Does Yoga Makes You Feel Guilty and Naughty?

I had a private lesson yesterday with two lovely women, friends who have had the good fortune of being workout buddies for a long time. They have a fun sense of humor and they’re used to working out hard with their trainer, which of course is awesome and so great for their health. They came to us for a private lesson with a couple of goals in mind: 1. To find out if they like yoga, and 2. To learn enough that they could transition into regular yoga classes.

These two ladies breezed through the first 45 minutes of the practice. We worked on chest openers, hip openers, strengthening, and balance. The physical part of the practice was a piece of cake for them, since they are so adept at using their bodies.

But when we transitioned to the relaxation part of the practice, something changed. Relaxation is something these two great ladies don’t typically practice, and it took a conscious shift in their mindsets to help them get comfortable with the idea of doing nothing.

One woman joked that she felt “guilty and naughty, like [she] should be doing chores at home.” And they laughed about not telling their trainer about this relaxation experience, because she might make them work harder in their next workout. It was all in fun, of course, but it spoke to a deeper truth in our society: Learning to relax is hard work.

This theme has come up consistently with the students in my lessons and classes lately. As a society, we are skilled at working hard, but we’ve never learned to relax. We perceive value in hard work and we equate relaxation with laziness. But the fact of the matter is that we need balance. Just like how in our asana practice we strive to balance effort and ease, so must we do in our lives.

If we spend our lives in a cycle of hard work and stress, we run the risk of poor health, a short life, or sadly, both.

But the good news is that relaxation practices can help undo some of the harmful effects of stress. Some of our regular, long-term students have managed their stress and improved their health so much that their doctors have reduced or even eliminated their blood pressure or diabetes medication. There are real benefits to learning how to relax.

And please know that knowing how to relax is not inherent to us as humans. It needs to be practiced and learned. I teach yoga for a living, and even I struggle with relaxation sometimes.

Just this morning, I had a very stressful time getting out the door with my kids. I dropped them off at their summer camp and as I was driving back home I was thinking about the long list of things I need to do today. It was a real challenge for me decide to pull into the studio so I could have a few minutes to move, breathe, relax, and reset, before beginning my work today.

But here’s the thing. We must take care of ourselves first, or we eventually wear ourselves out and can’t do a great job at anything.

For example, when I’m too tired and stressed, I’m a distracted and short tempered mom, a less present and less beneficial Yoga teacher, and an unfocused and inefficient business person.

From a productivity perspective, it’s so worthwhile to consistently practice relaxation and create an element of ease in your life, especially for busy people. Because when your mind is at ease you are more focused, more creative, and your mind is sharp. You can get more done. And ultimately, who doesn’t want that?

So even if it seems next to impossible, please try to build some relaxation into your life. Make time for a hot bath in the tub (Epsom salt rocks!), or go to bed early, or wake up early so you have a few minutes to practice breathing before you start your day.

Or come in and see us. We have all sorts of ways to teach relaxation. You can choose from private lessons or yoga classes, or we have a meditation workshop coming up on Saturday, or if you’re brand new you might want to try a Beginners Series.

Browse around our website to find something that feels like the right fit for you right now. And if you’re not sure where to start, or if the idea of relaxing sounds intimidating, just send me a note. I’ll be honored to help.

XO, Zelinda

Roadtrip + Back Pain = Yoga

Have you ever hurt your back so badly that you can’t figure out how to get out of the bed in the morning? Every little movement creates such intense pain that you’re just kind of stuck. After a few minutes and some thinking and maybe even some breathing, you finally manage to get your feet on the floor. You struggle and wince as you bring yourself to upright and you begin to gingerly limp your first steps of the day. That’s what happened to me earlier this week.

I just got back from a family roadtrip vacation to Disneyland in Florida. The long days of driving and sitting in the car really did me in.

You might be thinking, well, Zelinda’s a yoga teacher, she must practice a lot of yoga, why is she having back pain? Shouldn’t she know how to avoid getting aches and pains?

The truth is that we’re all susceptible to injury. The health of our anatomical structure depends on two factors: how we use our bodies and how well we take care of our bodies. And honestly, the first few days of vacation were so busy and/or fun that I didn’t take care of myself like I should.

I’ve dealt with chronic back pain from the time of my second pregnancy, 5 years ago, until a few months ago when I finally healed my back pain with a combination of consistent therapeutic Yoga practice and improving my sleeping posture (more on sleeping posture another day).

But on my roadtrip, with so many hours spent sitting in the car, my back muscles, legs muscles, hip flexors, and glutes all got really tight. Couple that with sleeping on unfamiliar beds and pillows, and it the return of severe back pain was imminent.

And while I did do yoga every day of the trip, I apparently didn’t do enough during the first few days to counteract the effects of so much sitting. Then when the back pain hit, my body begged for longer practices.

By doing targeted, therapeutic Yoga practices, taking ibuprofen, and drinking lots of water, I managed to get the pain under control enough that I was able to participate in our vacation activities, even if I still had some degree of pain.

And then as soon as I got home I started using my foam roller to undo the tension that had built up in my back. After 15 minutes, 75% of my pain was gone. Seriously. It was magical.

While I slept that first night home, the tightness and pain crept back in, but in the morning I did a practice and more foam rolling to get the tension out.

And now, on my third day back at home, I’m back back to my normal, pain free self.

Why am I telling you this long story about my back pain? Because I want to illustrate that Yoga is much more than balancing on your hands or twisting your body into a pretzel. The gentle, therapeutic style of Yoga that we teach is amazing for dealing with aches and pains in your body.

If you have typical, every day aches and pains, they can usually be resolved with two or three Gentle Yoga classes per week.

If you have chronic or acute pain, it’s probably best addressed in a private lesson so that we can focus on your specific issue and create a customized practice for you.

And for general maintenance, you can do just a little bit of Yoga every day at home. Don’t know what poses to do? Don’t worry – I’m going to make a special instructional video for you. Look for it in next week’s newsletter!

XO, Zelinda