 |
|
|
Yoga Journal's Makeover Blogs
: Jason Crandell
Mark’s knee doesn’t look good. And, actually, his feet and ankles don’t look much better. I told you in my last discussion of Mark that I didn’t want to focus too closely on his injury because there are larger, more systemic issues that he also need to address, like stress management and overall conditioning. What’s more, Mark needs to connect to a philosophical system that provides him with the new identity that is beginning to form inside. All of this is well and good, but, sadly, we still have a major knee injury to address, so let’s get down to it.
When I look at his swollen knee and his limp, it is evident that he has chronic pain. Also, his range of motion is severely limited: He can only bend his left knee 20 degrees or so in standing poses; basic backbends such as Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) are off limits due to pressure and strain in the posture; and, very little external rotation is available. So, what’s a yoga teacher to do?
We’ve got to start strengthening the leg right away, right? If there’s a problem in the body, we need more strength, right? I hear this most days of the week, and, at least in the case of Mark’s knee, I don’t think focusing on strength, strength, strength is the first course of action. I won’t bore you to tears, but I have a feeling that the "strengthen first" solution has more to do with cultural, ethical biases than it does effective problem solving. And, here is the reason: Since Mark is profoundly misaligned from his left toes to his left hip, focusing on strengthening too early will make him stronger but not necessarily in the right ways. Instead, we’ve got to properly align the guy so that his body stops fighting himself so much. Of course, strengthening and aligning are not mutually exclusive. One should do both. However, this isn’t just an issue of semantics, it’s an issue of orientation. Strengthening his quadriceps until he can pull a semi-truck down the street is not necessarily going to make his knee feel better and it certainly isn’t going to reform his feet and ankles. It might present us with a temporary fix, but unless we develop good alignment in his feet, ankles, knee and hip he will continue to be vulnerable to severe knee problems.
So, before we strengthen we’ll align. Then, after creating better alignment, we’ll work to increase his range of motion. Once both are looking better, then we will shift the focus to strength. Sure, all of this happens simultaneously—sort of. But our awareness has to be concentrated on the topic of alignment so that we can cultivate greater physical integrity.
We’ll keep working his standing poses intelligently (and with the proper support). We’ll also increase his range of movement throughout his hips and various supported hip-openers. Then, we will support and deeply relax his legs in poses like Viparitta Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose). I’m sure with this work that his knee discomfort will begin to subside, though, he may still feel some pain for the foreseeable future.
After 15 years of playing hockey and nearly as many skateboarding, I stepped into my first yoga class. Picture it. Yep, you’ve got it: Tight (hamstrings like steel girders), imbalanced (I checked countless people using only my right side), and unsure (this was yoga, not a contact sport, after all). Yes, I was exactly what you’d expect. So, it stands to reason that Edith Chan, the heralded athlete and spinning coach, would suffer the same fate. Come on . . . She’s been hunched over her bike for thousands of miles, jammed her joints by pounding the pavement as she ran, and tightened her back-body by swimming lap after lap. Well, rules are made to be broken and clichés are clichés for a reason, because Edith doesn’t fit any of the athletic stereotypes when it comes to yoga. Instead, she has the most natural, graceful, balanced practice that I have ever seen in a beginner.
We’ve all heard someone in class say, "I don’t feel anything." Right? And, in those moments you—like me—may have had the urge to drop a block on that person’s pinkie toe because you felt so, so much at that moment that you thought you were going to pass out.
On a purely surface level, Edith is that person. She has deep forward bends, liberated backbends, and integrated standing poses. And, what’s more, she’s so conditioned from her training that she makes her poses look effortless—the way they are designed to be. So, what does all this mean? What, then, are we going to "makeover?" On what level are we going to deepen Edith’s practice and use yoga to enhance her athletics?
Like all art forms, we will move from the gross to the subtle. Stones can always be polished and made smoother. Understanding can always become deeper and more refined. So, Edith just happens to begin her yoga journey in a flexible, integrated, and strong body. She still has an edge. And, she still has layers upon layers—like everyone—of physical and mental conditioning that yoga can help reveal and address.
So, the next time that you feel the impulse to drop that brick on the A+ student next to you in class, remember something: All of us are just moving from a gross to a subtle understanding of ourselves, and we all have an edge somewhere.
Or, if that doesn't work, at least be kind and use a foam brick.
Two years ago a student shuffled into my office at the San Francisco Bay Club, medical dossier in hand. He asked if yoga could help him minimize or cope with his troubles. Fairly grounded realist that I am, I didn’t want to oversell optimism just yet, so I said, "Well, maybe . . . I’m not sure . . . I suppose that it depends on a lot of factors, such as the nature and degree of your problem." He slid his Excel spreadsheet of medical history since 1989 (the year of the Loma Prieta Earthquake for you history buffs) across the desk, and asked me to take a look. I, of course, thought that walking around with a pocket-sized pain and medication ledger was a tad overboard. But, during our conversation I realized that, this gentleman was not totally crazed. Instead, he’s been in severe pain for almost two decades and this document was a way to organize, understand, and manage the difficulties. I also realized that he’d seen such an array of specialists over the past 16 years that he’d started to feel like a broken record . . . "I have had two lumbar surgeries . . . I suffer from acute sacroilliac pain and severe sciatica . . . I have substantial nerve degeneration in my legs . . ." and so on.
I gave him his traveling files back and asked him, "Why yoga? Why now?" A long, heartfelt conversation followed. Afterward, I answered his question about whether I could use yoga to help him: I told him, quite simply, that we could try. That was it—no miracles, no claims of grandeur, no quick store-bought solutions, no medical advice.
That was enough. He decided to use yoga to cultivate greater well-being, manage his pain, and develop a deeper kinesthetic and emotional understanding of his injuries and flare-ups. Two years later we still work together three days a week. Some weeks he feels good and other weeks, well, not so much. But our practice is always an honest revelation and a sincere investigation of what is happening inside his body and mind. And, as a yoga teacher whose had his fair share of exciting teaching occasions—teaching at seven Yoga Journal conferences to date, traveling extensively with Rodney Yee, being on staff at several teacher trainings, and having excellent students in public classes—this is the most satisfying thing I can imagine: Working sincerely and deeply with individuals in an effort to help them understand their physical and psychological patterns and cultivate more optimal ways of being—or to practice contentment with what is without needing to change.
This is the spirit I meet Edith, Mark, Leah, and the Yoga Journal Makeovers story with. Over the next six months, Edith, Mark, and Leah will use a tailored yoga practice to better understand their internal dynamics and address their specific needs. As I’ve gotten to know each of them fairly well I look forward to sharing their progress—and, yes, of course—their challenges with you.
Jason Crandell is the Yoga Director at The San Francisco Bay Club, a regular presenter at Yoga Journal conferences, and staff instructor at Yoga Journal magazine. He has been the Yoga Journal’s "Basics" columnist and has been featured in Natural Health, Yoga For Everybody, 7x7, and San Francisco Magazine. Jason has had the great fortune of apprenticing extensively with Rodney Yee (and studying with countless other teachers with recognizable names). But, more than any other qualifier, Jason just really loves to practice and teach.
"It is teachers and practitioners like Jason that will take the art of yoga and teaching yoga to its next step." Rodney Yee
"(Jason) has a knack for explaining extremely subtle body movements in a way that anyone can understand. With his low-key charm and deadpan humor, Crandell puts students at ease right away." Yoga Journal
"The best. His patience and knowledge of backbends was worth the whole cost of the conference." Beginning student attending 2006 San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference
|
|
|
|
|
|
| WEEKLY POLL |
|
What is your favorite time of day to practice?
|
|
|
