You don't move slowly enough to get fast results

A recovery journey should give quick results, that would be the nicest thing. But does the approach taken support a quick result?

Things go well until they don't.

This was 1 of the things my teacher shared during our last training week in mid-November ’21. This one stuck with me very much. It is so true! The faster you go the louder your body will have to scream before you can hear it. The slower you move the easier it becomes to catch the subtler signals. The body, when you are willing and able to hear it, is very clear in what is ok and what is not. That doesn’t mean it’s easy!

What kind of time do you spend with yourself? And what is the quality of attention in what you’re doing?

There are so many distractions in our daily lives, work, sports, social media, films, series and TV, family and pets, you name it. Everything demands attention. And saying ‘no’ is often not as easy as it should be.

Besides, when you are in the gym or outside it, are really paying attention to your body? Or do you have your headphones on, are you looking at a screen, or are you lost in thought?

Of course, none of this has to be a problem. Moving without attention is usually better than not moving at all. And when you are running or cycling outside, it is also useful to keep a bit of an eye on your surroundings ‘distracting’ you from your body.

But with all these quick movements and distractions, sometimes you also miss signals that what you are doing is not such a good idea at the moment. The idea of ‘Just get through the pain’ or just a pill for the pain so you can go on anyway. This can all go well, until it doesn’t.

The mind is fast, the body slow.

And so when things then go wrong, they need to be repaired. This can be done with rest, with light exercise, medication and with or without supervision.

Recovery work can sometimes take a long time, making it tempting to do more anyway. This then makes it easy to fall back again and feel that recovery might not even really be working. Recovery is not a linear line with fast results that only gets better. There are always fall-backs. But long term the line is upward, provided you do the right practices.

Get fast results.

In my own practice, I still very often notice that my head thinks I should be able to do more than the mobility of my body actually gives me. Confronting sometimes, but now that I can slowly see and listen to it more and more, a lot is shifting. My posture is improving and I move more easily.

Thereby, if you can make a small, simple movement that is smooth and flowing, the bigger more loaded or more complex version will be better too. In yoga therapy, we break movement down into smaller parts. Once these are more optimal, more load and complexity can be added, because you are now much more aware of the movement patterns you are creating.

And ultimately, many movements are an accumulation of several basic movements. Once your basic movements are less compensated, because you are more aware of your movement, your pain will decrease and you will be able to move more optimally. It’s actually all very simple and it can happen fast, but it’s not always easy.

Would you like some help with your journey or like to know if I can help you with the tools of yoga therapy and Ayurveda please send me a message!