One student's story

Hi all,

Megan asked me to write about the challenge of continuing my yoga practice while dealing with/healing from frozen shoulder. At least that's what I think she meant when she said, "Please write a blog entry about it."

This time last year, I was a pretty functional yogini. I could do downdogs, headstands and handstands, all with good range and no discomfort. But by the end of the year, I was doing downdog with one hand (looks hard, but isn't) and other inverted poses not at all. My left shoulder had frozen.

Adhesive capsulitis is a spontaneous tightening of the shoulder joint. The soft capsule that holds the bones together inflames and binds the connective tissues, making it impossible to raise your arm above chest level. And it really hurts.

Eventually the pain subsides and the shoulder loosens, even becomes nearly normal again--but the whole process can take from 6-36 months. Doctors don't know what causes it, but it seems to strike fine-boned women in their 40s more than any other group.

If any classmate thinks she might be facing frozen shoulder, please talk to me. It can be very scary if you're dealing with it for the first time.I had it on the right side from 2002 until early 2005. Just when I thought it was finally gone, my left side started tightening up. I was horrified--"It's not fair!" I ranted.

Fortunately, my joint-care team was able to help me stall the process for about 18 months. Treatment included daily physical therapy to keep the shoulder mobile. Somehow daily PT became a daily yoga practice, which led me to SMYC last spring. Imagine my disappointment when I felt my left shoulder tightening again last fall.

I scrambled to "outsmart" the condition again. My care team proposed various alternative treatments--prolotherapy, hormone-replacement therapy. None of them worked. The pain and restriction overtook the left shoulder, and it followed the same freezing/frozen/thawing schedule that my right shoulder had followed in 2002. It was locked from December until early May, then gradually started to release.

Now it's July, and my left shoulder is getting looser and stronger every day. I've just started doing downdog on two hands again (still can't sink into my armpits, but that's coming), and I can sort of stand on my head again. I feel like my yoga practice is helping me regain my strength and range of motion faster this time. Last time it took years for the pain to completely fade and full range of motion to return.

I'm grateful for yoga in general and SMYC (my teachers and fellow yogis/yoginis) in particular. There were days when I didn't feel well/strong enough to get on the mat or come to class. But on the days when I could do even one brief, one-handed downdog, the power of the practice--and our community--helped me stay focused and hopeful.

Thanks--Megan and everyone--for asking about my shoulder and cheering me through the dark, painful months and back into the light. It feels good to put both hands on the mat again!

Namaste--Bonnie

Living Boldly and Laughing Hard!

Yesterday, the teen yogis asked "Are we going to do something exciting??!!" They know that their class is not a typical yoga class. They know we usually jump off a lot of bridges, and they know that I will push them beyond their boundaries.

But yesterday, all I had planned were balancing poses.

Yawn....Boring.....(optional eye-rolling here..)

Little did they know that THESE balancing poses were far from "typical." We made a table out of bodies, a triangle of down-dogs, and a 7 person pyramid of inversions.

NOW, who's yawning?!

"As we grow up, we put away our laughter and our silliness and our childish noises, the great sensory hilariousness of our young lives. We pick up a few notions about proper behavior, like what books to read and how to go about getting married and buying a home and being polite and having cocktail parties....and the next thing you know, the little child--who was also an enormously alive sensory apparatus--is just another boring adult going to work in a seersucker suit with a briefcase."

John Rosenthal, "Amazing Conversations"

When was the last time YOU played? Would you like to? Why not join us for another fantastically hilarious and riotous 108 Sun Salutes on Saturday, July 28th, starting at 9:00 am. I guarantee a great time! (And, no, you don't have to do all 108. Do as many as you feel like, or just hang out with good friends!) Our last gathering for 108 Sun Salutes was an absolute blast, and this time we will have food too...Bring a favorite dish, and come share laughter and silliness with your yoga community....

Come Play for a while! Come Dance and Sing! For all we are, It's Beautiful...
One Giant Leap

See you there! I think I'll go play hide-n-seek now...

Grinningly,
Megan Sappington

40-Day Yoga Challenge

Our yoga community started a 40-Day Yoga Challenge on June 18. At least 22 people have publicly stated their goals or intentions for this time. And the excitement and energy at the center has been quite noticeable! We had more students attend class in June than any other time in the last year!

Here is a sampling of what our teachers and students are intending to do to deepen their yoga practice during this time:

1. To work toward fully respecting myself in all arenas of my life, through fasting, meditation, and restraint.

2. Add meditation to my practice.

3. Attend teen yoga class regularly.

4. Attend two classes per week and maintain clean eating program.

5. Work toward feeling compassionately connected to the world around me.

6. Attend yoga classes regularly and meditate and practice mindfulness.

7. Fasting with the group for clarity and consecration. Obtain 15 benefactors for South Africa Orphanage Mission.

8. Be a student in two yoga classes per week, more to be added later.

9. Fasting for at least 3 days, suffer with those who hunger year-round and enhance self-discipline to a new level.

10. Continue my yoga practice at home during the week at least 3-4 times per week.

11. Come to every teen yoga class while I'm still in town and to start swimming again!

12. Relax a little, loosen up and regain ROM weekly.

13. Feel cleansed (mind,body, spirit) fired up, empowered, self-esteem, and motivated.

14. Come to class Tuesday and Thursday or twice/week.

15. Get to bed early, early morning yoga practice, 2 classes per week, and juice fast.

16. Add a second yoga class per week and meditation. Find ease in all my business.

17. Take class 2 times/week and study yoga teacher training daily. Eat mindfully.

18. Attend class 3 times/week and at the end of 40 days be able to do Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana.

19. Attend 3 classes per week.

29. Practice the 5 Tibetans 2 times weekly.

21. Yoga 2 times per week and mindful eating.

22. One extra yoga class, home yoga 4 times/week, and eat healthy.