I consider myself pretty lucky to have had three months to get ready for my surgery. Since I have no control over the fact that I need this surgery nor what happens during the actual procedure itself, I can at least control the condition I’m in going in to surgery. One of my two main modes of preparation has been yoga. (I’ll cover the second “mode” in Part 2.)
I could go on and on (and on) about the benefits of yoga and how much I love it. I’ve practiced yoga for about 7 years now, but I only started Bikram Yoga about a year ago. Bikram is a style of yoga that is practiced in a 105 degree room for 90 minutes. It consists of the same 26 postures in every class. It’s sweaty, intense, and incredible. This kind of yoga is certainly not for everyone, but after fully committing myself to this practice, I now feel stronger and more flexible than I ever have in my life.
There are many ways that this yoga practice is preparing me for surgery. First of all, there is always an element of discomfort–whether it’s in holding a pose, dealing with the heat, or fighting against the negative thoughts in your head. Each yoga class is a physical and mental challenge and is thus training me for the larger challenge of recovering from surgery. Second, yoga (and especially Bikram Yoga) focuses on backward bending. At my studio there is a Back-bending Club that I’ve joined this summer. Each day I do a few extra backbends and I’ve been amazed at how much flexibility and strength I’ve gained in my spine and sternum. While I have no biological proof of this, I am hoping that having a strong, flexible sternum will make it easier for the surgeon to operate and for me to recover. Third, my yoga practice has greatly reduced my stress level. It allows me to put things into perspective and see the bigger picture.
Again, I could go on and on about my love of yoga, but I think I’ll stop for now. I am hoping that once my incision has healed enough, practicing Bikram will play a significant role in my recovery.
Veronica, Good luck in your upcoming medical doings. I had no idea! I’m sure all will go well. Glad to hear that yoga has beneficial. If you’re interested, you should read my sister’s blog–she’s a 25-year cancer survivor and is a certified yoga instructor, physical trainer, and life coach. She is training for her first triathlon and is one of my biggest inspirations. http://healthfilled-life.blogspot.com/