True evidence that yoga prevents injuries
I came to yoga to recover from some serious injuries I obtained while playing baseball and hockey. I went to my first yoga class, under the advice of my friend and chiropractor. He stated that a balanced yoga practice would undo many imbalances in the body and possibly even prevent some injuries. After just a few months of practice, I was pretty convinced he was right. Well, many years later, and contrary to some evidence by science, I have proof, nearly beyond a doubt, that yoga does prevent injuries. The following non-scientific study has forever changed my mind regarding the value of having a more open and supple body.
However, I will let you decide. Here is what happened to one friend of mine, who will remain anonymous.
Late at night, a guy leaves a yoga class, and heads home to take a shower. His plans are simple, eat some fruit, and spend some time relaxing in the afterglow of a great class. So he steps out of the shower, puts on shorts and a t-shirt, and as he looks down he thinks, “oh, my knees and elbows are a bit on the dry side.” Always being in shorts and teaching in front of people, he decides the dry patch look won’t do—he’ll put some moisturizer on his knees and elbows, he thinks. Fortunately, he’s just picked up 3 free samples of moisturizer from the local health food store, so he opens one of the little containers, rubs some in his hands, and then on to his knees, and elbows.
“Wow, that stuff makes your hands slippery,” he thinks to himself as he tries to fill a glass with water in the kitchen. But his hands are so slippery he can barely hold the glass, so he puts it on the counter and fills it with water. But now, with the added weight of the water, it is almost impossible to hold, and as he opens the fridge to pick out his fruit, the glass squirts from his hand spilling water into the fridge and on the floor. Struggling to keep his mellow yoga vibe, he says a few choice words, and gets a towel to wipe up the water. He leaves the fridge open, the water dripping from the bin to the tile floor. Realizing he will have to get on his hands and knees to wipe up the mess, he crouches down, and begins to wipe up the water.
Got the picture? A man (who looks a lot like me), squatting on a tile floor in front of an open fridge, hands and knees covered in moisturizer, with water everywhere. He’s beginning to get irritated, but still filled with the peaceful energy, and openness of yoga. So, the water is everywhere and he decides to shift from the squatting position, to a more comfortable all fours position to continue the job. Simple enough idea. Well, as soon as his knees hit the wet tile floor, they both accelerate out to the sides, putting him into instant splits, or frog pose, as you may know it. He immediately feels his inner thighs are about to rip, so of course, he plants both palms down to stop his inner groin from ripping. And the instant his slippery hands hit the tile, they too accelerate out to the sides, and he begins to face plant like a puppy on ice. He is now tumbling forward, head first into the f#$#ing fridge, or more specifically, face planting into the vegetable bin. This shows how well balanced he is, and also highlights his amazing core strength, and flexibility, don’t you think?
Now the downstairs neighbor hears this commotion, and comes up the stairs and knocks on the door. So our guy gets up from his watery grave, cursing, wet, vegetables and fruits scattered on the floor all around him, and not a shred of dignity left. Walks to the door, reaches, grabs knob, and turns. Nothing. Not a damn thing. Hand will not hold onto the knob in any way. Wipes hand on shorts, grabs knob, nada. Holy shit, he can’t open the door. His neighbor below, sounding rather alarmed, says, “Hey dude, you OK?” Yelling though the door, he says, “Yea, wait a second,” turns to run—I kid you not, run—to the kitchen to grab a towel to turn the door knob. As his feet hit the kitchen floor, he slides back into the fridge, knocking more contents from the shelves to the floor. It sounds like he is wrestling with his fridge and the fridge is winning.
Gingerly stepping off the tile and back to the door, towel in hand, he somehow manages to open the door. Now the guy below him moved in about a week before, so this is the first time they get to meet. You have heard about first impressions. You get the picture. The guy below has a puzzled, amused, look on his face. He says, “You OK?” (I’m pretty sure he wanted to say, nice to meet you loser, what the hell is going on up here?). Sheepishly, yogi man says, “Yea, I just slipped, and fell…a couple of times. Sorry to alarm you”. Neighbor turns, heads downstairs, shaking head and chuckling under his breath.
So now our yogi heads back to the bathroom to get re-cleaned up. In the bathroom he notices the moisturizing samples. For the first time, he wonders, “What the hell are these free samples that almost killed me?” The writing is small on the samples, but in the fine print of the half-used package he reads PERSONAL LUBRICANT, FREE SAMPLE ONLY.
So as you can see, without the amazing benefits of a yoga practice, this individual may have seriously torn a muscle on his inner groin, or shoulder while he was doing his amazing impression of Bambi’s first steps on ice. Instead, he only seriously injured his pride.
Yoga does benefit athletes in many ways. It may or may not prevent injuries, the jury is still out; however, it does help to speed up recovery from some injuries. It also helps increase core strength, improve balance and body control, and promote muscular symmetry. It lengthens out the muscles and helps them to relax, raising energy levels and oxygen intake. Mentally it may help sharpen focus and concentration and increase spatial awareness. By bringing awareness to the breath, it may also calm the mind, reducing athletic performance anxiety. Finally, it commonly improves a person’s sleep quality, which directly affects athletic recovery.
And if you doubt the effectiveness of a yoga practice, just cover your hands, feet, elbows, and knees with personal lubricant, find a tile floor, put some water on it, and have at it.
peace&stillness, charlie
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
Yoga Rap with Charlie Samos 