Progress is never a straight line.
Can you see how in this picture how my knee is higher than my back? I am more deeply flexed at the hip. This photo is from 2014.
In this more recent picture, my back is more rounded and it is higher than my knee. I am even sitting on a block to help me.
I had lost my ability to bend forward due to back pain and the flexibility is slowly coming back.
I should have taken progress pictures to show you, because this stage is a big improvement from where I started from. I guess I didn’t want to take pictures of me not being able to clasp my hands around my shin. I wasn’t sure if I would regain the flexibility.
In his book, Light on Life, BKS Iyengar does say:
There is nevertheless a chance that we can break free from the imprisoning past and individually train ourselves to control this reactive mechanism in such a way that the old patterns are not repeated; new things truly can happen and real changes can in fact take place. This dawning clarity is, in essence, the path of yoga.
Let’s see what happens as I continue to work on improving my flexibility through the practice of these forward bends.
I would love to see your progress, too!
I’ll take pictures as I go and give a progress report.