I had my annual check-up today. All my blood work was normal. And everything else was fine, too. So it was OK to take myself off the medications, and I am now completely med-free. Blood pressure is still a tiny bit on the high side, and that means I'll probably have to lose some more weight, which isn't that big a deal. But my total cholesterol was only 161, with an HDL of 51, which is pretty amazing. And my triglycerides were only 125, down from almost 400. I owe all of these changes to Bikram Yoga.
The doctor confirmed that my knee problem is just mild tendonitis. He gave me a referral, which I might use if it does not continue to improve, and he recommended rest, ice, and aspirin or another anti-inflammatory painkiller.
Class was fine. The biggest problem was that I had a chicken quesadilla for lunch. I knew it was going to be a problem even in half moon pose, but tried to put it out of my mind. That worked until Locust. In the first set of Locust I tried to tough my way through the first set, which may not have been such a great idea. The end result: a piece of chicken that I clearly should have chewed more came up through my left nostril. That was a first for me, and not pleasant at all. It burned. I had to pull it out with my fingers - yuk, and then deposit it at the corner of my towel. At that point I had a choice, and I decided that it really couldn't get much worse. So I did a strong second set, and luckily had no repeats.
In the future, if I feel the need to spit up, I'll either just let it happen or ease up on the effort enough to stop it.
Besides that little episode, class was really good. Cisco was taking class today. In Eagle, I noticed that he didn't have his foot wrapped around his calf. This really drove home the idea that everyone's bodies are different and that that is just fine. Sometimes I get a little frustrated because I'm not making the really quick progress I made at the start, and I don't have breakthroughs every week. Getting my foot around in Eagle is one of those things where I sometimes think I should be progressing faster than I am. But seeing Cisco still trying to wrap his foot allowed me to forgive myself and to temper my expectations.
On the poses themselves: balancing series was below average, mostly on the left side, because I'm trying to get a bit more weight onto the inside of the foot and activate the big toe. Triangle was strong again, as was Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee. I'm starting to straighten out my left leg in that pose again. Wind Relieving was good: I can almost imagine my knee touching my shoulder at some point. I checked today, and its only about 2.5-3 inches away. And Full Locust was amazing today. My chest really comes up now, and my back arches very nicely. I need to start thinking about how to get the feet up some more as well. This is the pose I've seen the most progress on in the last few weeks.
After class my knee felt much better, and it continues to feel better, throughout the rest of the day and especially now after a good night's sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment