Yoga

My fiancé has been going to yoga at her gym for four years. I always thought that the class was boring. The art of yoga was not my thing. I also thought it was for women, and men really did not take yoga. Well, I was wrong…..

Stress

When I last saw my gastroenterologist, I asked him what was some natural ways to get rid of stress? I did have a rough year. My students gave me a run for my money. My job was very demanding, and it caused an extreme level of stress. I needed to do something to stay active; an activity that took my mind away from the work grind. My doctor suggested that I join a gym and start taking classes with an instructor. I left his office, upset and nervous. How can I take a class if I am running to the bathroom all the time?  And no way am I going to take yoga!

I finally gave in to yoga

Last week I finally owned up and joined my fiancé for the Saturday morning yoga class. The instructor was really nice and welcomed me. Naomi assured me that I would be able to leave the room at any time if I had to go to the bathroom.

I realized that my abdomen had not be stretched out in a while. Partly I blame myself because I was over cautious with the wire mesh and afraid that something was going to pop. The doctors had put me on limited stretching but that was about nine years ago. I guess I never looked into taking away that precaution.

This yoga class really stretched every muscle in my body. I did struggle with the stretching of my stomach, but that was expected. A lot of the yoga moves required me to lay on my left side. That is when I started to get nervous. The way the J-pouch is situated in my body, if I lay on my left side, things flow out quickly. I usually have to run to the bathroom at this point. Yep that is exactly what happened and I left the class. I came back feeling embarrassed, thinking that everybody was looking at me.

I was wrong, nobody seemed to notice that I even left. They were so involved with their class.

Yoga and Crohn's

So then the next question is.. how did yoga effect my Crohn’s afterward. Sure, my stomach muscles were very sore, that was expected. But because I learned different breathing exercises, I was able to relax more. My week in terms of bowel frequency was awesome. My usual frequency is twenty-five times a day. I think I cut it in half to 13. And believe it or not, I was going back to another class.

The next class was last Tuesday, and it was even better than the last. This is the new way of me relaxing. This is the new way of calming down my Crohn’s. I really think if you have the chance, to at least try yoga. It will surely change your mindset about IBD!