Sintra - Teachers Immersion, Week 4
Day 28 - July 13, 2024
Mysore
This was our very last day of our Teachers Immersion. I am so grateful to be able to come to Sintra, learn from the eloquent and intelligent Ty Landrum and create memories and friendships from this training.
I continued to modify my practice as I did yesterday. I was able to sink into a child’s pose, very slowly and not for long. I am able to touch my toes in a standing forward fold, but also not for long. Wide legged forward folds without the support of my hands are challenging.
I had tons of emotions or questions for myself coming up in practice.
Was this how I wanted to end the last week of the Teachers Immersion?
Absolutely not. I wanted to be able to document a seamless transition practicing tick tocks and all of the fun, fancy postures that I got to try out this month. Instead I will be documenting how far my forward folds have reversed and my 1 legged child’s pose.
Am I going to be able to teach when I return home?
I sure hope so. I have SO much to share. There will be limitations to my body and how much I am able to demonstrate but I hope I am able to verbalize what I have learned and offer cues/adjustments as appropriately as I can.
Am I going to be teaching as much as I did prior to this trip?
I picked up more classes to teach since I have not been teaching or making income for the last 6 weeks. There may be a shift to picking up or teaching softer classes for the next 4-6 weeks as I allow my hip to heal.
Will I take rest for the remainder of my travels?
I want to say yes but I am not the smartest when it comes to taking rest. I think I should take at least a 2 week break from practice. As I think about it now, the injury might have occurred in the connection between the head of the femur bone and the hip socket - whether it is tendon, ligament or bone related is to be determined. I am taking naproxen 500mg twice daily to speed up the healing and hopefully reduce the inflammation as best as possible.
Day 27 - July 12, 2024
Mysore
Today was the day I came to terms about my injury. Still baffled at my stubborn drive to continue to push myself, I managed to practice primary and second (no seated vinyasa flows) just so I could get some inversions in.
Forward folding, twists, any postures that required hip flexion was not possible. Even a child’s pose is difficult - so to modify, I find ease in a one legged child’s pose with my left leg extended.
Handstand? Nakrasana? Pincha? Wheel? Those were all great, as long as my left leg did not have to be anywhere close to the front of my body.
Alignment/Adjustment
We had 2 hours of a general Q&A about teaching, running Mysore and difficult experiences and how to deal. One of my major struggles teaching in a studio setting is creating a class for all levels. It can be done but it’s just never great for each individual. Ty also hates teaching all levels because he agrees - you can never make everyone happy. This led onto his point of why Mysore is such an effective style of yoga.
Obviously coming from an Ashtanga background, he also strongly recommends a curriculum. Most of my classes are Ashtanga Inspired or Ashtanga based and my usual pattern follows the same energetic movement that he teaches. We start on our feet, move onto our hips, generate some core activation, target our heart openers, throat chakra, inversions or headstand and then we end symmetrically on our backs. There is an energetic rise and fall.
I have tried to teach a little more freestyle but I also know, in my own personal practice, this freestyle kinda class doesn’t typically align with me. If my practice is ever-changing, it makes it more difficult to observe patterns of my body. On the other side, as a teacher, if I am constantly teaching new or different styles - it is hard to assist and provide constructive feedback as I will not be able to capture any of those patterns of my students.
Day 25 - July 10, 2024
Mysore
Primary series, super modified edition.
I cried during practice.
I was happy that I was feeling better symptomatically but my lower back/hip was completely out of sorts. My hip was stiff/sore/aching and felt like it was on fire. I took one naproxen with a PPI in the morning and omitted my acetaminophen/antihistamine tab as I didn’t want to control the pain TOO well and allow myself to falsely believe that I was healed. I even wore pants that were undesirable to practice in and chose the worst hair tie to use to ensure I couldn’t get away with intensifying my practice if I started to feel slightly better.
Forward folds, standing and seating were challenging. Walking my feet towards my hands during vinyasa flows/sun salutations was limiting with deep flexion in the hips. Having my hips in extension (upward facing dog, purvottanasana, and wheel) were accessible. Anna the assistant, Ty and Shay were all so sweet and came up to me to chat. When Shay chatted with me, she sat down on my mat genuinely concerned and I just bawled into tears. Apart of me felt sorry for myself, that I stubbornly did this to myself and on the last and final week of this immersion, I can no longer practice the way that I had hoped to practice. I started Week 1 super strong and while each week presented it’s challenges, this last week I felt the weakest.
And as much as I was sad that I could no longer practice as I did in Week 1, 2 and 3, I was also able to turn it around and see what it was like to take modified versions of primary series. I was able to feel what it’s like practicing with an injury and the limitations that accompany it. As much as I offer modifications, I don’t always know what they truly feel like. In several respects, it was learning experience. I gave myself no other choice but listen to my body today.
Day 24 - July 9, 2024
Mysore
Last night, I was developed a fever and body aches and pains. I decided to continue to practice and thought it would go away. The body aches travelled through my joints and muscles and affected my lower back tremendously. I practiced primary and modified majority of the seated postures. Completed jump throughs and jump backs. By the time I got to bujapidasana, I thought I would end my practice but I did some passive stretching and felt able-bodied and proceeded to finish the remainder of primary series. I hit supta kurmasana, and felt good going into it and just as my feet were about to cross behind my head, I felt something squish/pop within my lower back/hip. I immediately released and laid straight onto my back. It was then, when I realized I did too much. I continued to ignore the alarming signs from my body and pushed myself way too much. How could I possibly do supta kurmasana if I modified marichyasana d? Where was the logic in that?
I laid.
For 10 minutes. Unsure of what to do. Did I fuck up my organs? Was it my kidneys? It felt deep within as opposed to the external musculature of my body. Either way… it was a scary feeling and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I can’t quite describe it but it felt as if two water balloons collided and squished one out of alignment and bursted within my body.
I ended up going back to the hotel. This was the day Jay was arriving at 10am. The hotel recommended I go to a private hospital to get an assessment and called a taxi for me. Typically I would call an Uber and walk up to an accessible area but during this time, I was so distressed and worried I couldn’t think about.
The taxi driver arrived. There is a very steep hill leading out of the gated entrance of the hotel. The taxi driver didn’t speak English or Portuguese but Ukrainian. He couldn’t get his manual car up the hill and we slowly reversed backwards into this gate that was now closed. Limping, as I got out of the taxi to punch in the code to open up the gate, the taxi driver hollered at me to get back into the car. He reversed all the way back into the front of the hotel and was finally able to gain momentum to drive up this steep hill.
En route to the hospital, taxi driver drove maniacally… and he turned on electronic music. I am distressed, tried to not think of the worst case scenario but also hoped this was the right decision to go to the hospital. Also realized that I am a crying hot mess, welcoming Jay to Sintra on his first day. Taxi driver dropped me off at the urgent care, provided a business card and told me to call him when I was done. I was hesitant but also, he knew exactly where to go if I needed him to pick me up whereas Uber drivers typically know where to go and need you to arrive at a convenient pick up location - I was not in any position to be walking.
I arrived to the hospital - CUF Sintra (a private hospital). Reception asked “how can I help you?” Tried to explain what happened and that I need care. His response “Oh, the nurses are on strike so we cannot help you”. He referred me to two other hospitals, a private hospital as well as a public hospital. I asked if he could help call those other hospitals to see what their current wait time was like or the process and he said he could not do it and it was not part of his job.
I’m sobbing at this point as I learned that I am not going to get any care here or help for that matter and realized I have to call the Ukrainian electronic music taxi driver back. I called the number on the card. Only to find out it was a different taxi driver that arrived. I asked him to bring me back to Casa Holstein and he had zero clue. I was losing it. Uber it was. Uber driver did not enter the hospital grounds as it required a ticket, and of course I had to walk and meet him at a convenient location.
The most caring, concerned, non English speaking Uber driver. Kept wanting to understand what was wrong, if it was me in the hospital or somebody else that was sick, trying to understand where the pain was. And this was all using the apple Translate app on my phone while he was driving stick on the windy roads of Sintra.
Once I got to Hotel, it was now about 9:30AM. I left practice at 8:41AM. All of this happened within an hour and Jay was about to arrive in no time. I managed to have breakfast and calm down. Jay arrived and everything felt so much calmer and safer knowing that he was here. We took some time to relax, he showered, napped and we made our way to CUF Cascais (a private hospital in Cascais). I had called ahead of time, to a.) ensure there was no Nurses’ strike and b.) to book an appt there, 3:20PM.
Turns out the appt time doesn’t mean anything. Healthcare staff is never really great or maybe not great for people who don’t speak Portuguese. After an hour of waiting, managed to have a pleasant experience with my Dr. He ordered a urine culture to r/o a kidney infection, COVID test and BW for CRP. Everything was done in hospital which was great and no need to run around. Out of the hospital by 5:45pm.
166 euros later. COVID positive.
Looking back, I was in denial that it was COVID as the symptoms that my classmates had all seemed mild and I let myself believe that it must have been something else other than COVID. My muscles and joints were all so inflamed that practice was difficult. Despite the signs that I should have taken rest, I didn’t. Not only did I not take rest on the days I was very obviously sick, I didn’t take rest on our Saturday, our “rest day”. I spent the Friday hiking under the sun, completely dehydrated for 14 km. Spent the Saturday roaming the streets of Lisbon. Sunday, after feeling completely exhausted and requiring a 1 hr nap, I still went out to Ericeira to soak up some sun and have drinks at a fancy hotel. I didn’t allow myself to have any rest. I’ve learned a huge lesson this trip.
Prescription: naproxen 500mg bid x 3 days & a steroid nasal spray
Picked up from a random pharmacy with zero wait time. No information (demographic or health wise) was necessary for them - what if I was allergic to NSAIDS? I was allowed to keep my prescription, my meds weren’t labelled and I was given more naproxen than what the prescription stated. I recently was diagnosed with Acid Reflux that I’ve managed with a PPI and was able to wean myself off of. But what if I had a current GI issue?! And didn’t actually remember that the instructions were BID (twice daily) and erroneously took it three times daily?! And filled the prescription again at a different pharmacy?
Kinda funny how different things are here but hey, who am I to judge….
I got what I needed and it started to help.
Jay and I went to an amazing restaurant on the Marina and walked along the water and called it a night.
Moral of this week’s story: take rest and LISTEN TO YOUR FUCKING BODY.
Day 23 - July 8, 2024
Mysore
Continued to practice intermediate and 3rd as my body felt even worse than the week prior… Stiff back, kapotasana was not happening. Ty saw me attempt to practice it twice, and then told me to just carry on. One tick tock and that was it.
Alignment/Adjustment class
Mula Bandha - more to be added
Day 22 - July 7, 2024
Mysore
Practiced intermediate and a little bit of 3rd. Tick tocks were rough. I attempted 3 and failed so I decided to wait for Ty but he was busy…and after a long break of waiting, I decided to try again and was able to complete 3 successful tick tocks. My body was feeling pretty rough and I was feeling symptoms of a head cold (sore throat mainly). It seemed that a few of us was coming down with something, nothing serious.
Alignment/Adjustment class
Mula Bandha turned into a philosophy class
