Hi All,
My wife has been doing Vinyasa Flow/Hatha yoga for about a year now, and completely loves it. I even tried it today and I think it was one of the best workouts Ive had in a long time. Currently im training in Aikido and think it complements the Yoga beyond a doubt.
Now my question is, my wife is completely exhausted from each workout. She will be sore for 2-3 days after the class. Almost to the point I think it overtraining. Am I wrong? What should she do to either combat this or work thru this.? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
James.
Hi bklynjames,
when I started I was sore for a month too. Exhausted, not so much, since Shavasana restored me a great deal. So I would think that if your wife is doing Asanas for a year now and still is sore after every class, it’s not normal. Even when I start a new Asana now and it is challenging first, I don’t actually get sore anymore, I might notice the next day that I did something, but this 2-3 days you speak of sounds much like overdoing to me. I don’t do Asanas for even a year and I am already flexible enough that I would tear stuff in case I would practice so hard that I would get sore. I recently slipped in an Asana and had 2-3 days a feeling similar to soreness, but that started with a sharp pain and a movement that was most obviously an accident, leading to minor injury.
However, I’m not an expert.
Hello James,
A yoga practice (or in this case asana practice, the postures) that fatigues a student who does not intend to be fatigued or who does not find joy in it, is a practice that is not appropriate for THAT student. Since you state that your wife “completely loves it” we have to assume the fatigue is included in her love.
Not all of the lessons provided on the yoga mat are lessons of ease and pleasantries. Sometimes we are learning what TO do and other times we are learning what NOT to do. As a partner you can of course mention to her that based on your perspective she’s over training - then leave the rest to her.
I will mention that Yoga itself doesn’t mandate “combat” or “working through” everything. The practice should not include force as that impedes the ability to feel and without feeling in yoga there is little chance for personal growth in a sound direction. While I have not taken Aikido I do have some knowledge of it and there are similar concepts so I think this will be easy for you to grasp onto - pun intended.
I personally do not believe that a yoga practice should be fatiguing, but rather empowering and enriching, uplifting, and inspiring - otherwise the benefits are simply those of a workout and that can be achieved through Tae Bo, boot camps, crossfit or the like. For the benefits I cite Yoga has to be present.
By its nature, yoga is designed to unite the practitioners mind, body, and spirit. Therefore the practice ideally should move the student closer to their capital S self rather than eccentrically contracting muscles. Though such a contraction, when properly guided, with the mind in the doing, and the focus on self-exploration rather than performance, can facilitate such union.
During the class she loves the moves, the poses, and everything that comes along with it. Then within 12-24 hours later the soreness sets in. Then she has a hard time with everyday life, as if she was weakened. To me it seems like overtraining but im not a expert. Maybe I need to have her chime in her and possibly explain it a little better.
Then again she goes very deep into the poses, almost like she has a hard time getting out of it. COuld it be that she needs to work on not getting so deep into the pose. But the actual getting in and out portions of it.? Meaning, sorry for my clumsiness on the topic, but the entering and exiting of the pose.?
The joke about Aikido and the grasp, had me laughing… Yes very GRASP oriented…
Ok heres a little more info. The teacher is a student of this yogi instructor.
Just get rid of the brackets.
One of the things some teachers talk about is self pacing. So in this post I am paraphrasing what some teachers speak of. in doing yoga in theory we are opening up our bodies and by doing this are purifying our nervous system. In releasing these toxins we may have discomfort and fatigue especially if we have done too much
For instance, this past weekend I went to a day and a half yoga workshop. after doing this I felt spacey and out there so to speak. So I came home and took a nap at two in the afternoon for about three hours, woke up and felt much better.
Currently I know of an instructor who I told of some of the feelings that I had and that I felt I had overdone it a bit, her response was that I did not do much. She said this while being aware of what I had done. Friday i did 35 minutes of asanas 30 minutes later got a deep tissue massage for over an hour, and did the yoga workshop this weekend. Personally this does concern me for her students sake as she is a new instructor and her classes are challenging with beginners. Also, another of my suggestions to anyone doing yoga is to not be afraid to take a break by coming out of the pose before the instructor tells one to do so. It is a balance between stopping too soon or pushing too far.
So since you are asking about this, my suggestion would be to read up a bit on self pacing, and have her talk to her instructor about self pacing. also, be aware that not all instructors may be informed on how to tell when a student is having an overload. . In my opinion the purpose in yoga is to light the candle, not burn it out.
here is one of yogani’s lessons on the subject. http://aypsite.org/252.html, it may not seem directly related to your question but may have a bit of insight for you and her.
my best to you and your wife
brother Neil
@ James
it would be helpful to know if the sequence your wife is doing in class is different every time or if it is basically the same. Also it would be helpful to know if the soreness she is feeling is in the belly of the muscle(s) or at the attachments.
@ Neil
Though you’ve not outlined the practice itself wht you describe sound liek the result when a student takes a practice that aggravates the vatta constitution. In that case it is to be expected to feel “in-flight” after, though not a desired result of the practice. This can also be linked to nutrition or the failure to ground the student in closing the practice.
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;34653]
@ Neil
. This can also be linked to nutrition or the failure to ground the student in closing the practice.[/QUOTE]
probably a combo of both, afterwords I wanted salad which I went and got, and then took the nap which seemed to stabilize things. thanks for reminding to ground as i know of some practices I can add even if the instructor does not assist in that. I will keep it in mind.