Why The “You Should Do Yoga For That” Crowd Is Not Wrong, Yet So Very Wrong

I live with Fibromyalgia and therefore, of course, chronic pain.  There isn’t a moment in my day where something doesn’t hurt.

I have had frozen shoulder and, in fact, am currently on the releasing end of it in my right shoulder.

I work my way through brain fog and have episodes of being unable to regulate my emotions. 

I am often too exhausted to move and I live in a body that holds on to stress and tension like it’s gold.

And I struggle.

And I practice yoga.

Does it help? Absolutely. But not in the way the “you should do yoga for that” crowd thinks. It doesn’t take away the pain. It doesn’t clear the fog. It doesn’t regulate my emotions.

What a regular yoga practice does is change my relationship with my condition. It gives me the space in my body and in my mind to observe what is happening and to sit with it. My practice opens up a dialogue with the sensations so that I can take the appropriate approach to what is going on.  Do I need to, and can I, crawl back into bed? Do I need to, and can I, cancel work? Do I need to, and can I, medicate? My practice helps me to respond to my condition instead of reacting to it. 

When kind and helpful people tell us we should “do yoga for that”, they often mean a physical practice, which is then translated into popping into a studio class or queuing up a youtube video. And it doesn’t help. And we may get hurt. And we may get disillusioned at yet another “cure” that didn’t work. There is so much more to a yoga practice and what it looks like can change from moment to. moment.

Because “doing yoga” and “practicing yoga” are two very different things. In fact, yoga can also be described as a state. A state in which we can rest, grow, and connect - with ourselves, others, and maybe something bigger.

And that state is where we will find joy and grace in the midst of our discomfort and pain.