Julie Flynn Badal

 Most Difficult Aspect of the Practice: Practicing with Injury

No one likes to suffer with an injury, feel limited, or feeble in yoga class. But as painful and constraining as injuries can be, they can also be very instructive, even inspiring. Injuries give us very clear boundaries to work within and a clear goal of healing to work toward. They can teach us to be humble and concrete and specific as we work to ease the very visceral sensation of pain.

Injuries often force us to do less not more and to be okay with not being at the top of our game. An injury can also initiate an exploration, compelling us to dig deeper, make connections, and ask the important questions, such as why? What is my body trying to communicate to me?

Injuries can help us be creative as we give ourselves permission make modifications and adjustments for ourselves. And also tap into the essence of the poses if not the perfect physical culmination of the pose. In these ways and many more, injuries can be incredible teachers.

What if we approached all of life's ailments with these concepts in mind? What if we saw each injury, whether physical, spiritual, or emotional, as an opportunity rather than an impingement? What might open up for us as a result?

Recently, I've had an injury or imbalance that has caused me to lose strength, flexibilty, and rotation in my left arm and shoulder. As a result of this injury, I began exploring my alignment and movement patterns to get to the root cause. I've discovered alot of my upper body movements are being initiated by the head, neck and traps. This is creating a lot of tension and imbalance in my shoulder and neck area, and the muscles around my thoracic spine are weakening. I now have a forward leaning (or sometimes even slumping) tendency in the thoracic and cervical spine. I've noticed in recent months my home practice has emphasized forward bending because backbending is becoming so limited and difficult with this injury.

So I've created a heart-opening sequence that brings the shoulder girdle back into proper alignment, releases tension in the neck and shoulder area, and strengthens the thoracic spine. The sequence leaves the overhead arm rotations and extensions out of the poses in order to illuminate relaxation in the neck and shoulder along with activation of the thoracic.

Lying on back with forearms lifted vertically, palms facing one another (tuck shoulder blades beneath the body, let gravity allow the shoulder to release toward the floor, connect with breath, allow  the inhale to rise to meet the collarbones)

Windshield wiper the legs with arms in a t-position (try to keep shoulders on the floor as you twist)

Tadasana -- (Imagine dropping your shoulder blades into your back pocket. then do head and shoulder rolls)

Sun Salutation with blocks for updog and downdog (Working on releasing head and neck and lifting arms from thoracic spine in reverse swan dive.)

Trikonasana (the non-supporting can remain in hip, after esablishing the grounding of the legs, work on releasing or even dropping head and neck. lift and open sternum to the ceiling, head and neck can extend and spiral after sternum is in place)

Cresent moon (With hands on hips, squeezing hipoints, lifting sternum)

Upright Pigeon with Open Twist 

Push Back into Down Dog 

Table top 

Navasana (lifting sternum, releasing shoulders)

Sphinx (tractionining and pulling forearms and elbows on the floor toward the body)

Shalabasana -- (with arms alongside body, using this as a strength building exercise. Several rounds of lifting and lowering legs and arms.)

Supported Camel (using blocks on calves)

Supta Badha Konasana (with blocks under knees, bolster going horizontally across mat at thoracic)

Virasana with alternate nostril breathing

Savasana