Yoga No-Go

Yoga is supposedly good for RA sufferers. That's what all of the RA forums, and my weekly WebMD newsletter, told me anyway. "Do yoga, stretch out those joints!" they said, albeit more eloquently. Supposedly I'd feel more relaxed, which would cut down the pain and make me more flexible.

As someone who favors holistic healing over conventional medicine, I try to look for more natural modes of healing myself, though that doesn't mean that I'd ever just stop taking my medication. I had done yoga as a preteen, and I remember enjoying it. I've continued the meditation aspect ever since, but not the "workout" portion. Anyway, the one yoga instructional video that I did own was on VHS. Yeah, that didn't help the cause. Hey, at least I owned a yoga mat.

I did what I thought would be a quick search on amazon. As of the writing of this post, there were 8,055 hits for "Yoga DVD."  This was proving difficult. Still, knowing that I am too poor to afford classes, I persevered. My mother knew I was on a yoga quest too, and the other day she came home from Walmart with a yoga block and DVD in hand. Yes! This could work.

And so I popped the DVD into my computer. I sat down on the mat and waited for relaxation and feel-good stretching to start. There was no feel-good stretching.

Instead, I found myself struggling over the most simple positions. I realized that sitting with my legs crossed is an almost impossible task. My knees definitely did not want to bend that way. Switching from a seated position to a standing one, then back down to a kneeling one? Ha. I can only imagine what I would have looked like to a spectator. I'm so glad I picked a time when the house was empty to try this. I found myself constantly pausing the video just so I had enough time to pull myself up into a new pose. I was more out of breath from getting into poses than holding the pose! On the bright side, I guess I got a workout regardless of my flexibility fail. By the end of the 20 minute DVD, that yoga block was being used as a chair.

I think it's going to take awhile before yoga actually becomes relaxing, or before I receive any sort of health benefit from it. I found myself too worried about getting into decent poses without breaking something to actually reap any benefits. I also made the scary realization that my body doesn't move like it used to. The last thing I want to lose is my mobility, which probably means accepting the fact that my joints creak with every Downward Dog and just trudging along regardless.

I could also put pride aside and buy a "Yoga for Arthritis" DVD and roll with the old ladies. On second thought...nah. It probably wouldn't be as hilarious.