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4/7/2016 0 Comments

Yoga: A Love/Hate Relationship

by Pallas Hutchison

My father once joked that I move in two speeds: fast and stop. While funny, it is also very true. Cognitively, conceptually, I can get on board with yoga because of the many benefits it offers. The lifestyle of yoga, because yoga truly is a lifestyle, creates the amazing opportunity to transform one's life. The reality of it... Let's just say it doesn't fall in my comfort zone.

What I like about yoga:
  1. Improved balance, flexibility, stability, strength and muscle tone in a short amount of time. Yoga exercises every muscle using body weight as a strengthening tool. Gym class exercises, like sit-ups, only get a few muscles with each exercise; yoga gets more muscles working with less movements. There are even poses that massage the internal organs. While I may not enjoy the doing of yoga, I'm liking the results. After each class, my muscles feel like I did something. After 8 yoga classes, my flabby triceps aren't flapping about and the muffin top is smoothing itself out.
  2. Modifications allow EVERY body in ANY condition to do yoga. I've got a list of injuries - I discuss the positive side of being a klutz in a different post - that I need to think about and modify the poses for. I've used massage, physical therapy, acupuncture and chiropractics to help manage my pain; I've relied on painkillers to sleep. While all of these are effective at managing pain, the progress gets lost if not maintained. Yoga relieves the cause of my pain by stabilizing and strengthening weak joints. I have the option of fitting a few poses into my day between clients or taking a full class at my favorite yoga studio (Power Yoga of Cape Cod).
  3. The benefits and principles of yoga and ayurveda apply to all aspects of life. For example, some principles focus on how we use our energy, especially in relationships with others and with ourselves. Other parts of life that yoga improves: quality of sleep, energy level, blood pressure, breathing, circulation, metabolism, immunity, sex, memory, blood sugar... The list goes on and I honestly don't know enough about yoga to expand on it yet.

What I don't like about yoga:
  1. Yoga moves at a slow pace. I've taken mostly gentle yoga classes because I'm a beginner. While some of the poses are more challenging than others, I still get bored. Although I will note that yoga is deceptive. While I move through the poses, I don't always feel like I am doing anything; after class, my muscles are well aware of the recent activity.
  2. Stillness. I know the benefits of meditation but the more still my body is, the more active my mind is. Active meditation, like a brisk walk through the woods, will allow my mind to quiet. I get stillness and quiet at work and my mind whirls back and forth from tasks required for managing the business to my current client's condition.

I definitely prefer martial arts to yoga because of the interaction during classes and the faster pace. I force myself to do yoga because I need the strength so I can go back to martial arts, because I recommend it to my clients, and because I know I need to practice self-care. By forcing myself outside of my comfort zone, I will grow as a person.

What is your yoga experience like? Do you have a love/hate relationship with another activity? Share your story below!
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5/21/2015 0 Comments

Getting Moving

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by Pallas Hutchison

Not everyone is a born athlete. Although I’ve attempted sports, I’ve never been good at them. Ballet was a disaster. My sister, as previously mentioned, got all of the grace in our family.  As a child, I was all knees and awkward angles. In 6th grade, my stint on the track team ended with a sprained ankle at the first meet. In 7th grade, one season as bench-player on the field hockey team convinced me to put away the stick. Over the summer, I discovered that tennis didn’t suck as much as the other sports but I wasn’t good enough to make the team. By sophomore year, I had accepted my non-athleticism, choosing to smoke pot with friends as we walked around the track or played poker on the bleachers instead of participating in whatever torture the gym teachers devised. Needless to say, I failed gym class in high school. (Ironically, I rode my bicycle to summer school to make up the lost credits. According to MapQuest, I rode 5.45 miles each way. I was in great shape that summer.)

For my senior year, I signed up to take a pre-natal yoga class in lieu of gym class. Not only was I being proactive about my health and my baby, I would get credit towards my diploma over a GED. I loved yoga. The gentle movements were modified to accommodate my ever-more-bulbous body. The other expectant mothers ranged from late 20s to early 40s, and the comfortable companionship they enjoyed with each other did not extend to include me. Pregnancy was a beautiful and natural thing. Teen pregnancy felt like leprosy. I only attended three classes. (In hindsight, I was probably hypersensitive.)

Back to the lifestyle overhaul…

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Kids need outdoor play time. My dog, who has since passed, needed walks. Weather permitting, we would walk to the park and the kids would play. When my mother watched the girls, I would walk with the dog around Bell’s Neck and enjoy fleeting moments of serenity. My bicycle rusted quietly in the garage.

I bought a beginner’s yoga DVD and have watched it enough to create my own stretching routine. Am I doing the moves correctly? Maybe… I bought a gym membership, one of those holiday deals at Planet Fitness where you get the year for $99. My orientation consisted of a distracted desk clerk pointing me to the machines. “Press the start button. You’ll get the hang of it.” And off I went to a room full of people who knew exactly what they were doing. I went faithfully for two months and never braved anything beyond the “press start” phase. I’ve discovered that I lack the knowledge & self-discipline to exercise effectively on my own.

I signed up for swing dancing lessons and enjoyed it immensely. Cost-effective, fun exercise that opens up a whole new social circle. Unfortunately, it is a partner dance. I’ve bartered massages for private lessons and now I’m a fairly decent dancer. (Swing, as a faster-paced dance, requires more enthusiasm than grace.) I pop in on classes every now and then but without a regular partner, it’s not consistent.

In 2010, the girls joined a kids martial arts class. Rules #1 at the dojo: parents are not allowed to coach. I didn’t know the first thing about martial arts or self-defense anyway. Six months later, I signed up for the adult’s class. Movements that initially felt unnatural became muscle memory. Tight muscles that limited range-of-motion stretched to allow movements I didn’t know I could do. For the first time in my life, I can do push ups – just the girly-knee ones, but they still count.

Now, in 2013, the girls have made it to the rank of red belt and transitioned into the adult class with me. My belt rank is green with a black stripe, two full ranks behind the girls. I’ve participated in -and completed- a Spartan Sprint. Apparently I am an athlete of sorts; I’m just not a team player.

Next step, rest & stress management.

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