RESISTANCE


This morning I awakened with The Sinus Headache From Hell.

The head throbbed. There was pain from my right eye down to my right shoulder. My right lower back hurt, too....

I ate watermelon.

I ate a kiwi and an orange.

I did the neti pot.

I still felt like hell.

Normally, I would take a Sudafed Headache tablet. I would have had coffee.

But I've been trying to be *good* since returning from NYC.

So I drank chai. I debated doing a yoga practice.

I got out the mat and tried some sun salutations. They only made me feel worse.

I considered looking up what Mr. Iyengar has to say about sinus problems.

Nah.

Instead I looked at my teacher training materials.

Dharma's advice is to avoid sun salutations and vigorous asanas. He says to do the neti pot, headstand, and alternate nostril breathing.

I tried headstand. I felt a little bit better.

I did some Feldenkrais exercises for the neck and shoulders, some twists and some s-i joint poses.

I did a long, supported Savasana (corpse pose).

My limbs tingled. But my head still felt like crap.

I felt so bad in fact that I could not sit down and do breathing exercises.

So I ate my Ezekiel toast.

I answered a few e-mails.

I did a little work.

Then I put some China-Gel on the head and neck, covered my eyes and went down for a nap. This has worked in the past.

But when I awakened The Headache was still there.

I turned on the VCR and watched The Dark Ages.

I ate lunch.

I answered a few more e-mails.

The throbbing persisted.

Finally I sat down and did some Kapalabhati and alternate nostril breathing.

The pain immediately disappeared.

Always trust the guru.