Practice makes Perfect!

Learning the true value of Yoga for those with IBS

I have practiced yoga for many years now.  Actually, if I am honest, ‘practice’ is probably not the best word to describe my previous relationship with yoga, as looking back now, I see that I never quite ‘got’ the whole holistic, ‘oneness’ of mind and body that yoga inspires.  

I went to classes four times a week, basically, as a means of staying fit.  I would join in with alternate nostril breathing, or Nadi Shodhan pranayama to give it, its proper name, or meditation, whenever the instructor took a break from movement.  Sitting cross-legged on the floor, I obediently took part, thinking that it wasn’t really making me feel any different from I did five minutes ago, and could we just get on with the stretches please!  

I often found myself running through either what I had to do in the house after I left yoga or concentrating more on the cramp I had in my leg, while trying to imitate the instructor’s perfect Padmasana or lotus position ...

Cue my bitmoji below - me, as I picture myself in my head... but just not quite the same in real life!

However, I have found since experiencing IBS, how ineffective my perception of yoga was, to myself in terms of the many benefits that I sadly missed out on, in an attempt to merely keep in shape. 

Yoga offers me a way to try and calm my mind, lowering my IBS related anxiety, through breathing, and meditation.  Gentle stretching routines offer too, some relief from the symptoms of IBS, such as pain and bloating often experienced.

I often use this short and gentle sequence of yoga poses in the video below when I feel some discomfort.  

For those of you interested in trying yoga but not quite ready to go to an organised class (in our new COVID-world, classes are often off or restricted in size anyway), check out my favourite Yoga channel on YouTube, Yoga with Adriane, where together with her dog Benji, she offers free yoga videos to which you can subscribe, with routines that cover all yoga levels!

Here’s a short 5 minute ‘Welcome’ to Breath orientation video – no moves, no pressure, just a gentle introduction with Adrienne and Benji.

I can’t believe how much of yoga’s true benefits, I had missed out on in my previous ‘practice,’ and though I do not profess to be a black belt yoga ‘ninja’ yet, far from it, I am perhaps, using my martial art metaphor, a white belt student, motivated to learn and ‘live’ the true nature of yoga practice, keeping me in shape AND offering me, a little inner calmness too.