Resting 100 Percent

I woke up yesterday morning with an evil back pain of doom. What's up with that? I don't really know. I didn't even do anything on Saturday, so I've been kinda confused about it. I don't appear to have actively hurt myself, but the pain is definitely there for some reason. I spent most of Sunday just kinda feeling crappy, but otherwise going about my business. I did my morning weekend practice which is just a few sun salutations and meditation. Nothing strenuous. Then later I did some plyometrics (because I do that on weekends) with a 1 mile warm up walk and a 1 mile cool down walk. At that point I actually felt great. All the jumping and pushups and whatnot made me feel amazing. My back didn't even hurt! I can't imagine how plyos could've possibly made my back feel better, so I'm gonna call it a fluke. So I continued going about my day. Went to the park, watched squirrels, cuddled the dog. You know, the usual.

Hours later I sat down and had this outrageous pain start shooting through my back/shoulder. It comes and goes, but mostly it's there... and it sucks. Some research suggests that depending on what the hell is wrong I should either rest completely for up to 3 days, or I should go on as usual. I usually go by the rule that if it hurts when you're not doing anything - you should rest it completely for a while. Since this pain is definitely there all the time I've decided to give it total complete rest for 2 days and then pick back up with my yoga.

In the meantime, I'm realizing that I'm somewhere between dedicated and addicted to my yoga. I want to do yoga All The Time. Discomfort? Do yoga! Tired? Do yoga! Feel stiff? Do yoga! Now that I'm not allowing myself to do yoga - it's like I'm going stir crazy. I find myself plotting and trying to figure out ways I can sneak in some yoga anyway. I'm not giving in. I promise. I'm going to rest...but this is really hard.

John Friend says to give 100% all the time. When you're working - give 100% and when you're resting - rest 100%, so that's what I'm doing. I am committed to doing what's right for my body - even if the right thing is Nothing.

Doggy Photo Source: Apparently everywhere. That dog gets around.