Yoga Practice for When You Can’t Practice

Way back in high school, I sprained both my ankles—not simultaneously, but within a year. The first, left ankle, sprain was quite serious. I couldn’t put any weight on my foot for more than a week. I had to stay home from school and elevate and ice it during all my waking hours. The second, right ankle, sprain was less serious, and I took it less seriously. While both ankles have resprained multiple times since then, the right one, the one I didn’t tend to as much, has rolled literally hundreds of times. Yoga practice helped strengthen both ankles. All those standing poses, one-legged balancing poses and foot exercises markedly decreased the frequency of ankle inversion. Inversion still happened, but I noticed a major difference a year into my now 40-plus-year yoga practice.

Until recently, I’ve always been able to remain upright when my right ankle rolled. The last two times, though, I fell rather spectacularly on a completely flat, level surface. That was my signal to have it checked out. An MRI showed that the lateral ligaments were so stretched out that they could no longer prevent inversion. Surgery was the only remedy.

The recovery is grueling—two-and-a-half weeks in a cast with no weight bearing, six weeks in a boot (that’s where I am now), and three more weeks in a splint. No driving for 12 weeks.

How Injuries Change Your Life

I anticipated that recovering from ankle surgery would bring about major changes. But it’s the little things that quickly became most evident. For example, carrying my tea from the kitchen counter to the kitchen table is impossible when I’m using a knee scooter. For that matter, making the tea in the first place is pretty tricky. Getting dressed takes three times as long as it normally would. Feeding my ever-hungry 18-year-old cat tests my balance. The first few days after surgery, my spouse had to pull double duty, helping me accomplish even the most basic tasks.

After a few days, once the anesthesia fog began wearing off, I could use a game-changing crutch called an iWalk. The iWalk is a crutch that you strap to your leg. It has a platform for your shin and a peg leg at the bottom. It allows you to “walk” hands free without putting weight on your foot. Using the iWalk enabled me to perform most basic tasks on my own. I cooked several meals using it and vacuumed my whole house several times.

I feel so grateful to live in a time when the iWalk is available. I also feel grateful for yoga practice for enabling me to use it. Stable balance is a requirement for using the iWalk. I can thank my yoga practice for helping me maintain good balancing skills.

How to Keep Up Your Yoga Practice Even When You’re Not 100 Percent

A little preparation and creative thought before your surgery can help you maintain your yoga practice, even when your body is not 100 percent functional. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

Plan Your Practice

For several weeks before my surgery, I began paying attention to which asanas would be doable when I couldn’t put weight on my foot, and which ones I’d need to let go of temporarily. I also thought about which yoga props could help me practice poses that wouldn’t be possible without help. It was surprising—and heartening—to recognize just how many poses I could still do.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of practicing our favorite poses, and avoiding the ones we don’t care for as much. When an injury prevents us from practicing our preferred poses, we can revisit the asanas we tend to neglect. Sometimes when we delve into poses were not so fond of, we can learn from them anew.

To Teach, Or Not to Teach?

I initially planned to take one week off from teaching. But as I entered the second week, I realized that the care needed to simply move about would distract me from being able to focus on my students. So I waited another week, until I could begin introducing weight onto my foot. The body awareness I’ve cultivated for decades through yoga practice allowed me to make that determination. My students have been supportive of whatever I need to do.

There are poses I won’t be able to do for two more months. But that doesn’t mean I can’t teach them. My students are all very experienced. They don’t need for me to demonstrate everything. Not demonstrating gives me the opportunity to hone my language skills.

The most important factor in deciding whether to teach when you have an injury is to listen to your own inner teacher. Prioritize your recovery. Do you have the energy to be fully present with your students? Or would it be wiser to invest your energies into your recovery?

Remember That There’s More to Yoga Practice than Asana

Asana is the third of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. So when your body isn’t able to do physical practice, there are other options. Pranayama practice, especially when you focus on deep, diaphragmatic breathing, can help restore your energy. Meditation, including mindfulness of your responses to the changes you’re living through, can help your mind remain stable and pliable as you heal.

Note your responses: impatience, boredom, frustration, etc. How do these mental states appear in your body? What sensations are associated with them? Where do these energies live in your body? Contacting the physical sensations of mental energies helps us feel their changing nature. This can help us become less reactive and more at peace with whatever is arising. Recovering from injury or surgery is challenging enough without our attitude making it ever more so.

Injuries happen. Sometimes surgery is the only option for healing. Respecting your body as it recovers is essential to making a full, lasting recovery. Your yoga practice, in all its aspects, can help you heal wisely.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell discovered yoga in 1982 and began teaching in 1986. Charlotte is the author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice and Yoga for Meditators, both published by Rodmell Press. Her third book is titled Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain (Shambhala Publications). She writes a monthly column for CATALYST Magazine and serves as editor for Yoga U Online. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte plays oboe and English horn in the Salt Lake Symphony and folk sextet Red Rock Rondo, whose DVD won two Emmy awards.