Yoga while Stitched

Hello everyone! A few weeks ago, I had some moles biopsied and got stitches on my back toward the left shoulder. I got news that I would have to go back in and have the wound reopened to remove the rest of the mole as it contained abnormal cells. Needless to say, in between I had just started getting back into Hatha yoga, nice and easy. But here I am, double stitched inside and out with another three weeks until I can practice again. I am stiff and can hardly move my upper body, and the pain is constant.

My question is, what do you find yourself doing when you are out of commission? I feel off balanced not having yoga practice every day. I absolutely detest not being active in some way. I was hoping to perhaps grab a few books or search the web to learn more about meditation techniques, since that is something I can do in bed or on the couch. I absolutely want to stay connected to yoga somehow. But I am looking for whatever ideas others might have that have gotten them through a time when yoga wasn’t an option. Are there any exercises in general I can do while I am unable to move and twist my back and arms?

I understand in order to heal I need to be patient and lay low and not over do it. But if there is anything that may help keep me active and not turn me into a complete slug, I would love to know. Any suggestions? It would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

It’s best to modify the asana practice (or avoid it) when you’ve got stitches or other significant calling to the immune system.

You can of course (with the permission of your health care provider) do some poses which do not effect the shoulder area where the stitching dwells.

Hello. I unfortunately have a bit of experience with this because I had 4 skin surgeries just last year…and I kept up a personal yoga practice (carefully) and I taught. I avoided stretching the tissue around the wound for [I]at least a month[/I]. Trust me, you don’t want to stress that area. You’ll be left with an uglier scar than necessary. By the way, look into laser scar removal after you’ve healed - maybe 2 months after the operation.

Anyway, one of my surgeries is in the exact same place you mentioned, but on the right side. I took it really easy with any exercise for the first week (don’t want to get your heart racing or the wound could rupture). Added some walking and gentle asana after than (avoiding any movement/stretching around the wound area). You’ll be fine, you’ll heal, and you’ll get right back to your practice after a few weeks. After a month, you can try downward facing dog again, etc, but definitely pay attention to the feedback the wound area may be sending you and move into the pose you’re not sure about very slowly. If I felt any pulsating/pain/stress in that area, I backed off immediately and did something more gentle.

I did a healing meditation that just came to me, and it seemed effective (made me feel better anyway). I repeated “I am whole, I am healing” to myself for a few minutes while sitting until the mantra dropped away. Imagine sending prana to the wound.

The first couple weeks would be a great time to visit some yoga books. I’m re-reading the Yoga Sutras, and I’m appreciating it so much more now then when I read it during teacher training. Keep up your pranayama (prana = healing energy) and meditation.

Sorry for the ramble. Good grief, I could write a book about asana and recovering from skin surgeries. Good luck. Hope the healing goes well!

Thank you both for your insight (and rambling, which I thoroughly enjoyed!) I might try and see if there are any very gentle asanas for the lower body, but lay low for the first week. Meditation sounds like a great idea (I can sit up with decent posture no problem in a few days, it’s laying down that bothers me) and the healing mantra sounds good as well. I haven’t read the Yoga Sutras, but I will now. Any other books you recommend? I have been practicing Vinyasa Flow for about 6 months now and have not read as much as I would have liked on yoga principles in general.

Yes…laying down, sleeping…ouch. I so understand.

There are so many great yoga books. I personally love to read Erich Schiffmann (Yoga: The Spirit and Prctice of Moving into Stillness), Donna Farhi (Yoga: Mind, Body & Spirit), Rolf Gates (Meditations from the Mat), and Michael Stone (The Inner Tradition of Yoga).

Happy healing!