Spinal Twisted

In this post-penicillin Western culture of ours, there's a pill for everything. There are so many pills for so many things that saying there's a pill for everything is cliche. Health is more about curing illness that creating wellness. Which brings my to my spine.

Every morning I wake up and it feels tight. It is infuriating. In the shower, I feel out the stiffness. Reaching up to shampoo my hair, I think about how I must sleep funny or my spine must be out of whack or something is wrong with me. Every morning I take a forward fold to pull that familiar comfort back into my back wondering why it is that I need this to make me feel better.

And this morning with my neck a little sorer than usual after a on-flight nap involving using my shoulder as a pillow, I realized what it is that is wrong with me. I am looking at yoga like a pill. Thinking of the forward folds the way any good American would; a shot to the arm! A vaccine against a stiff back! What I am failing to see is that my morning down dogs are no remedy to my pain. Sure they make it go away - but it is more about the maintenance of balance that is kept up through every small yoga posture or pranayama breath.

So often in yoga we talk about balance that the word can sometimes fade away into the background noise in the class. But it's important to remember that balance isn't something that is achieved with a pose or a class. It is a living breathing thing that shifts and changes with you every day. Yoga isn't a "cure" for imbalance; it is a tool to continuously shift and move the balance toward a peaceful place. A sore back is nothing that can be cured; it just small adjustments everyday that will bring it back to that balance.