This IS possible!
A year ago if you told me I was going to be doing yoga on a daily basis I would have laughed in your face. I began weekly yoga classes last October never expecting that this was going to be for me. The first month was brutal to say the least. My neck pain was getting out of control and I knew I needed to do something because I sure did not want to have to take more pain meds to cover up the problem. It has been almost three years since my fusion and I was hoping by now there would be some kind of a miracle cure but I was wrong. Don't get me wrong I am much better than I was before surgery but I never expected that this neck issue would be a life long struggle but I am finding out it will be. One of the main reason I signed up for yoga was for this reason. The first month of yoga made the pain even worse but the instructor reassured me it would get better with time. She was right. It has been three months now and along with four PT sessions I am learning how to manage this pain with yoga, stretches, neck exercises. My nights have improved and for the past week or so I have no been awaken by my neck pain. Progress! I hope this continues.
My energy is starting to come back to some degree and I feel better all over. Cured? No. I still have to be careful and not over do it but I feel more awake and able to get more things done for some reason. Good and bad days? Yes. But I can feel some sort of shift happening. Proof that if you stick to something it will help you. Believe me there were weeks I didn't want to go to class and other weeks I wanted to quit but I fought it and I am so glad I did. Last December I had one of those weeks I did not want to go. I was so tired and wore out from doing the few things I did to get ready for Christmas that it was like brain overload to even think about going to yoga class. I was on my way to class one week and I thought I forgot my mat. I made a deal with my self as I drove in a church parking lot to see if my mat was in the car. My deal was, if my mat is in the car I go, if it isn't I go home. Well, guess what? The mat was in the car. Darn I thought to myself but I made a deal and when I make deals I stick to them so I got back in the car and drove to class. A funny thing happened when I left class. I felt one hundred times better than when I got there. Right then and there I made the decision I was going to get serious about yoga. Since that day I felt a shift. A life change happening. A shift I can't explain but it is good. I feel calmer and more in control. I feel like I can handle this chronic illness the rest of my life because I have something that I can control. You see, the more yoga I do the stronger my muscles become. The stronger my muscles become the less my joints hurt which in turn there is less pain. See the cycle? The good cycle instead of the bad cycle. I like this cycle much more than the pain cycle and sitting on the couch trying to get relief with meds and heat and ice.
My next goal is to get on the treadmill and when it gets warm get outside to start walking outside. I started out with yoga slowly and now am doing it everyday. I plan to do the same with the walking. If I can only do five minutes the first time I am going to tell myself it is five minutes more than yesterday. I know if I stick to it I can increase those numbers and I will keep my mind frame on my success with yoga and tell myself I can do this. As with yoga when I first started I did it once a week in class. Now I am doing 20-30 minutes one day and 10 the next, alternating. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. It seems my workout schedule is good for me right now but who knows maybe in a month or so I will be doing 20-30 minutes daily. All I know is when you see results like this I cannot quit or I will slide right back in the pain cycle.
In ending this I hope you can see that if I can do it YOU can do it too. Put your mind to it! Believe in yourself, like I did. When you believe anything is possible! We are all a work in progress and all we can do is try. Have a little faith in yourself you never know where it will lead. For me? I am hoping the yoga, walking, eating better might make me feel so much better that I will be able to reach my ultimate goal: A JOB! Stay tuned we shall see what happens.
God Bless!
Dianne
No comments:
Post a Comment