There are broken and injured bodies everywhere.
Wherever I go, I hear about old and new injuries, posture problems, and crinks and cracks.
We have to face it – no one on this earth is without some sort of pain. Pain management and physical rehabilitation are absolute key ingredients for those working on getting their bodies back to a better (and less painful) state. How do we do that? What is a remedy for each person, old or young, able or not?
Just over 12 years ago I was in a car accident that left our car totalled. I was pulled out of the wreck and had a severe concision, soft tissue damage and cartilage damage in my knees, hips and shoulders. Being only 13 at the time, growing pains and injury pain quickly became blurred together and as time passed, a chronic nagging in my everyday life. Dealing with doctors and lawyers left very little activity allowance for athletic/therapeutic up-comings so I was guided into the understanding (from my doctors) that attempting yoga for my injuries would be more of an detriment to my health than a positive. I assumed that they were right and never thought if yoga as an activity I was able to do.
One afternoon I was strolling down West 4th avenue with my sister and came across Semperviva Yoga. Sara (my sister) wanted to stop in to review the classes available to whet her yoga appetite and invited me to join her in a class. As I responded with my negative views and misguided understandings about yoga, a representative of Semperviva overheard me and came over to learn more about my injuries and thoughts. After I explained my 12 year long growing pains and the restrictions enforced because of them, she quickly informed me that restorative yoga would very much be a positive influence on my body’s crinks and cracks. Questioning further, I learnt that the poses and breathing techniques in restorative yoga would only benefit me (and anyone else) by moving at a slower and gentler pace. I decided that after 12 years of no solutions it was worth giving a shot.
What is Restorative yoga?
Restorative Yoga is constructed around restful postures and is specifically designed for you to reconnect with your nervous system to balance out the body. It has proven to lower blood pressure and heart rate, as well as loosen joints and relax your bones. Initially, I was wary about attending a class because all I had seen (and heard) about yoga was that the instructors push you too hard, everyone is competitive and if you look like the little fish in a big pond, you would a)be made an example and b)stick out like a sore thumb. Being someone who prefers to duck in, hide in the corner and then quickly duck out, hearing those things made me think yoga classes were not my cup of tea.
Semperviva was nothing like that. The instructors listened to my “heads-up, I’m going to suck at this” warning as well as my concerns. During the calm, quiet and mellow class the instructor never drew attention to me. If I wasn’t doing a pose properly, all I would get was a light tap and (quietly) guided modification and was left to my happy and relaxed thoughts. My classmates ranged from young to old, recent injury to chronic and uber athletic to not. Afterwords by body felt great – relaxed and stretched and I learnt better (and subtle) postures to implement into my daily life. Completely not what I expected, in a good way.
Needless to say, I have made the decision to become a “Restorative Yogi” and honestly could not be happier about that. Big thanks to Semperviva for showing the errors of my ways, and setting me back onto a healthy and happy pace. For all you broken and injured skeptics, come an give a class a try; you wont regret giving it a shot.
xoxo, Krista
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Krista is the co-founder of Social City Networking INC alongside her identical twin sister Sara Rose McKenna. An active member of the community, Krista works towards promoting positive change and development within individuals’ lives.
Follow her on instagram, pinterest and twitter: kmckennaSC