Practice Point #57 - Attitude to Injuries

I received a question from Pragya from the India. Their question is...

I have been dealing with a pesky shoulder issue...it feels like it's taking forever. All through the recovery period I was anxious about all the asanas that I wasn't able to practice and lamenting all those that I'd started to improve on, and had to stop practicing due to said injury. It's affected my practice and teaching! My question is how do we not lose our marbles when an injury seemingly sets us back and is an obstacle to practice.

I love this question because I have had this experience myself and through that experience realized how limiting the mind is and how we can shift our thinking to shift our healing.

When I had my first injuries I thought what a hassle, how annoying, now I will not be able to progress my yoga.

I will give it to you straight.

Change your attitude now. Stop seeing the injury as a setback or obstacle.

See every injury, ailment, condition as a learning opportunity.

If our minds are with negative thoughts like I can’t do this and I can’t do that then we are closing ourselves off from seeing what we can do and what we can learn from the situation.

It is literally just a switch in the brain you have to flick.

What is your body telling you?

When the shoulder has pain this is a direct and clear message that the body is trying to tell you, but you can’t hear it, because you are disappointed that you can’t do Chatarunga or whatever pose.

What can you do?

So much!

So many postures you can do that will make you feel good, that will heal your body and get the connection between the body and the mind.

The body-mind connection is not there if we can’t listen to what the body is trying to tell us.

Why do we do yoga?

To connect the body with the mind and soul.

Start being curious about what you can do to respond to the message from your body about your shoulder.

Be patient because many beautiful things will be revealed if your eyes are open to see them and you will see your yoga progress so much deeper with this knowledge.

Good luck.

If you would like to submit a question about home practice and receive the answer in these weekly Practice Points, you can below. Question-related to specific injuries will not be answered.