Recently, at the end of my yoga class, my
teacher imparted some words of wisdom. She talked about how one of her master teachers would always say to
“adapt and adjust” your yoga practice. That spoke to me so much that I
quickly took out my phone and added these words of wisdom into my notes. I
physically can’t do all the positions my yoga teacher demonstrates but I do
adapt and adjust my practice to how my body feels. That’s what
yoga is all about…it’s an individualized practice attuned to your body’s needs.
Adapting and adjusting is great life advice, yoga advice and living with
a chronic disease advice. Living with spondyloarthritis, I’ve had to
learn to adapt and adjust to my new “normal.”
When I fight this idea, life can be difficult by mourning my old self
and all the activities I was able to do. But, when I “adapt and adjust”
to my present circumstances, I live a more peaceful life.
This isn’t my first time adapting and adjusting
to my environment. My life as a classroom teacher showed me I needed to adapt and
adjust to the needs of my classroom. I started off the day with
well-planned lessons, timed perfectly, materials ready to go. But, life throws you a curve ball and all
those well-intentioned plans go out the window. A student vomits in
class, the fire alarm goes off for a fire drill, two students get into a
disagreement that requires my mediation, drinks spill during snack time, and
then there’s a pop-in observation from my principal. All these scenarios
required me to adapt and adjust my daily plan. I carry this idea with me when
presented with physical limitations caused by my AS. As a first-grade teacher, I would modify
activities based on student’s abilities. I had several students who were
classified as learning disabled and other students in the process of being
classified as learning disabled. I would
look at assignments to see how I could break down an activity, so my students
would be successful. It could be highlighting key words or breaking down
an assignment into multiple steps. By
creating modifications, my students were successful completing a task with a
sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.
Now that I live with arthritis, I need to make
modifications in my daily life to make it easier for me. If I am cleaning
the house, I take short breaks in between tasks so I don’t get exhausted. I don’t clean the whole house in one day like
I used to; I complete a few small tasks each day. I can’t cook overly
complicated meals anymore because I get tired in the process. Now, I cook more simple meals that I can
enjoy. I also like using the
crock pot. When I’m parking my car in a
parking lot, if I can, I’ll pull forward to the open space in front of me, so
when I leave I can pull forward out of the space. Backing out of a
parking space requires turning the upper portion of your body which can be
painful to my neck and shoulders. These
small little “hacks” make life simpler for me and I feel successful despite my
limitations. What’s funny is, these
modifications don’t feel like modifications at all. It’s just how I operate.
In my next post, I’ll discuss my love of yoga,
and how it helps me in all aspects of my life. Stay tuned!
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