In April 2023, I picked up a knee injury. There wasn’t any specific incident that caused it, but I believe it developed over a couple of months of overuse or misuse. I couldn’t walk without limping for months, and running was completely out of the question. It took well over six months before it started to feel normal again.
At that time, people around me were quite worried—not so much about my knee, but how I was going to manage my yoga teaching. Considering it's my only source of income, their concerns were legitimate, I suppose. But everything turned out fine! I limped into my classes, continued teaching fully, and didn’t miss a single class.
How did I manage? I adapted. I didn’t need to change the content of my lessons, but I demonstrated differently. In fact, it turned out to be a good opportunity, as I had to learn how to use props and could show others how to use them as well.
I also kept up my own practice. I had to. I knew knee injuries take a long time to heal, and I couldn’t afford to stop practising altogether. Once again, I learned to modify.
Looking back, in my long relationship with yoga, I’ve had shoulder injuries, foot injuries (including plantar fasciitis), elbow injuries, and more. Luckily, none of them were serious, but they did affect my yoga practice.
For example, a few years ago, I developed a shoulder injury. It lingered for quite some time without improving. At that time, I was teaching many classes and doing a lot of my own practice sessions, so over the Christmas period, I decided to give my shoulder complete rest and didn’t teach or practise yoga for two weeks. And it made my shoulder a lot worse…
Of course, it all depends on the nature of the injury. Sometimes, complete rest is needed. But for most minor injuries, yoga tends to help. And even if that’s not the case, as most recoveries are slow, you can’t completely stop your practice. You need to do what you can. You need to adapt.
If your relationship with yoga is long-term or a lifelong commitment, you can’t stay off the mat for too long. Eventually, you need to learn to negotiate around your injuries.
I think this is one of the important skills you develop through practice. You learn to listen to your body and skip or modify certain poses if needed, and you become comfortable with that. You also become aware of your ‘yoga-ego’ (the desire to be ‘better’ and to keep ‘improving’), and you learn to observe it and be okay with it. You understand that it’s a long relationship, and a short setback means nothing.
Some days, it’s just a few simple postures, breathing, and savasana—and you’re happy with your practice.
Like a good relationship, your yoga journey is not always smooth and linear without setbacks. Yoga is a lifelong companion.
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