My 20-Year Yoga Journey: A Skeptic's Guide to Pain Relief (and inner peace)

For over 20 years, I've been practicing yoga, initially as a skeptic battling sciatica, yet, its magic on the mind has increasingly fascinated me.

In 2003, days before a lower back surgery, I happened on an Iyengar restorative class. The precise focus on alignment and stretching instantly resonated, and the pain? Fairly quickly gone. 

The beauty of Restorative Yoga is its inclusivity and accessibility. No need for Olympic flexibility; you are assisted into position, propped by bolsters, straps, and even dedicated implements, thus allowing you to benefit from poses, normally excercised in advanced practice, such as the Backbend (Viparita Dandhasana, the Inverted Staff Pose) 

The benefits of the "Backbend" among others are:

Improved circulation

Lymphatic system drainage

Deeper breathing

Pain relief

Stress reduction

Quieter mind

Deeper relaxation

Boosted mental concentration

My all time favorite implement became the obscure "Viparita Dandhasana Bench", an unwieldy, cumbersome and daunting looking wooden contraption, resembling a mediaval torture wheel.

Inspired by it, in 2007 I fashioned a lighter and more presentable version, a streamlined gourde-shaped bench, which later evolved into the Cradler, the versatile implement.

While the "how" of yoga's mental magic still eludes me, the physical and mental benefits are palpable and perceptible.

Yoga is a practice that conditions body and mind, and fosters inner peace, one gentle stretch at a time.

Functional yoga implements can impart such benefits on demand, at home, in the office and on the road. 

Ready to ease into position? Drop a comment below!

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