How I turned to yoga to help me heal
How I turned to yoga to help me heal
Let me start this blog by saying that I’m in no way a fitness fanatic. I survived my 20s and 30s on cheese and crisps alone and went to the gym for the first time aged 37 (and subsequently quit a few months later). However, I’m now a yoga convert and promise not to be preachy.
I think some background would be useful before I get into how yoga changed me, so I’ll dive right in as there’s no other way really. When I hit 39 I started to have some issues with my neck. It started with 3 trapped nerves that showed no signs of slipping back to whence they came, that progressed into intense and prolonged pain in my neck and shoulders. An MRI scan showed moderate to severe osteoarthritis in my cervical spine (commonly known as cervical spondylosis), which in turn led to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E.) and Fibromyalgia. If you’re into learning how the latter two conditions can develop, it will help you to know that I’m also a childhood trauma survivor. The theory is that holding in trauma can make it manifest in physical symptoms – I believe that, by the way.
Over the years I’ve been managing my health conditions with a mix of medication, diet, supplements, graded exercise therapy, deep tissue massage, and thousands of pounds worth of disability equipment – some of which was funded via the Government’s Access to Work programme). I’m also a Blue Badge holder.
Let me start this blog by saying that I’m in no way a fitness fanatic. I survived my 20s and 30s on cheese and crisps alone and went to the gym for the first time aged 37 (and subsequently quit a few months later). However, I’m now a yoga convert and promise not to be preachy.
I think some background would be useful before I get into how yoga changed me, so I’ll dive right in as there’s no other way really. When I hit 39 I started to have some issues with my neck. It started with 3 trapped nerves that showed no signs of slipping back to whence they came, that progressed into intense and prolonged pain in my neck and shoulders. An MRI scan showed moderate to severe osteoarthritis in my cervical spine (commonly known as cervical spondylosis), which in turn led to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E.) and Fibromyalgia. If you’re into learning how the latter two conditions can develop, it will help you to know that I’m also a childhood trauma survivor. The theory is that holding in trauma can make it manifest in physical symptoms – I believe that, by the way.
Over the years I’ve been managing my health conditions with a mix of medication, diet, supplements, graded exercise therapy, deep tissue massage, and thousands of pounds worth of disability equipment – some of which was funded via the Government’s Access to Work programme). I’m also a Blue Badge holder.
Me in 2015 while hiding my worsening health conditions
Me in 2015 while hiding my worsening health conditions
Me in 2019 – I put on over 2 stone due to my declining health problems
So where does the yoga come in?
During my latest course of talking therapy sessions, my therapist and I were discussing ways I could de-stress in the mornings ready to start the day with a ‘clean’ slate.
I’ve always been a proactive and over-productive adult (which hasn’t helped where the fibromyalgia and M.E. are concerned), and we identified that mornings were a big point of anxiety for me. I’d be thinking so far ahead that I’d be stressed out before I even got downstairs.
This wasn’t fair on me or the rest of the household so we thought I could try yoga in the mornings a couple of times a week to see if I could use it as meditation. An added bonus was that it might also help me to shift the extra 2 stone I’d put on since my health problems began. So, I stuck YouTube on the TV and searched for some beginner yoga videos to get me started.
So where does the yoga come in?
During my latest course of talking therapy sessions, my therapist and I were discussing ways I could de-stress in the mornings ready to start the day with a ‘clean’ slate.
I’ve always been a proactive and over-productive adult (which hasn’t helped where the fibromyalgia and M.E. are concerned), and we identified that mornings were a big point of anxiety for me. I’d be thinking so far ahead that I’d be stressed out before I even got downstairs.
This wasn’t fair on me or the rest of the household so we thought I could try yoga in the mornings a couple of times a week to see if I could use it as meditation. An added bonus was that it might also help me to shift the extra 2 stone I’d put on since my health problems began. So, I stuck YouTube on the TV and searched for some beginner yoga videos to get me started.
Me in 2019 – I’d put on over 2 stone due to my declining health problems
Finding non-cringey yoga videos
First off, let me say that all the yoga videos I watch are freely available on YouTube, I don’t pay any subscription fee or use any other website.
After a few weeks of trying different yoga videos on YouTube, I came across a video by Sanela Osmanovic on the PsycheTruths channel (holistic health channel, nothing to do with psychics that I can tell). Sanela has been a Hatha Yoga instructor for over 10 years and she’s also a great believer in self-healing. As you can guess, I liked her straight away.
The first yoga session I tried of Sanela’s was her beginner’s yoga for weight loss and belly fat. It wasn’t too taxing and I found I could get through the whole thing without hurting. If you want to have a go at this routine, I’ve embedded the YouTube video below.
I resorted to using filters and chopping my body off photos
Finding non-cringey yoga videos
First off, let me say that all the yoga videos I watch are freely available on YouTube, I don’t pay any subscription fee or use any other website.
After a few weeks of trying different yoga videos on YouTube, I came across a video by Sanela Osmanovic on the PsycheTruths channel (holistic health channel, nothing to do with psychics that I can tell). Sanela has been a Hatha Yoga instructor for over 10 years and she’s also a great believer in self-healing. As you can guess, I liked her straight away.
The first yoga session I tried of Sanela’s was her beginner’s yoga for weight loss and belly fat. It wasn’t too taxing and I found I could get through the whole thing without hurting. If you want to have a go at this routine, I’ve embedded the YouTube video below.
I resorted to using filters and chopping my body off photos
In 2019 – I’ve been so unhappy with myself and my weight
How did I do?
As I started to explore more yoga videos, I found that I wanted to step up the pace a little so I tried another of Sanela’s videos that focused on not just yoga moves but also featured some traditional fitness moves too: namely bicycles (sit-ups with leg movement). I’ve added in that video, see below.
I could hardly believe what I was doing when I managed to do 10 sit-ups and a bit of a mish-mash of the other elements to the routine as I’d never been able to do sit-ups before, even as a teenager! As I started to do the routine every morning, I got better and better at the moves and also being able to finish everything the instructor was doing (who’d have thought eh? Practice making perfect after all). I’m pretty sure what got me through was the way Sanela made me feel empowered and strong, even when I actually looked like a sack of spuds. She’s great at knowing what to say that doesn’t sound crass or unachievable.
How did I do?
As I started to explore more yoga videos, I found that I wanted to step up the pace a little so I tried another of Sanela’s videos that focused on not just yoga moves but also featured some traditional fitness moves too: namely bicycles (sit-ups with leg movement). I’ve added in that video, see below.
I could hardly believe what I was doing when I managed to do 10 sit-ups and a bit of a mish-mash of the other elements to the routine as I’d never been able to do sit-ups before, even as a teenager! As I started to do the routine every morning, I got better and better at the moves and also being able to finish everything the instructor was doing (who’d have thought eh? Practice making perfect after all). I’m pretty sure what got me through was the way Sanela made me feel empowered and strong, even when I actually looked like a sack of spuds. She’s great at knowing what to say that doesn’t sound crass or unachievable.
How’s the routine going?
So…not only have I kept up with doing a yoga/workout session at least 5 times a week, but I can also report that I’ve lost a stone already. The workouts can’t take all the credit for the weight loss as I’ve been restricting calories too.
When I was at my heaviest I was also at my lowest point mentally and I’ve always been the same; whatever I put in my mouth reflects how I’m feeling. Feeling fat? Eat a packet of biscuits. Feeling slim? Starve some more so you don’t put any weight on. Stupid, right?
Here’s to the next stone coming off! Fingers crossed.
This meme was made for me!