'Keeping up my yoga practice requires my constant faith that yoga will make a bad day better and make a good day great.' How one man has used yoga to improve his ankylosing spondylitis:
I remember my first yoga class. It was in a large room at the gym, I was in my early 30s, and there were people younger and several people well over twice my age. I was by far the least flexible person in the room. That class was a constant reminder of my limitations, that flexibility is something that I will never be good at. If I didn’t believe that it was good for my body or that I had other choices, I would have never returned to do something that I will never be good at.
Even though I’ve had a regular yoga practice for 26 years, and it has helped my AS immensely, practicing is difficult. Sometimes, the simplest movement, even breathing, is a struggle. If the teacher doesn’t know me, I’ll tell them, “I’m having a bad day from my arthritis, it may not look like it by my range of motion, but I’ve been practicing yoga for a long time and I know how to practice safely. I may not be able to stay up with class and I will try not to disturb others.
I remember being part of an advance kula of mostly yoga teachers that practiced monthly for about 2 1/2 hours. The teacher asked the class, “What is your shame pose?” To my shock, they all knew the feeling when doing a particular pose. My answer was different, “whata shame pose?” because literally every pose was a challenge and opportunity to feel shame. I literally require a warmup and props to lay still on the floor.
If you’re thinking of starting a yoga practice, I’d recommend private lessons from a yoga therapist or an alignment-based instructor . Getting one-on-one guidance will shave years off the time it took me to learn how to modify asanas to accommodate your AS. Also it helps to surround yourself with support when adopting challenging but beneficial changes. I’m blessed to have a spouse and children that have been a constant source of encouragement and support on this journey.
Keeping up my yoga practice requires my constant faith that yoga will make a bad day better and make a good day great. I have plenty of personal evidence that I benefit from it -- my AS body and spirit feel better now than they did 3 decades ago -- and yet, all that doesn’t make it easy to walk into a yoga class. It just makes it worth the effort.© 2021 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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