Let's Get Physical

Like a lot of people, I got ‘into’ yoga for the physical benefits. As an ultra runner (taking part in run events that are greater than marathon distance and usually 30+ miles, and mostly on trail), my body takes a pounding. I was told about 7 or 8 years ago when trying to recover from a medial ligament tear in my knee that I would never run far again (having previously dabbled in marathon/half marathon/10k events) and having got past that and finding a love for endurance running on the trails, I’ve now reached the point, the age maybe, where I appreciate that my body needs a little more TLC and that to sustain an ‘active’ future for the long term that I can’t just spend all my training time running.

I’d tried yoga ages ago....a class full of middle aged and older women in a school hall standing about not doing very much. I didn’t enjoy it, didn’t see the point, and my mum who was also there kept telling me to ‘be careful’ because I have high blood pressure and I ‘really shouldn’t do anything that involved my head being down...’

The media sporadically attracted my attention with sports magazines and FB pages proposing yoga as a benefit to any good training programme and various celebrities spouting the wonders it had done for their bodies (with, in my head a clear caveat that it came along with some personal chef creating their every meal and enough cash that they could live an ‘easy’ life (and then be airbrushed to ensure perfection!)) ....and then more recently I saw that a pop-up ‘hot’ yoga class was starting in Bridge of Allan.... well, that sounded worth a try...to see what all these celebrities and big city dwellers had easy access to.... and I loved it! The venues were still a little odd, being hired rooms in community centres, with temporary heaters which churned out like a furnace (often tripping the fuses!) but the sweat, effort and engagement was real! And it triggered something in my brain. This really could help my running .... it’s like an ‘enforced’ time to stretch (something we all know is an established training aid and as a sports massage therapist I always tell my clients to do more of) and the strength benefits became clear too - how the heck could I get any better unless I was gaining core, arm, back and leg strength? Getting anywhere close to, or holding any of these 26 postures (often for as little as 10 seconds) was no mean feat!

And so it became a ‘thing’. I tried to go every week. I told my friends, colleagues and clients about it (mostly to confused faces and questions of ‘why?’).

 

Heat Fitness Stirling

Some weeks were good and I felt I was making progress, some felt like I was back to square one. Sometimes there was balance, often not. Sometimes there was flexibility, often not. There was always sweat! Something I was used to with running, and something that made you feel ‘good’ after the 60 minutes of bending, stretching and holding.

The format of the classes was pretty consistent (Jules and Jack teach Fierce Grace or Bikram) and that was a safety, a discipline that could be learnt. Not to enable me to skip ahead or preempt what was next, but a removal of a layer of complexity each week, allowing a few extra seconds to position myself and try to work out what I could do to try to improve.

All the while we were waiting for ‘the hot box’ to be opened. The elusive yoga studio in Springkerse in Stirling. Finally after months of planning challenges and refurbishment it was ready, and Heat Fitness was properly open for business in Early 2017.

Carly Ramsay Yoga

Skipping forward to the present day, and most weeks I get to a couple of classes. Mostly Bikram, but depending on teachers (with many guest teachers and regulars who dip in and out (some of whom, Gaynor and Carly in particular have taught me a lot) and class times (especially now there is only one 0630 class a week), I have dabbled in ‘absolute’, Fierce Grace, power, yang Yin and Yin Nidra variations (more on the latter another day).

My discipline has grown, I’ve gained some ‘confidence’ to practice near the mirrors at the front of the class (enables me to drown out the noise, wobbling and fidgeting of others in class), and I’ve learned to stop wiping at the sweat, to remain still between postures, and over time have got my body into some positions I never thought possible (toe stand (on one side not the other) and reclining hero to name a couple!

Chamonix August 2018

So what of the physical gains??  

While I continue to punish myself on the trails, my body (touch wood) is in decent enough shape.  There is room for improvement, but I've not had a serious niggles for a while.  The 'enforced' stretching is aiding my achy muscles, and ensuring my tendons and ligaments are recovering from the regular pounding.  Areas of concern (my dodgy right knee for example) are holding up well, and when I do practice regularly, my historic whiplash/neck/jaw ache improves.

I've gained strength in my upper body, and remembered why it's better if you have some functioning core muscles!  There is still a lot of work to do here, and in conjunction with some regular gym work I know what to do.....I just need to find the time and dedication!

And it helps me identify areas of tension on a regular basis - to know when to ease off, when to reach further, to 'listen' and learn from myself.  That will lead onto a blog for another day about where else yoga has taken me...