our-yoga

Had my first-ever acupuncture session today. A couple of people have suggested acupuncture as a treatment modality for my knee (see previous post for the, ahem, bloody details). By a very interesting coincidence, the TCM place near my home was having an open house today, so I decided to just show up, and see what they have to offer. Then again, maybe it's not a coincidence: Maybe the universe knew I was going to mess up my knee this week, and specifically arranged for them to have the open house today? :-)

So I made my way to the TCM place this afternoon. There was a pretty good crowd there, mainly local holistic health afficionados. Which gave me mixed feelings, since there was a possibility of running into fellow yoga teachers or students, and possibly contributing to Ashtanga's bad rep simply by my presence ("What are you here for? What, you busted your knee doing yoga? And you practice what kind of yoga? Ashtanga?" [insert knowing I-told-you-Ashtanga-is-bad-for-you-but-you-wouldn't-listen smile]).

Fortunately, none of this happened. I did run into this one yoga teacher, but all she did was greet me, and then go on with her business (hmm... what could she be here for?...). I then noticed some signup sheets, and discovered that they were offering community acupuncture for $10 a session. I immediately signed up for acupuncture.

Within a few minutes, the acupuncturist--a mild-mannered middle-aged guy with glasses who also turned out to be one of the owners of the place--ushered me into the acupuncture room, where he had me recline on a lounge chair. He asked me if there was any particular reason that brought me there. I told him about my knee. He felt around my left inner knee, trying to locate the place where the inflammation was, but couldn't find the inflammation. This is when I learnt one more thing about my knee: Apparently, it only inflames after I have been walking or standing for a while or doing weird things to it (for example, Bhekasana). Why don't knees inflame when you want them to? :-)

In any case, he proceeded to go about leisurely sticking needles in a few places on my arms and legs. He stuck two needles in my left inner knee, and three needles on my right elbow (he later explained that the meridian points on the left inner knee is related to those on the right elbow. Interesting...) After sticking the needles in me, he left me to myself, and went out to attend to other clients.

For the first few minutes, I did not feel very much. And then, after 10 to 15 minutes, I started feeling this heavy yet warm sensation in my left hand. I also noticed that the three needles on my right elbow were quivering non-stop. Interesting. All in all, I probably was in the room for about 20 to 30 minutes before he came back in to remove the needles.

I felt this feeling of powerful calm both during and for about an hour after the session. Immediately after the session, I thought I felt a nice warm sensation in my left knee. All in all, my first acupuncture session was a very positive experience. It remains to be seen what this will do to the knee. But I really like the powerful feeling of calmness I felt. I am also quite impressed by the laid-back energy of the place. I have to say that this is quite different from the rather more upbeat energy that one encounters in most yoga studios.

In other news: This blog turns one today! It was on October 29th, 2010 that I wrote my first post on this blog. Time flies when one is having fun, doesn't it? Well, Happy Birthday to you, Yoga in the Dragon's Den!

I named this blog after one of my favorite 80s' kung-fu movies, Ninja in the Dragon's Den. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a ninja when I grew up. And then I discovered Ashtanga, and realized that being an Ashtangi might be the closest thing I can ever get to becoming a ninja; which makes me feel less bad about messing up my knee :-) In any case, here's the final fight scene from Ninja in the Dragon's Den. It's pretty badass. Enjoy!

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Earlier today, I went for my twice-a-month acupuncture session. The acupuncturist who was working with me today had just completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training, and we chatted briefly about yoga while she was inserting needles into various parts of my physical body (can't remember the last time I had a yoga conversation with somebody who was sticking needles into me...). She is still in the process of finding a yoga style that works for her personal practice, and she had learnt from the other acupuncturist that I practice Ashtanga, so she took this opportunity to find out more about Ashtanga from me. Here's how part of the conversation unfolded:

Acupuncturist: I heard somewhere that Ashtanga was originally developed as a practice for teenage boys who are physically strong and have lots of energy, and that because of this, it is not suitable for those of us who are not teenage boys to practice Ashtanga daily.

Nobel: Uh, yes, it is true that people do say that. But the idea behind Ashtanga isn't that people need to be able to do full primary the very first time they step into a shala. If you learn Ashtanga in a traditional mysore class, you are taught a couple of postures each time you are there, and you basically do as many (or as few) postures as you can, according to your capacity. Some people eventually do full primary or beyond, some people do half-primary, others are somewhere in between. Whichever way, it's fine. You do whatever you can. 

Acupuncturist: That's interesting. I'm the kind of person who tires easily. Which is why I think that perhaps the thing for me to do is to alternate between doing a powerful practice such as Ashtanga one day, and doing a more gentle restorative practice the next day, and so on. That way, I can build up strength and energy without over-straining myself.

Nobel: I think that's a good way to go. I think I might be the opposite of you, energy-wise. Several years ago, I went to a restorative class in the morning, and felt very lethargic and tired the rest of the day. I feel that Ashtanga gives me that morning energy boost that no other practice has been able to give me. Actually, come to think of it, I probably practice Ashtanga more for the energy boost than for any other reason. The postures are really secondary, in this sense. And samadhi? Well, it comes when it comes. No point thinking too much about it.

The conversation pretty much ended at this point. I decided that, given the context, it would be very inappropriate for me to try to sell Ashtanga too much (if nothing else, you don't want to even remotely come across as being pushy when you are lying more or less spread-eagled, and somebody is hovering over you with needles!). So she proceeded to stick the rest of the needles into me, and left me to "be with the universe." Actually, I have come to enjoy being with the universe with needles stuck inside of me. It actually feels like a sort of restorative practice in and of itself.

But back to the conversation. From this conversation, I learned a couple of things. First, I am reminded that many people out there in the "greater yoga world" hold the view that Ashtanga is something that should only be practiced by teenage boys; I have heard this view years ago, but since I "move" mostly within Ashtanga circles these days, it's been a while since I've heard anybody articulate it. The cynical part of me always thinks that people who hold this view are really thinking: Since yoga is hardly the sport of choice for teenage boys in the west, Ashtanga is too rigorous for any real-life yogi, and therefore should not be practiced if you want to stay in one piece, stay sane, etc. Well, I don't know, there may actually be some truth to this. I sometimes feel that I may be a little bit insane...

Through this conversation, I also learned what the main thing is that brings me to the mat every morning: The energy boost that comes from the practice. No matter how tired I feel when I get up in the morning, I always feel so much more energized by the time I finish the practice. To me, the practice is like an energy-creating machine: I go into it with little or no energy, give out so much energy while doing the practice, and yet always come out at the other end with more energy than when I started. How is this possible? Pretty amazing, don't you think? If nothing else, it shows that you don't have to be a teenage boy to experience the power of this practice.

What's perhaps even more amazing is that if I did not have this conversation, I probably would never have thought to articulate the reasons that bring me to the mat every morning. Isn't it amazing how conversation can serve as a mirror into your thoughts and your inner life in this way?

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Earlier today, I went to my now-monthly acupuncture session. I had originally started going to acupuncture sometime last November/December, after I injured my left knee (see this post for the gory details). Over the last few months, my knee has been slowly but steadily getting better. On most days, I can now get into lotus with little or no discomfort, if I move into it slowly when I bring the left foot into the right hip crease. I am no medical doctor or body worker (this is by way of a disclaimer, so you know I am not trying to proffer medical advice here. I'm just sharing my own very personal experience), but over the path of healing over the last few months, I have found doing the following things to be useful:

(i) Doing hip openers such as baddha konasana (modified to whatever degree you need to modify to avoid the knee pain), double pigeon and (very, very slowly and carefully) siddhasana outside of the practice. For the last few months, I have been doing these postures for between 20 to 50 breaths each before I begin the Surya Namaskars in the morning. Which usually adds about 20 minutes to my total practice time. But I have found it well-worth the effort: Doing these postures mindfully help to open the external hip rotators and lengthen the quadriceps and adductors, taking the pressure off the knee joint.

(ii) In the first few weeks (for me, it was around 6 to 8 weeks) of the injury, when the knee joint is still very inflamed, it is a good idea to modify anything involving lotus or half-lotus postures. Acupuncture really helps to reduce the inflammation, speeding up the healing process. More on acupuncture in a little bit.  

(iii) When the inflammation began to subside after a few weeks, I started slowly reintroducing the lotus and half-lotus postures. I have found it very useful  to move into these postures by engaging the external rotators and lengthening the adductors and quadriceps rather than simply pulling the foot or ankle into the hip crease. Respect the body's limits; resist the temptation to pull the foot or ankle further into lotus when the hip rotators can bring you no further into the posture.

(iv) If there is pain, you basically have two options: (i) Go no further, (ii) try to see if you can move around the pain rather than through the pain: Depending on the extent and location of your knee injury, it may be possible to bend your knee and move the foot at a particular angle such that you are able to move into lotus or half-lotus without pain (hence "moving around" the painful area). For instance, during a certain phase of the healing process, I discovered that if I close my knee joint first (as if I am going into Mari A) and then slowly move the foot towards the hip crease, I can get into lotus without pain.

Well, it is very difficult to describe things properly on a blog: Maybe I shouldn't even have brought up this idea of moving around pain in the first place, as it can be quite difficult to distinguish between moving around pain and moving through pain sometimes when one is in the heat of practice on the mat. But take this for what it is worth. Remember: I am not proffering medical advice here. So don't come and sue me if you break your knee! And remember: This approach may not work with all knee injuries. It seems to work with mine, so I thought I'll share. If in doubt, simply go no further. Remember, it's your body, when all is said and done. Take good care of it.  

Well... I originally started this post intending to talk about acupuncture, but went into this giant segue about practicing with knee injuries. Oh well. You must already know that I am famous for such digressions, if you read this blog regularly; so what's new? Anyway, I guess I should also say a couple of things about acupuncture now, while we're at it. So, as I was saying at the beginning of this post, I started acupuncture to help treat my knee injury. I have found that acupuncture is not a quick fix, at least not for me: When I first started acupuncture, my knee did not get better instantly. But what I have discovered is that acupuncture works on your body the way the tides slowly rise on the ocean. You may not notice anything in any particular body part immediately. But by increasing the level of chi or life energy in your body, acupuncture treatment raises the overall "ocean level" of your body chi over time, so that over time, inflammation is reduced, and your body can undertake the natural process of healing itself without any obstructions. I suppose you can say that acupuncture helps your body to get out of its own way, so that healing can proceed more smoothly.  At least that's how I feel it has worked for my body. Again, remember: I am neither a medical doctor nor a bodyworker nor an acupuncturist. All this is just me reporting my own experience.

These days, I go to acupuncture ostensibly to continue treating my knee. But I'm starting to think that the real reason is a bit bigger than that: I have come to see acupuncture as savasana with needles: You basically lie there for half an hour with needles in you, and just "be with the universe", as my acupuncturist would say. In many ways, I see it as the restorative yoga practice I never had :-) So yeah, acupuncture rocks!   

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Whew! This past weekend was packed so full with activities; from the way things are looking, this coming week will probably be just as busy. Not sure how much blogging I will be able to squeeze in in the midst of all this... life. But I guess blogging is like practice, in this way: You do what you can with what you've got, and more often than not, the results surprise you (or at least, they surprise me)...

Speaking of blogging, an interesting little conversation about blogging happened this past weekend. On Saturday, I went for my twice-a-month acupuncture session. The acupuncturist was the same lady who attended to me two weeks ago (see this post). As she was sticking needles into me, we started chatting about yoga again; somehow, the topic of blogging came up, and I mentioned that I write a blog. When she heard this, her eyes suddenly sparkled, and she asked, "Oh, you write a blog? Do you work for Yoga Journal or something?" I replied, "No, it is just a personal blog about my own observations about my yoga practice, and my place in the world as it relates to the practice." "Oh," she replied, and went back to sticking needles into me.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this short exchange, but I can't help feeling that there are a whole bunch of people out there who think that you have to be someone special to write a blog. Well, if this is what they think... welcome to my world! I'm nobody special, but I write a blog nonetheless. I can go on and on about how yoga blogging can function to democratize knowledge and information, and makes the aesthetics of the yoga world a little less "Yoga-Journal-esque", and perhaps a little bit more... real, but I have a long day ahead, and this is not a day for a long post. So I'll sign off here.

P.S. I am making a mental note to myself not to reveal the name of this blog to my acupuncturist. I have already generated at least two blog posts from my acupuncture conversations, neither of which paint the acupuncturist in a particularly flattering light.  

P.P.S. I am traveling to Memphis, TN, from Thursday February 23rd to Sunday February 26th. If any of you out there reading this live in Memphis (or will be there during these same days), please feel free to drop me a line. Perhaps we can hang out and/or practice together?

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Yesterday afternoon, I went for my first official acupuncture session at the TCM place near where I live (I had previously tried acupuncture during a recent open house at this place; see this post).

The whole session was quite pleasant; I lay on the table for about half an hour with needles stuck in various meridian points on the elbows, hands and knees. The entire time, I was either looking up at the ceiling or closing my eyes. I felt very relaxed and calm afterwards. But I am unable to tell whether this state of being relaxed came from the acupuncture itself or from simply lying on the table and not doing anything for half an hour. In any case, I'll take what I can get :-) In some ways, I feel that the whole experience is like an extra-long savasana, plus needles, of course.


Before the acupuncture session, the acupuncturist held my left foot at various angles, and told me to exert pressure against his hand. He then concluded that I have a tight left IT band. Interesting. I have always associated tight IT bands with outer knee pain rather than inner knee pain. And I also realized that there seem to be very few postures in Ashtanga that actually stretch the IT band. There's Utthita Trikonasana in standing. There's also Ardha Matsyendrasana, but one has to get to second series before one can get the benefits of that posture (if you follow the series, that is). The lotus postures and their variations in primary presuppose that one already has fairly open IT bands, so they're not that helpful for me (in any case, I'm modifying all the padmasana variations on the left side in primary, so this is really a moot point anyway).

I suppose one possibility is to do certain hip/IT band openers outside of practice; things like threading-the-needle pose, for instance. I also know that the so-called pigeon pose is helpful for some people in this regard, but I distrust that pose (I think the risk of compromising the SI joint and knee is too great in that pose).

Anybody out there know of any ways to stretch/open the IT band?

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