In short, yes. It has worked for me and countless others.
After being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2003, at the age of 32, a friend sent me a yoga video along with a yoga strap. I was initially very depressed and not open to positive suggestions. I watched the video once, tried to keep up, and later gave up. Thinking to myself something along the lines of: "there I tried and it didn't work for me." I pushed myself really hard and felt so out of shape that I became discouraged.
I flared up really bad the following day and gave up on yoga. I resigned myself to living my life filled with pain. I just accepted it. I had lost my job, my ability to mother my children, and most of all hope. If not for my loving husband I may have not made it through the next two years.
I continued (over the next 2 years) like this: suffering with all over body pain and felt there was no hope for easing my condition. I was fully medicated, totally disabled, and struggled with even the smallest task (yes... even personal care). I was certain I would never work again and would be disabled for the rest of my life. I tried physical therapy and followed doctors orders fully.
In 2005 there was a shift in my life. The shift began with a 5 month long battle with a staph infection that nearly ended my life. I was underweight, malnourished, taking 13 medications per day, and I was certain this was a toxic combination for my body that lead to the staph in the first place.
With Doctors care (and some strong determination) I began to wean myself from all medications, sought alternative medicines (acupuncture, reiki, chiropractics), changed my diet and thought I would try yoga again.
I decided I wasn’t going to just whither away and die; I was going to live. I began a regimen of diet, reiki, acupuncture and chiropractics in place of medicines. In time I was free of all medicines I had been prescribed.
I began practicing at home with little to no guidance doing sun salutations at my own pace – just to stretch each day. To learn sun salutations I found a website with a printable illustration of the series of poses.
Within two years I was working again part time and eventually returning to college seeking a degree in special education. I realized that retuning to my high stress corporate job was not in line with my healing process.
Initially I did not understand using my breath with yoga. I did this for a year without knowing how to breath properly. That is when a friend (diagnosed with lupus) who practiced yoga really inspired me to extend the amount of energy I was giving yoga. She encouraged me to join a yoga forum to speak with others regarding yoga. At that point I began to practice daily using pranayama with my poses.
At that time there were no fitness centers or facilities offering yoga in my area on a daily basis. I knew that once a week would never be enough yoga for me and that I would need to practice at home daily. Soon I was searching for yoga DVDs, props and mats. I soon found a full “OM in a Box” kit for $3 at a yard sale: as blessing for me on many levels. This changed everything I thought I knew about yoga.
For those unfamiliar, this is a yoga kit that comes with instructional CD, yoga strap, pose cards, and incense. I found that listening to the CD as if I were in a yoga class with Cyndi Lee was more effective for me than any instructional DVD I had purchased. What I really liked what that I could move at my own pace. I could stop the CD and view the pose cards as a reminder of how to do a pose. I really liked that I was incouraged to not push myself but to instead be gentle.
Since I had never been to a class no one before Cyndi Lee had instructed me to “make sure your hands are in line with your shoulders” at certain points during a pose. This reminded me to realign myself: not to mention hinted that others needed these reminders too. She would give these types of gentle reminders on the CD and it was as if she read my mind while listening and was right in the room with me. I love my Om in a box!
Upon learning about breathing and how to properly align myself I began to see actual results. I later found that when doing a minimum of 1 hour of yoga per day I had no fibromyalgia symptoms. During the times my practice was less my symptoms would return. This alone was enough for me to see how beneficial yoga was for me.
If you are thinking about starting yoga practice of your own here are somethings you might think about first:
- Self motivation is key. You have to be self determinded to do yoga; that is the beauty of it.
- Yoga is a martial art but this isn't meant to be a battle. You are your own opponant. Remember not to fight yourself so strongly that you give up. Treat yourself with the same respect you would give to a good friend.
- Learn pranayama breathing techniques. Google search yoga and do some research before you begin. Youtube has a variety of videos you can watch.
- Try to be in the now with your yoga. I am doing yoga now, I can think about everything else when that moment is here. Right now I am doing yoga.
- Be gentle with yourself it’s ok if you start off slow and work to longer practice. Make "childs pose" your good friend ;)
- Yoga isn’t meant to be practiced in a sudden burst of hard core poses… it is gently guiding the body to where you want it to be.
- Never feel guilt if you miss a day, just go right back to it.
- Try to do yoga every single day, even if it is only 5 minutes it’s beneficial. Don’t compare yourself to others, your poses are already perfect.
- If you don’t get a pose today, say to yourself I will get it one day, maybe it will be tomorrow… Right now I almost have it ;)
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