidra session:
Yoga Nidra means Yogic Sleep. It is a state of conscious Deep Sleep. In Meditation, you remain in the Waking state of consciousness, and gently focus the mind, while allowing thought patterns, emotions, sensations, and images to arise and go on. However, in Yoga Nidra, you leave the Waking state, go past the Dreaming state, and go to Deep Sleep, yet remain awake. While Yoga Nidra is a state that is very relaxing, it is also used by Yogis to purify the Samskaras, the deep impressions that are the driving force behind Karma. (from yoga nidra: yogic conscious deep sleep)
while she was talking, i really don't know if i was awake, asleep, or somewhere in between; i could somehow hear her voice, yet had no idea what she was saying. and i didn't really care because i was doing yoga in my sleep. perfect!
monday morning. more spots. i was getting worried. i called the doctor's office and grabbed the first available appointment.
the diagnosis: i had picked up a bacterial infection from the jacuzzi i had been sitting in before my acupuncture treatment wednesday evening. and the welts were more pronounced (and painful) where the needles were inserted. oh joy. no wonder i was so lethargic -- my body was trying to fight off a bacterial invasion :(
so now that i'm on a week-long course of antibiotics, i know that i'll be getting better soon, although i'll probably have to endure a few more days of blah-ness. which is well and good, because it'll force me to get in more stretching. as well as more rest, which my body seems to be craving right now...
i didn't go because i just felt... blah.
at least i put the extra time to good use; i went home and started compiling the list of events for january and was able to round up a lot of interesting things, but in my state of blah-ness, i couldn't even decide on which ones i wanted to add to my personal calendar. it was that bad.
the next day, friday, wasn't any better. it was so slow at work that under normal circumstances i would've snuck out early to squeeze in a class before my massage appointment later that evening. but no, i chose to sit at my desk and stare at my computer screen until it was time to drive out to that appointment. so no yoga class again. blah.
i started getting really worried when i didn't even feel like getting out of bed the next morning for my saturday morning run/walk routine. i eventually made it to the bathroom... and found my thighs covered in red spots. what the?!? i knew it wasn't chicken pox nor the measles; i had them eons ago. writing it off as an allergic reaction to something i ate/touched, i rubbed some cortisone cream on my legs and continued to get dressed. i knew i'd be late, but at least i'd be able to get in some mileage. i ended up walking four miles, which was infinitely better than zero. and after hanging out with my friends and listening to them talk about how well their 23-mile training run went, you'd think that i'd be all fired up to prove my own yogic endurance. but no; i decided that running errands was more interesting. what was happening to me?!?!
at around 5 o'clock that evening, worried that i would keep finding excuses not to go to class, i finally got my butt in gear and found the easiest class i could take. 5:30pm. yin yoga. lynda carre. sacred movement. when i got there, i was so tired that i didn't even want to find street parking and walk a few blocks. i parked underground in their lot, knowing it would cost me $1.50 to do so. blah.
it took a while for my body to realize that it was actually enjoying the slow deep stretch it was receiving from lynda's class. all the connections in my joints were finally waking up. and i found myself doing what my physical therapist and massage therapist constantly remind me to do -- stretch my hip flexors:
Overdeveloped and tight hip flexors can contribute to lower back pain by causing the pelvis to tilt forward. To counteract this, you must stretch the hip flexors and strengthen the Abdominal muscles. This will reduce pelvic tilt and decrease lower back pain. Strengthening the lower back can also help improve the balance between the muscles of the hip region. (from anatomy of the hip flexor muscles)
at least something good was coming out of my doing nothing :)
by the time i got home, the spots on my legs had increased in number and in size. i didn't have a fever, though, and the itch was minor, so i rubbed on more cortisone, plopped myself into bed, and called it a night.
sunday was another blah day. i considered taking raghunath's community class at lulu beverly hills (after all, it was FREE!), but i didn't feel i had the energy for all his usual arm balances and inversions. instead, i corralled my daughter and spent the day brunching and shopping with her. when my friend cindy checked on me later that afternoon, she was shocked to find out that i hadn't done a single yoga class all day. and honestly, so was i. by now scared silly, i dropped off my daughter and headed once again to sacred movement for aaron reed's 6pm relax deeply class, which was subbed that evening by isabelle du soleil.
once we were comfortably lying on our backs, isabelle talked us through a yoga nidra session:
Yoga Nidra means Yogic Sleep. It is a state of conscious Deep Sleep. In Meditation, you remain in the Waking state of consciousness, and gently focus the mind, while allowing thought patterns, emotions, sensations, and images to arise and go on. However, in Yoga Nidra, you leave the Waking state, go past the Dreaming state, and go to Deep Sleep, yet remain awake. While Yoga Nidra is a state that is very relaxing, it is also used by Yogis to purify the Samskaras, the deep impressions that are the driving force behind Karma. (from yoga nidra: yogic conscious deep sleep)
while she was talking, i really don't know if i was awake, asleep, or somewhere in between; i could somehow hear her voice, yet had no idea what she was saying. and i didn't really care because i was doing yoga in my sleep. perfect!
monday morning. more spots. i was getting worried. i called the doctor's office and grabbed the first available appointment.
the diagnosis: i had picked up a bacterial infection from the jacuzzi i had been sitting in before my acupuncture treatment wednesday evening. and the welts were more pronounced (and painful) where the needles were inserted. oh joy. no wonder i was so lethargic -- my body was trying to fight off a bacterial invasion :(
so now that i'm on a week-long course of antibiotics, i know that i'll be getting better soon, although i'll probably have to endure a few more days of blah-ness. which is well and good, because it'll force me to get in more stretching. as well as more rest, which my body seems to be craving right now...
posted by joni at 11:08 PM
2 Comments:
Joni, so sorry to hear about your infection via jacuzzi and accupunture. Yet a good warning to others. I hope you are feeling 100% by now, and back to doing yoga.
hi anon --
i can't say i'm back to 100% because antibiotics have a way of throwing my digestive system off-kilter :( not only that, but the welts on my rear are still swollen and sore. i am back to doing yoga, but until i'm off the meds, i'm sticking to a yin/restorative practice. at least it's giving me a reason to try out new teachers in town :)
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