It was about 1:05 am this morning that I realized something was not right. After staring at the clock a few minutes and hearing the symphony of snoring from my husband and Pitt Bull, I became aware of what was off. My head was pounding as if there was a yo-yo bouncing between my right eye and back of my head… Oy Vey!
I tossed and turned till 1:45 am and decided to take something for the pain and pounding. There I am in the kitchen, trying not to turn the light on, sifting through tiny medicine bottles looking for something that would just take the sharp edge off the pain to get me back to sleep. My other option was to call Cory for an EMERGENCY REFLEXOLOGY SESSION…
which she does not do at 1 am.
Did I get back to sleep? Nope.
Can you relate?
Hours later, now 5:30 am and my 11 students have shown up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for their amazing yoga session to kick-start their day….and I’m no better off than I was a 1 am, still pounding in the noggin, and realizing today is the day we do some pretty challenging stuff on the topic of Tapas (self-discipline and stoking the internal fire)… Oy Vey Oy Vey!
Many times I have gone into a yoga class knowing that whatever ailment I have at that moment will subside once I start moving and breathing mindfully. But today, I knew this practice would make it worse. I opted to not do much of the practice with them, and watch them build their internal fires, self-discipline and of course sweat!
As our fireworks started going off in our bodies we were working up to the finale something in my body took over and made me do it with them… holding plank pose for 60 seconds with 10 rounds of bastrika (bellow breath).
When it was all said and done, the firework show had ended and everyone resting and grateful in childs pose, I sat there kneeling on my mat taking some long smooth breaths. Delighted to be finished with the finale, I realized my pounding head and sinus pain had 100% dissipated.
It wasn’t the handful of allergy pill, the warm tea, or the cool compress that brought the relief. It was my yoga practice. Ahhhhhh… Yoga!
Yoga constantly reminds me that I need it. No matter how tired I am or how bad I’m hurting, there is something in the yoga tool box to help.
Below is a simple video on how to alternate nostril breathing to help keep the sinuses open and clear.
