Am I causing harm
As an MS’er I started yoga with a degree of concern about if yoga would make my condition worse or trigger an attack. This was reinforced with my very first lesson; the room was heated to about 79 degrees Fahrenheit / 26 degrees celsius. The room is warm but not hot. It’s a comfortable for me, sitting not doing much temperature. With practice, movement, and breath you begin to sweat. Many MS’ers have difficulties with heat and it feels as though you are doing something to yourself that’s not good for you.
I have been practicing for almost seven years and I have found that heat affects me during practice but I’m no worse for wear afterwards. My legs are where it affects me the most they get weaker and heavier. I’m at the point where the standing asanas (the first half hour) are not significantly affected by heat. I start to feel the impact of heat at Navasana (boat pose) which occurs about 45 minutes in.
For me heat plays a role in how I practice. It’s kinda weird ‘cause I know I get weaker in the heat, but I’ve been in some shalas where every persons body heat creates a certain kind of heat that I like it’s a humid heat, a body heat, a shared heat. I once practiced in a shala in California and the room was packed. Our mats were touching there was no room left for any one else. After about twenty minutes a puddle of sweat had formed on my mat but I was feeling great in fact I absolutely loved it. Later during the sitting asanas as sweat was dripping off my face I looked over at the guy on the mat next to me, sweat dripping off his face, and we both smiled at each other. It felt really good.
I have found that heat provides the base for sweating along with movement and breath. As well warmth helps muscles and joints stretch and move more easily and to some degree protects them. Sweating is an important part of the cleansing part of yoga. But I feel not absolutely necessary. As a person who deals with the daily whatever’s MS deals me I still have benefited without sweating or for that matter heat. The physical and mental benefits can still be found. I am not a sweater and when I first started yoga I did not sweat during practice but as I have learned more about the breath I sweat more.
I’d say it was about four years in to practicing that I began to understand the breathing part of yoga. But as an MS’er I gained many benefits before discovering this part of yoga. I gained strength, flexibility, lost weight, lowered my blood sugar, lowered my pulse, and gained something that is elusive for most of us with MS – a future. I know the future part is another stretch but this is how I look at it.
Yoga asanas, in part, at its base level is an “exercise” that can be learned at any pace you are capable of. You will get better no mater what your pace of learning is. You will gain at least physical benefits no matter what. The future is positive; you’re going to improve somewhere. Knowing that your going to improve provides a positive aspect in your life. MS does not improve but you do improve at yoga. Improvement is possible with every single practice day. You notice it no matter how small.
I look at yoga as a perfect vehicle for MS’ers. It’s my experience that there are no milestones, there are no deadlines, no purity check, no critics, no stress, only support, peace, and improvement.
And in my experience, no harm caused.