Yoga Practice After Hysterectomy Surgery

It’s been about 7 months since my hysterectomy surgery and I’m slowly returning to my Ashtanga practice.  Practice has been a bit unscheduled, and by that I mean I’m not able to do physical asana every day yet.  On the days that I don’t do asana, I use the time slot in its entirety for my Lenten meditation with Mona Lisa.   My practice partner slid easily into our old morning practice routine and particularly enjoys the off-days because of the extended lap time.  

Back in January, I started with a sun salutations A and B, closed with the 3 lotus flowers and savasana.  By mid to late January, I added in the standing postures and headstand every few days.  Since I no longer have “ladies holidays”, I have peppered in my rest days in between moon days and Saturdays based on how my still healing body feels.  Speaking of which; I’d heard that Sunday was now a rest day, so I tried practicing on Saturdays for about 2 weeks before I settled back into the Sunday practice rhythm.  Old habits...

As far as led classes go, I take led primary classes on Thursdays and Sundays, which are so enjoyable after so much time off.   I really missed seeing everyone, the cozy warmth of the studio and the familiar sound of bare feet on hardwood.   I’m still on teaching hiatus except for the occasional sub opportunity, so that means there’s play time!  Oh how sweet it is to pop in on a week night or a Saturday morning vinyasa class for a little free stylin’. 

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I attended my first full led primary class..  Physically, it was a command performance.  Making all jump backs and managing the arm balances somewhat gracefully.  However, about 2 hours later I found myself on the couch curled up with China Gel and Advil with my teacher Keith's voice in my head saying "skip some jumpbacks".   I slept in on Monday.

What have I noticed about my physical self since returning to yoga since surgery?

1. I have I have more room in my belly!  Folds and twists that hit a wall before have greater range of movement.   The growing solid bulk of the fibroids were really been doing a number on me.
2. I’m light.  My hips don’t feel nearly as heavy and I’ve managed to float once or twice.
3. Upper body strength seems in tact  but it’s my legs that get wobbly and my calves that burn.  I notice this mostly in vinyasa classes.  Also, my upper abs felt sore a lot initially but this has begun to subside.
4. My focus is much more intense.  I’ve never had much trouble with dristi, but it seems even more focused now.

What have I noticed mentally since surgery?

1. I'm in absolutely NO RUSH to regain my previous practice momentum and ability.   My hysterectomy feels like a right of passage along with age (smile) to this state of mind.  I do my best to stay on schedule, but sometimes I don't and I'm OK with that.
2. I frequently say hello to my new body during practice.  I'm still healing and have a long way to go; but at 7 months post op I've been amazed and surprised at what happens on the mat.
3. A weight of worry has been lifted.  Gone are the embarrassing ladies holidays that crept up on me and sidelined practice at a moments notice and created a constant, anxious state of mind.

This weekend, I'm attending a mysore session with Krista Shirley’s in DC.  This will be my first mysore studio session in about 10 months, so I'm looking forward. 

I've been taking some photos and videos of my practice to document post surgery progress mostly, and this photo was taken on St. Patty’s Day.  Found the socks when I was out shoe shopping.  I didn’t’ find any shoes, but the socks were a must have J. 

Led Primary with Kino MacGregor in DC

Back in March I had the fortune of catching a led primary series with Kino MacGregor through Woodley Park Yoga in DC.  When my daily mysore practice began almost a year and a half ago, I’d started by watching Kino’s and Sharath Jois’ Primary Series DVDs.  I've spent hours  watching Kino's videos mainly because she speaks my language when it comes to verbal cues. 

Prior to Ashtanga, I had a steady Baptiste vinyasa practice peppered with led primary classes and had developed a slow ujjayi rhythm.  When I began teaching led classes, I’d keep the same tempo while counting and occasionally heard from students that my counts were long.    Rather than compromise consistency, I maintained the slower tempo of counting which is slower than most; however, not slower than Kino’s counts.

Kinos 5 counts were 10 of mine, and the shakes set in early for me during her Led Primary class.  My hips also felt heavy during jump throughs, resulting in mat burn and a nice toenail nick on the top of my hand.  Prone to hyper pigmentation, I knew that I'd be reminded of these long counts for some time to come.  More immediate and pressing a matter, however was finishing the practice. The deconstruction of it all came during closing when my shoulders were so tired that I couldn't sustain the inversions.

I hadn’t been pushed by a teacher in the area of long counts since attending a weekend with David Robson at the Miami Life Center in 2013.  There, he used the drum beat to which he asked us to  move through sun salutations.   Since practicing with Kino, I've taken to extending my counts a little, which I didn't think would be acceptable to traditionalists until I read a recent throwback blog posted by Shanna Small  that featured excerpts from the theaspiringyogi.  If you scroll down in this interview with Manju Jois (the oldest son of Ashtanga Yoga Founder, Sri K Pattabhi Jois)  you'll see what he has to say about holding postures for longer than 5 breaths.    Basically, he says that the body begins to settle in a posture after the fifth breath.

Touche students, I feel your pain :).

* Pictured above are a some of my students who attended Kino MacGregors' March weekend workshop in DC.