19 Feb How injuries can help you learn more about your practice

When you have a regular yoga practice (or any other physical pursuit) getting an injury can be incredible disheartening. You’re forced to change or stop your regular routine and it cannot only make you feel physically different but it can change your mood as well. But, like anything in life, we can use injuries (big and small) as a way to learn more about not only our bodies but also ourselves. Here are some of the ways we can start to learn more about what’s happening.

Our injuries teach us about how we’re using our body  

One of the more obvious things that happen when we get injured is that there is a greater focus on that part of the body all of a sudden. It becomes really clear how and when we use that particular muscle or joint. This can teach us if we’re using it in an incorrect way or perhaps not engaging certain muscle around it for support. Or simply highlight to us how much we use certain things. For example a wrist injury can remind us of how much we use our wrists in yoga and perhaps encourage us to warm them up before class and be mindful of overloading them during a practice – taking rest when they feel tender.

It can encourage a more well rounded approach to health

Sometimes injuries indicate that we are too focused on one particular type of movement or style of class. For example we might be doing too much yang (yinyasa) and not enough restorative (yin or yoga tune up) or it might even demonstrate that we are doing too much yoga and not enough strengthening. Depending on our body’s weaknesses and where it needs more support. This can remind us that to be healthy in body and mind, sometimes it means a more broad approach to health and wellbeing.

Our injuries also teach us about our habits

Often injuries come because we push through our limits. We have a tendency to ask more from ourselves all the time. And sometimes that comes with a cost. When we are injured we are forced to either slow down or change our usual ways of doing things.  It teaches us that rest is an important part of a healthy body and mind. And if we let it, it can help us figure out where else in our lives we are pushing and where we might be able to scale back.

It can teach us to listen more to our bodies

We’ve all done something in a yoga class that didn’t feel quite right but we did it anyway, right? Often those are signals from our body telling us that we shouldn’t be in that shape. For whatever reason. Maybe our bones are made up differently, or we have a weakness or tightness somewhere. But if that happens, listen to those little cues instead of pushing through. Our philosophy at Warrior One, listen to your body first and the teacher second. Injuries can remind us that listening in is more important than being in a perfect pose.