Today I was sore from every damn direction. Yesterday I did a ton of pullups at the community gym (still no luck finding a pull-up bar) so my whole back felt somehow leaden. When your back is sore it's not like regular muscles being sore. It's just a sheet of weariness draped over your whole body, like the iron vests you have to wear when you get a dental x-ray.
The other soreness was from the bottom, from my top secret leg stretching technique. Hip abductors were not happy campers.
When I'm sore like this, it gives me a great deal of compassion for my weaker or older yoga students. Today during class I was having a hard time demonstrating correct form. It wasn't that I didn't understand what to do, I just didn't have the fine control over my musculature that I needed. It was a good reminder to be patient with people who struggle in class, and of course, to Help the Aged.
Being sore also has another positive side effect. There's no better way to learn anatomy than to have a sore muscle. All day you get to feel exactly when and how that muscle is used. For example, tonight I was chopping bell peppers and I noticed from the soreness that the cutting action used just the slightest bit of my trapezius, right where it tapers off at the deltoid. How interesting!
Okay, you don't have to say it. I'm a geek.
2 comments:
Injuries can be an eye-opener, too. I'm currently nursing an overextended elbow, and from that I now know how much I use my arms when biking, where my arms are in relation to my body while sleeping, and how I use too much arm strength in general during yoga poses.
A nice silver lining this fine rainy season.
Love the blogs(s). Best of luck to you Patrick...
hi patrick, i totally LOVE your yoga garden videos (particularly the zazen one). when you are free, please continue to make them!
i only just found out about the 'zenisstupid' website, i am glad i did. i am an exploring student of buddhism, hinduism, zen and taoism... . i am so happy to find you and gwen discuss about topics that i too think about like episode 61. haha.
keep up the great work, patrick and gwen! i am not alone. thank you!
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