There comes a time for all of us, even to us relatively healthy, keen yoga types, when it all goes a bit pear shaped. Without any decent warning, we get ill. Our preventative methods fail us and we find ourselves unable to do anything other than surrender to it. At least that is the way I see it. I'm lucky in that I rarely get sick and if I feel something creeping up on me, I am usually able to do some stuff that quickly diverts it and prevents it from getting a grip on my system. I like that about my relationship with my body, I feel we know one another fairly well.
However, this week it's a different story. I failed in my ability to divert the course of this cold bug and it has me in it's grips. Admittedly, it really is not completely disabling me, I don't feel terribly ill with it all but it is enough to stop me from teaching as it's affecting my voice and my ability to speak. That is never good for a yoga teacher, or any kind of teacher and a whole host of other professions I'd imagine, I am hardly alone here, I appreciate that!
There is always this slight stigma attached to being sick, as a yoga teacher though, or so I feel. I can't say I judge others in the profession harshly when they fall ill, because we are all human, of course we are, but it has been said to me on more than one occasion...how is it that I am ill when I do yoga...isn't it supposed to keep you healthy? Yeah Yeah. And more to the point, yes it is and yes it does. I have no doubt in my mind that if I did not have a regular yoga practice, this thing would have me in a much tighter grip, more like a vice, probably in bed for days, not the one day that I succumbed to, knowing that to surrender my Sunday would be worth it in the healing process. When our physical body displays signs that we are sick, I believe it's important that we listen and respond. There are so many pressures for the majority of us these days, to carry on, be strong, be some sort of Superwoman....or Superman of course! I used feel I had to be that person, that I'd appear weak if I took a day off or I'd upset someone if I let them down by calling in sick. I'm still human so I can't say I never feel those pressures, and of course those close to me know that I'm also lucky enough not to
have to keep up for other reasons, but these days I know that to surrender to the inevitable is not a bad thing. It's more about honouring our body and our mind, respecting the need for rest and healing. We tend to get ill when we have an element of stress in our lives, whether we realise it at the time or not, and I believe, the antidote is to de-stress, let it out, re-boot the system and then get back to it, whatever It is.
I've been de-stressing and re-booting for a few days now and quite frankly I'm getting bored. I want to be well, I want to be able to speak without coughing, I want my real voice back. So, after a bit of talking with myself and asking my friends for some tips, I'm stepping up the natural remedies in the hope that I can kick this in the next day or so and be fighting fit for my next class.
I AM going to do it.
In early January, I explained that New Year is rarely the right time for a new start. There are many other dates which might be more suitable for dropping old habits. If you've been following your forecast since then, you will have already seen me point out such times. More good opportunities are due in the next few weeks. I'm particularly excited about the rare transit of Venus on June 6. But while Mars is just picking up momentum after a long retrograde phase, right now is a fine time for anyone who seeks to summon more self-discipline!
