others doing a beautiful asana, we can lose
our mind for a moment and rush into copying
the pose. The teacher can’t be responsible for
our own stupidity.
It certainly takes some courage to switch from
group lessons to personal practice. But doing
yoga at home, we tend to be more mindful and
risk-averse. Hence, our self-practice leads to
much fewer injuries on the way.
Moreover, it teaches us to feel our body and
fix it ourselves. As I’ve said, I had an injury in
my sacrum area. And after I managed to
restore myself, I stopped being scared of
injuries. I realized that everything is fixable.
I keep my practice simple, but things happen.
So, if one day I overstretch or pinch a nerve, I
don’t panic. I accept the responsibility to work
on the problem and resolve it over the next
few days.
Often, I start with the adjoining areas. I warm
them up; I stretch them in order to improve
blood circulation in those areas and then I go
to the place that actually gives the pain. I took
this principle from Swedish massage course I
attended. They would always rub the least