I had a small gynecological procedure yesterday. It may have been “routine” for the clinical staff, but it was a pretty extreme experience for me and much more painful than I expected. At one point, one of the nurses told me to “do yoga breathing” because she could tell I was struggling with pain. This sort of relaxed me momentarily as I laughed at the vagueness of the instructions, probably immediately followed by anxious muscle twitching as I wondered what kind of “yoga breathing” she could mean! My husband later joked that I should have gone full throttle into Kapalabhati to see what happened. In the moment, I settled for the quiet kind of thing that generally seems to be helpful in regulating the thrills. But most importantly, my goal was to try not to moan too pathetically, rather than practicing perfect pranayama!
I’m always amused by how often yoga appears in a medical context or other everyday situations, where there is a clear expectation of shared understanding. As a yoga teacher, I can’t help but marvel at the assumption that everyone knows how to “do yoga”! My own GP always asks me about my own yoga practice and whether I follow it, but she has known for years that it is the cornerstone of my better health. I used to assume she was imagining me doing restorative yoga or something slow and relaxing until we were talking once about my handstand workout and she eagerly suggested which It wasn’t “therapy”!
A few weekends ago, while I was wild camping, the ex-royal marine who had taught us all sorts of very practical things about navigation and survival then sat us down for 10 minutes of mindfulness in the middle of a wood. He gave no more instructions than that, and the whole group seemed content. I spent the first few minutes worrying about what everyone might be doing and whether I should have offered a guided grounding introduction to help everyone settle in… Until I gives me permission. not to be a teacher on this occasion and simply take care of my own practice.
When I speak with my yoga mentors, we focus so much on the skills and details of teaching yoga and meditation that it can be such a relief to encounter these practices in the everyday world and realize that most people have acquired some knowledge and that Often this is enough for them in the moment, providing them with the space or control they need.
What a relief. It’s not up to me to save the world!