Unquiet

I’ve been practicing yoga for nearly two and a half years now, so this morning’s events took me quite by surprise… Before joining __Zaadz__, I had gotten into the habit of doing my yoga practice at home instead of at the Ashtanga studio where my girlfriend studies, so I’ve gotten used to a more mellow, but still vigorous, practice.. However, we’re both good friends with the teacher there, and we’re leaving the island soon, so she wanted me to come back for the last several practices.

This morning I made it about halfway through the Ashtanga primary series when I suddenly became very tired and lightheaded, so I made my way quickly to the studio’s bathroom. I intended to sit there and rest for a few minutes until my head cleared up, and then return to go through the closing sequence.

I never made it.

I came to as my head *bounced* **twice** off the tile floor. To spare you the details, I’ve got a split lip, a broken front tooth and a bit of a bump on my forehead, but otherwise, I’m alright. The doctor’s official diagnosis was dehydration causing simultaneous high heart rate and low blood pressure - we’re talking _low_: at times I couldn’t even stand up without my blood pressure dropping through the floor, even with the paramedics holding me up.

I’m not sure about dehydration because I’ve been drinking about a gallon of pure water a day, plus other fluids, so I should be well hydrated. Last time I was in the hospital the doctor noted a very minor arrythmia, and I suppose that’s a possibility. In any case, other than that my cardiovascular system is in excellent shape, great blood pressure (when I’m not falling off of stools) and a resting heart rate hovering around 64 beats a minute.

So, I’m still in a little bit of pain due to the tooth injury; I’ve called around on the island to see if there’s anything I can do here. Otherwise, taking care of it when I get back to Boston will be one of my main priorities.

So. Ouch. And face injuries (especially lip and nose ones) create a lot of blood.

I’m going back to my less intense yoga practice for a while… the one big change between my home practice and my studio practice is in intensity — just being around other yogis amps up my intensity, and I really try to engage the bandhas and ujjayi breath when I’m there, whereas when I’m at home, I keep my mind engaged in the practice but don’t sweat the details as much.

I guess I’ll spend a few days resting up and reading [Getting Real][1] and thinking about about ways I can improve Zaadz and get back to some of my major personal projects when I’m back at 99%.

[1]: https://gettingreal.37signals.com/