Suffering through Yoga

I was introduced to yoga a few months ago and I really enjoyed it. I immediately went off and bought a yoga mat, investigated a few studios, and tried a few classes. It was a different from going to the gym because I had to focus on the balance between the mind and body. Breathing consistently and mindfully became very challenging while performing intricate poses. I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and was having a great time exploring it!

Lately, my wrists have a dull, consistent pain during the day. I have been very fearful and cognizant of carpal tunnel syndrome since high school. I used to come home from school and use AOL Instant Messenger for a few hours. I became really fast at typing. Then I would play my guitar for a couple of hours. This routine continued through college and graduate school. Both were very intense activities for my wrist. I also lifted weights and the slightest mistake would send a shooting pain through my entire forearm. I need to be very focused on my wrists while working out, typing, or playing my guitar.

Yoga has some very intense positions. At some points I thought I was ripping my arm out of my socket! Unfortunately, it was the basic positions which gave me the most agony. Downward dog and Plank caused me immense pain in my wrists. Not necessarily while performing the position, but the following few days I experienced discomfort. This caused problems at work because I sit behind a computer and type all day. I knew I had to come up with a solution.

Whenever I experience physical pain, I ask myself a couple of questions to determine where the pain is coming from. The first is always, "Did I do anything obvious that would cause pain?" If a bone is sticking out of my arm, then yes, the injury needs to be handled by a doctor. If the injury is not that extreme, the next question is always "Am I stressed?" In one my earlier blogs, I mentioned that I was feeling discomfort in my abdomen while running which was caused by my incorrect handling of stress.

Pain is the body's way of indicating that something is wrong. We take pain relievers so we can continue on with our normal activity rather than to stop and think about where the pain is coming from. If I reflect on the past few weeks, I have been rather stressed and ignoring meditating daily. I have been watching slightly more television and hanging out on my laptop more. My energy level is higher than it was a month ago, but not by much. Maybe I am taking on too many extracurricular activities and not having enough time for the things that I need to do.

The pain in my wrist could very well be from the yoga positions or they could be from stress. At this point, I am unsure of cause but the obvious solution is to take a recess from yoga until my wrists heal. I will also need to focus more on my stress and gaining energy. I will need to meditate more and not stay out all night on the weekends. Within a couple of weeks, I can attempt yoga again with more energy and less stress. Hopefully the pain will be gone and I can go back to doing yoga!