The story starts in the tropics. I am on my motorbike, it is a beautiful sunny morning, white herons flying around the rice fields, not too hot. Palm trees are waving whilst I negotiate one bend after another crossing small villages..going to a Yoga practice here in Ubud, Bali. Suddenly it hit me “I forgot my painkillers.”
Then the whole scenery suddenly lost its appeal. This day could end up not so well with me laying down in a dark room counting hours not being able to do anything. “Am I crazy? What will I do after this class, is it worth it? But I have no time to turn back…”
Headaches and Migraines
I tend to have headaches (or should I say I USED TO HAVE?), sometimes even from the very time I wake up at 5-6 AM and this was one of those days. So this was not something strange. I did have my MRI scan done as the head pains were troubling me for a very long time, getting more intensive as decades pass.
The doctors were happy to announce that I do not have anything serious, I was happy too. However here the tone changed. There is nothing they could do to “fix” me either. There is no immediate or long lasting cure.
“Migraines are not very well studied yet” my neurologist said..
I have studied the Migraines through the books also tried various diets, no caffein (no black tea), no sugar, no gluten.. reducing stress as much as possible. I regularly spent time nature, did not smoke or drink.. But nothing helped. Sometimes after longer exercise of even a forest walk I came back with a sever pain and had to reach for the painkillers.
And even now, after the scan there was no solution. The best they could do is to put me on a Migraine treatment therapy. It do not resonate with MORE PAINKILLERS at all.. I try to keep my body as healthy as possible thus taking these kind of drugs did not fly with me.
I felt I could find my own cure and this is how it happened.
So here I am on a motorbike debating with myself and the pain is gradually increasing above my left ear (as usual).
Nevertheless, I have decided to risk. I felt there is something for me in that class, something I have to learn, to understand..
I have done it consciously as I am aware that when I have a headache and do exercise, it only gets worse – much worse. This meant I may go “offline” with a migraine for a couple of days even with painkillers. During that time anything that requires concentrated attention is out of my reach. So as you understand the stakes were quite high.
Despite my grim experience, I get to the class. I do my asanas to upmost effort, giving it all. Nothing to loose.
After the final one – Shavasana, where you lay down as a dead body and relax, to my surprise, instead of intensifying, the pain has nearly vanished. How did this happen?
To me it felt like I did take my painkillers just before the class, the effect was so sudden.
Then I got it.. the Morning Routine!
How a Morning Routine changed it tall for me
For the last weeks I have been doing a 40 min Morning Routine inspired by the practices with my Guruji here in Ubud, merging with what I knew from the past experience with Ashtanga and Hatha yoga and the books.. I knew the asanas, knew the sequences, however the application and intensity is what played the trick.
40 minutes are not too long to get one exhausted and not too short – just right. It helps to wake up, flex, move the energies around and keep the body and mind in shape. However, there is a twist – the duration of each segment of the practice.
The first Sun Solution is better to do it very slow, but then it is time to speed up and add more exercises depending on how I feel.
I notice that a subtle combination of three Sun Salutation rounds works best. Then I do large muscle such as hamstring stretching and progress to more complex asanas.
From movement to stretching, from stretching to pranayama and from there to meditation Shavasana. Everything well coordinated step by step for me was the key.
It helped me, but how this regime could affect others? I started online groups where we met early in the morning to do the Morning Routine. I was so glad to see that it has positively affected others too!
So far I have treated my Headaches, now I see my abdominal wall Hernia has improved (it was an unexpected gift) – another doctor’s intervention that I walked away from.
During the practice I put a lot of emphasis on balance. Balance is very important in our lives from physical to mental. Regularly practicing physical balance we bring our mind to balance too.
I have had issues with my knee and learned techniques to improve the balance and fix the pain in the knee joints and meniskus. At some point I couldn’t sleep, drive a car or walk. But that is another story. If you are curious, let me know.
Audrius
