Several months ago I pushed a little too hard in a yoga class and made a huge mess of my back and right leg. At first it was an excruciating case of sciatica, then it settled into a more general pain and discomfort, marked by a great deal of tightness and severely limited range of motion on one side of my body. Where once I could fold right on over, I was suddenly met with a very clear lack of flexibility. I took ibuprofen, rolled around on my foam roller and pushed on through, to no avail. Finally fed up, I took a break from yoga and decided to follow my own advice (see all previous blog posts about how beneficial hot water immersion is for tight, sore muscles.)
Once a week for a month I took myself on a hot tub date and then let a friend practice her massage skills on me. A week ago I went back to yoga and am happy to report that the feeling of iron clamps pinching my back and leg has dissipated, and openness and flexibility are being reinstated.
I will absolutely be continuing with the practice of hot tubbing and getting a massage once a week, as long as it’s possible. In addition to the aforementioned physical benefits, it’s been really good for my spirit to take myself to a quiet beautiful place each weekend, to stretch out under the redwood trees while steam rises off my skin. I’ll admit that I have a particularly low tolerance for cold, but it’s almost never warm enough in San Francisco to go outside in just a t-shirt. So being outside wearing nothing at all (and not feeling a bit cold, either!) is a wonderful sort of freedom that I noticed while I was up at Harbin, as well. Sitting in the warm tub in the rain, I wasn’t worried at all about getting cold and wet (after all, I was already wet, and perfectly warm.) Instead I could really allow myself to just experience the beautiful sight and sound of raindrops falling through the lit-up nighttime branches. Being warm when it’s sort of chilly outside creates a feeling of invincibility that, when felt on occassion, I think can be very psychologically beneficial.