Rough as guts

This post is about three weeks late now but I thought I'd share it anyway. When you've been practicing Bikram for a while & regularly, you forget how hard the practice once was for yourself & still is for others. Part of teacher training is to bring back those memories of feeling awful, being too hot, stressed and nauseous. Oh I did remember, very often, thank you Boss my compassion is now ingrained to my soul. 

I had another reminder of the rough side to Bikram the week after my wisdom tooth surgery. Sensibly I took nine full days off practice & teaching as I didn't want to be near the hot room with a body full of prescription drugs. I returned to my mat for the 4pm Friday class. Good yoga buddy J had joined me, we'd not practiced side by side for over six months so it was very exciting. 

First 25 minutes was great, no drama, mouth felt fine. Then I killed myself in SH2K & it was game over. Ego and fresh hamstrings were the main factors. Once my heart rate got up and my blood pumping I felt my head was going to explode...through the holes in my gums!! I sat out out of the first set of Standing Bow, I was on the floor again after Triangle. Having my mouth on the towel in Locust caused problems and by Spinal Twist I was so nauseous I laid out of that one. Funny as I was on the right side of the room everyone was turn & twisting to see me lying there, eyes screwed shut (major no no as you all know) trying not to loose my lunch. I even contemplated bolting before blowing in firm as I truly believed I was gonna spew. Rough as guts I was.

J even helped me roll up my mat and haul me from from the room the moment the instructor left. I sat in a crumpled sweaty mess in reception. A few of my regular students who knew I'd had surgery came over to offer some support. General consensus was we all agreed pain killers & antibiotics are useful & beneficial at times but they hammer your poor body. Mine just wanted to expel every last milligram out of me in that class.

It was a great reality check & opportunity for me to put my own words into practice. I'm always telling students if they feel sick to just lie still, focus on their breath & try to relax. I feel I was humble enough to know when I needed to sit down & not totally kill myself. Despite closing my eyes when I laid out toward the end, lying still did work. Water was another factor to my sickness, I was swilling it round my mouth as I thought it would help the throbbing in my gums, which is didn't. It just made me feel sicker. Stillness & breathing definitely does work, you just have to give to a chance to work.

Two more days later & I was back in the room & class went so much better. With a few more days for the drugs to get out of my system my body wasn't working so hard to detox. Three weeks later everything is healing nicely, no more horrific mouth throbbing, head exploding feelings!!

Back on the mat

Over Christmas both studio's were running a reduced schedule of classes. Unfortunately for me this meant the classes I usually practice or teach were cancelled. When I first started teaching I was managing to fit in my own personal practice, three or four a week. A reduction for sure compared to what I was doing before training. This is manageable with everything else going on in life. 

From past experience I don't want to burn out. I could pull a 18 hour day, teach the 5:45am, work all day, then practice the 7pm. Leaving me exhausted and not having enough energy to any of these things to my best ability. 

Throughout the festive period it was super hard to squeeze in two practice's a week. This was too little. I really felt it. Sometimes you don't realise how much you need something till it's gone. For me not getting to yoga left me cranky, snappy, tired and uneasy. Sure I was there teaching & getting great pleasure from assisting others through their practice but it's not the same as working yourself out. 

When I finally got back on my mat after a massive five days off (it's been well over year since this happened) it felt awesome. My balance was off, I fell out of Awkward twice, but somehow nearly got my head on my knee. Maybe a rest was what I actually needed to freshen things up? It reminded me just how much I need this yoga in my life and how grateful I am to bring it into other people's lives. I felt energised, happy, more at peace with myself and clean. I need to do yoga!!

Obviously this week I can't practice because of the post surgery medications. Pain killers and all that sweating put an extra strain on your liver (so a nurse/teacher friend told me). Also they mask any pain you might have in a posture which may result in you pushing further, not feeling the 'stop' pain, carrying on & hurting yourself. Antibiotics mess things up too, the side effects I've been feeling is extreme exhaustion that comes on without warning. I'm not that happy about filling myself with such poisons but I don't want an infection so am following doctors orders. I'll finish the course as directed then get back on my mat to cleanse from within. 

I'm itching to get back to yoga but my health comes first. As Bikram would say "Take it easy honey." Oh okay then, just for this week!

Recovery

All went well on Friday with my wisdom teeth extraction. Naturally I was nervous which was covered up by me being OTT cheerful & smiley. I joked with the hospital staff I was smiling a lot before the surgery as I won't be after. 

The worst bit, which was my own fault for dwelling on it, was the anesthetic needle. I've never had a anesthetic, let alone had a needle in my hand. It wasn't that painful, just uncomfortable. I was out like a light & back awake like 30 seconds had passed. I was fully prepared for what to expect on waking. Mouth full of wadding, oxygen mask, ice packs and no feeling in my mouth. My bottom lip felt like it was massive & I couldn't feel my chin. This lasted for about 12 hours!! Drinking was quite the challenge, I felt the water would just slosh straight back out.

Due to an impaction my lower teeth had to be cut out and stitched. My face pretty much swelled up straight away and bruised. No pain though as I was still numb. I was discharged three hours later, feeling fine, no side affects apart from the hamster cheeks. My friend drove me home via the chemist and Woolworths to stock up on meds & ice cream. Chewing wasn't going to happen for a while.

Now here I am, signed off work for the week. I forced myself to rest all day Saturday missing the Yoga staff Christmas party. I couldn't eat or hardly speak so there wasn't much point in going. I dragged myself to a staff meeting at Scarborough on Sunday. I felt fine, not in pain but was so drained after the drive & meeting I got home & fell into bed for the rest of the afternoon. Combination of lack of food & medication making me drowsy. Rest, rest, rest & relaxation. This does not happen to me, ever, so I must embrace it & enjoy!

Here's a photo of my swelled up bruise, 48 hours after surgery....

 

Good bye teeth

Hello readers! I thought I'd better drop by say hi, see how you're all doing. Well I hope. I have a long, long list of future blog posts to get started on but yet again I have run myself too thin. Time has slipped away & so has the past two weeks. I'm happy to report I am in good spirits and health, slightly tired as usual & in desperate need to get back on my yoga mat more often.

This will not be happening for at least the next five days. Tomorrow is the day my wisdom teeth will finally be extracted. Fifteen years of pain & torture gone. To be replaced with who knows how many days of pain & swelling. I'm informed I'll have some good meds to keep the best of it away. Hence no yoga practice. Painkillers and antibiotics do not go well with the hot room. No teaching either till next Thursday (I'm teaching tonight though!) as I'm doubting my mouth will actually be working properly due to swelling. I've read the horror stories, talked to friends who've had this done too. No expectations. I'll just wake up after surgery wadding in place & what will be will be. Take it from there....

On a brighter note, I have all next week off work to recover so hopefully I'll catch up on all these posts I've been waiting to write!! Head might be swollen but hands will be ready for some typing.