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A Yoga Routine for when you feel crummy.

Feb. 09, 2021

It has not been an easy year for me here in Bali. Since our family stayed on after our flights home were cancelled last March, we have navigated tropical fevers, braved an incessant rainy season and also had some accidents. Last October, a week before my birthday I experienced a really bad motorbike accident, which left me impaired for almost two months, before I really felt like I was back and healthy in my body.

Then last week, I had surgery on my left foot to remove a callus on the ball of the foot – an injury that has been impeding me from running or walking with ease for almost six years now. It first originated when I stepped on some broken glass!!! 🙁

After doing a yoga practice with a girlfriend where I wobbled every time I stood on my left (injured) foot; I committed to myself that I would look after this injury asap.

For me that meant no more waiting, but instead, taking action.

Last week, I went to the hospital here where I had been referred to a plastic surgeon by a dermatologist who I saw last November about the injury. Right, I was finally following up!!!

The consult appointment also included surgery. It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to process the implications – In Canada, one podiatrist told me to think about surgery as being such an end of the road decision that I promptly gave up the idea altogether. And considering how many nerves lay on the soles of our feet, I understood how important a decision this was.

Yet, after the 20 minute procedure in Bali when I saw how much hardened callused tissue the doctor had removed, I was shocked and relieved. He also promised me no pain while walking once the foot healed. Of course, now it also meant, waiting and resting my foot while it healed.

It has been very difficult to stay stationary this past week. I realize over and over how much I rely on being in my body to feel good. And how important movement and yoga are to my wellbeing, my overall mood and my level of happiness.

I’ve tuned into to a different yoga and movement practice than I am normally accustomed to; and realize how much even a very simple routine can help move stuck energy and emotion out of the body.

Since I cannot weight bear on my left foot at all right now, the only poses I have been able to practice are on my back, and simple cat cows. Here is a simple routine that has helped me breathe, connect and feel more like myself. I would recommend it to anyone suffering from mobility issues, hip instability, if you are recovering from an accident, or if you simply want some gentle, healing yoga.

Here is the routine. I hope you enjoy it.

To begin:

Child’s Pose or Wisdom Pose: 5 – 8 breaths.

Settle down in child’s pose for 5 – 8 breaths. Use a cushion between your hips and heels if your hips cannot touch your heels (I could not put any pressure on my left foot so I actually just had my hips up slightly above my heels). Knees can be wider than hips if you have no issues with your knees, otherwise, have the knees together. I did this as for me right now, gathering and containing my energy was what I needed in my practice.

Cat to Cow: 8- 10 breaths.

Next, come onto all fours and play with spinal mobility in your cat / cow poses. Allow yourself to exhale as you draw the navel in towards the spine and round the back, then release the belly down as the head lifts up on the inhale. Initiate the spinal roll from your pelvis. Notice that you stabilize using both feet and hands, don’t dump weight onto the knees. Play with this movement, practice lifting alternate arms and legs and also make the spinal rolls as big and fluid as you need to. Again, my left foot here limited my shifting weight from side to side so I stayed with a forward/ back roll which felt amazing.

Sphinx Pose: 5 breaths

From cat / cow roll forward onto the belly and lay down, forehead onto the mat. Draw the elbows to either side of the rib cage, press down through fingertips and slowly raise your torso off the mat. Elbows will line up approximately below the shoulders when you do this. If the spine feels more open, lengthen the arms to your own degree. Breathe here. Notice that you have to press down on the tops of the feet so you don’t hinge the spine and instead create a supple curve of opening through the entire front body.

Thread the Needle Pose: 5 – 8 breaths each side

Release back down onto the mat, roll onto the back and bend the knees. Cross right ankle on top of the left, thread the hands behind the left thigh. Use your right elbow to press the right thigh away from you, as you draw the left knee in towards you. Flex the feet so you protect your knee; and keep drawing the the left knee in closer. You should feel a (joyful 🙂 ) opening on the outer right hip as well as release in the lower back. Remember not to lift the pelvis up in this pose or you will miss the length in the lower back. Exhale through an open mouth and make any sound you need to let energy and emotion flow. Repeat on the other side.

Adrenal Draining: 8 – 10 breaths

This technique, specific to Blissology Yoga is done on one’s back. Here we counter the body’s tendency to breathe only in the front, by connecting to the back body and specifically try to calm our over amped adrenal glands.

Draw the knees into the chest and hug the arms around the backs of the legs. Clasp the hands so the shoulders can work as little as possible. Let the shins drape over the forearms and hug the knees into the chest. If possible, wrap the arms around the backs of the thighs and drape the shins over the forearms. Feel the bones of the back body in the back of the rib cage, the pelvis, shoulder blades and the skull.  With each let each long, slow and tension-releasing exhalation release the lower back down into the earth (like a hot knife through vegan butter).  (this analogy via @theblissologist)!!! Let your mind rest.  Feel the belly rising on inhalations, nourishing the organs and relax the tension stored there.

Breathe tension of out through and open mouth and feel the pleasure of finally finding the off switch.  Today is a beautiful day and you are exactly where you need to be. 🙂

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Category: Yoga, Blog Tags: blissology, yoga for accidents

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About Insiya Rasiwala-Finn

Yogini + Ayurvedic Coach, Writer and Conscious Mama. Believes in regenerative, slow living, holistic design and living mindfully every day.

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ABOUT YOGUE  Hi, I'm Insiya. Journey with me as we live slow, scatter beauty and tread lightly on the planet.

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insiyafinn

Yesterday was so life affirming and heart filling! Yesterday was so life affirming and heart filling!!! 

We got out on a hike in sooke and I’m so proud of my mama for traversing some steep climbs and even more steep and rocky downhill paths. I felt energized and so happy to be outside in a forest that smelled cool and fresh and pine-resin-y… @theblissologist and lion even got into the icy cold glacial streams and then we picked up grandma @carolefinnartist and enjoyed some delicious pizza on the deck @stokedpizzeria near sombrio…

My family kept cautioning me to not push myself - but honestly and truly I think I was just high on feeling alive and being amidst the waterfalls and green of what has turned into a very hot spring (climate change is real friends…)…

Yesterday was such an affirmation of how much we all need to be outside to reconnect within to what really matters…

Thanks ananda lion for making me a mama 12 years ago and thanks to my mom @sararasiwala for your love always… also it made me so happy that eoin got to see his mama too! Life is short. Keep those you love close and fill it with beauty and kindness.

Ps. I did wear a dress hiking (just because) and I am very tired today but was it worth it? YES ❤️

#yogue #mothersday #family #familymatters #healing #healinsiya #healcancer #cancerthriver
Photo sprinkles… Stepping out into spring. L- Photo sprinkles… 

Stepping out into spring.

L-R: A Saturday picnic w @yogalink + Carole + dingo the bali dog and my mom. Thanks for the chai @sararasiwala 😁 and the pic @theblissologist ✨
Blossoms on the hill.
Blossoms inside :)
Homemade spinach and mushroom quiche.. so good 💫
Pakoras by mom… aka delish chickpea fritters 
Daisies :)
And
Apricot nectar and strawberries yesterday… 
/ shadows and sunshine :) 
Heart shaped flowers…

Feeling all this golden light and springtime goodness. :) 

🌺💕☀️

#healingjourney #wholefoods #growth #changes #shift #insiyafinn #healinsiya #healcancer
So I decided to share this picture here because fi So I decided to share this picture here because firstly today was so special. I got to see a dear dear friend who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic and we got to finally connect a few steps away from home. Yes this is currently Victoria (or it was this morning when the sun was bright and warm)…

And yet this morning was hard won. Yesterday after weeks of things going relatively well I had what is called a partical blockage with my ileostomy. I think it was caused by my not chewing my lunch as slowly as I normally do…(I will blame this on both being v hungry and that my dear mom’s cooking is dangerously delicious) 😁 when my girlfriend came to see me yesterday, I had low energy and a strange cramping sensation in the stomach and lower rib area. This progressively got worse and worse until my body with all its wisdom tried to push my lunch out of me. In other words I threw up. Consistently and continuously.

Meanwhile life at home continued on. My son arrived home after a canoeing weekend. I needed back rubs w tiger balm or whatever would help in the moment; and tried to help organize dinner. And my friend later that evening shared how she felt the privilege of being here to help and to witness the rough stuff. Which just felt so dear and real and loving.

And this is why I want to share this story today. It feels scary to put all of this out into the world but I have been thinking that when we hide the hard things behind walls of fear or worry about what others will think, I think we curtail our capacity to be loving, compassionate humans. After all at our core we want the same things. To live and love well. I feel like I share a lot here but I have found it hard to write about the really gnarly moments. There have been so many. What I will say I am so thankful for however is that because I have experienced so much with the ileostomy, I knew I had to ride the waves of pain out until they stopped. And they did and I finally slept last night and stayed out of emerg at the hospital.

And awoke to a new day. And a new opportunity to make the most of this precious moment.

Thanks for being here!

#healcancer #healinsiya #viclife #oakbay #friendship
It’s three weeks post my big surgery. The last f It’s three weeks post my big surgery. The last fortnight has been a wave of highs and lows. It felt like every time I felt a little better something new would happen again that I needed to understand and navigate. 

Meanwhile my inner mind has been a whirling w so so much. I have so many thoughts and so many ideas every day. And having to still be quite still has forced me to pay attention to them. 

The word that keeps coming up is reclamation - reclaiming who I am and how I want to live my life moving forward… life seems a little less like I’m on the edge of a precipice - except in the middle of the night - but things still feel urgent - like I will run out of time before I get to do all the things I would like to. And I have been trying to stay true and listen to the emotions that come up as I continue to navigate the journey beyond - which as yet is a big unknown! 

Today was an easy day to reclaim how much living in harmony with our seasons means to me. How much I love being outside. This afternoon mom and I went for a glorious walk in the sunshine and then lion, our pup and I had some weeding fun in the garden. 

A friend asked me how I am feeling earlier today. I guess the answer today is so happy and grateful to be here and to live in such a beautiful place to call home close to the ocean and sea lions and the meadows and flowers and forests. I am cherishing these little moments. They feel big these days.

Thanks for being here. Xo 

#healing #gratitude #gardening #healinsiya #healcancer #coloncancercanada

📷 @sararasiwala 💖
Today is a reminder for myself and possibly you as Today is a reminder for myself and possibly you as well to not get discouraged… 

Recovery takes time.

there are moments of feeling on top of the world and there are others where I feel flat and tired. 

There is my mind trying to propel me forward beyond the constraints of my body; and my body then signaling with a sharp outcry - you cannot do X, please rest. 

There is life with all its chaos and wants and needs coming at you, because you don’t live in a bubble, the ones you are in relationship with also have needs… 

And so you remind yourself that all you can do is keep showing up now, in this moment, in the best way possible… don’t do more, it’s not necessary- especially right now…

Be gentle today. Happy Sunday.

🙏🏼❤️✨

#journal #healing #recovery #cancer #healcancer #healinsiya #slowlife #yogalife #mentalhealth
Home again. Short - very short and slow - walks do Home again.
Short - very short and slow - walks down our street.
Strawberries at breakfast.
So many Hugs from my son.
Back rubs from my husband
My mom’s continuous kindnesses that keep the day humming.
Friends saying hello and bringing food and tinctures.
And flowers that I cut from our wild garden tonight which is coming alive with all sorts of surprises.

I had tulips in my hospital room the entire 11 days and I can tell you how much they inspired me. As their petals opened up slowly I grew stronger and more able every day after surgery. I saw the colors shining against the dull hues of the room when I awoke each morning and in the sunshine they glistened.

Flowers have healing powers say researchers, apparently patients who can see trees and flowers from their hospital windows vs those who cannot, take less pain medication and have shorter hospital stays… and yes they both relax and uplift us. 

I’ve always loved flowers. Only now I understand why.

Happy weekend!
#grateful #flowers #healingpowerofflowers #healcancer #healinsiya #natureheals #holisticwellness
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