Bad genes, a lifetime of bad postural habits and some ingrained bad ways of exercising mixed badly…read morewith a new found drive to work out and resulted in several injuries on my back. This was about two years ago. The pain seemed to set in quite quickly and became debilitating in a matter of weeks, after much money and many trips to specialists I was left with several pain prescriptions and studies showing two herniated discs, severe foraminal narrowing and constant, shooting pain from the top of my neck to my right big toe.
For two years I navigated a sea of specialists, depression, medications, insurance problems, disappointment, frustration, side effects, and bills. At the end I was left with mounts of bills and poor health. There are no silver bullets, everyone has to know that, and most likely if you have these kind of problems you will have to learn to make peace with the pain to live a happy life, but it's also easy to give up hope and throw your arms up in the air, manage your pain with too much medication and stop trying to get better both physically and mentally. As i explored surgical options and discovered how unpredictable their outcomes were, I decided to keep looking for a solution that would enable me to feel healthy and fit again.
Acupuncture, chiropractors, physical therapy, active release, yoga, swimming, light exercising, I tried everything to mixed results. The problem was that I could withstand exercising, but I would invariably be working despite the pain and against it which would eventually make the problem worse. Then I discovered the Hasti studio one day walking around my neighborhood. I've heard of Pilates before but I never even considered it. So in the spirit of trying everything, I sent them a very detailed email that night explaining my situation and asking for advice.
I corresponded with Shona, the owner and instructor, and we arranged for a private lesson. I've been going there now for over three months, twice a week, seeing both Shona and Leni, and they are changing my life.
After two years of living in pain, my pain is now minimal most of the time to the point where I don't even notice unless I focus on it. I've stopped taking pain medication, I am stronger, I am getting back in shape, my mood has dramatically improved and in the days when the pain comes back, I am armed with knowledge of exercises and stretches that I can do to gain control without hurting myself. I feel I've learned more about how my anatomy is supposed to work in the last 3 months than ever before. I've realized how much of what I did before was just wrong, everything from the way I walk, sit, move my head, use my arms, I've been basically retraining my brain to move everything from different points and muscle groups and it's made an incredible difference. I am surprised, I feel it's sort of unbelievable but in the end of the day it objectively all makes sense.
Now, I am sure that Yoga, physical therapy and other practices could be also just as good for strengthening your muscles in ways that alleviate spinal and nerve issues, but the quality of instruction is what is most crucial to success and when your problems are as bad as mine were, it is extremely hard to find not just adequate, not just good but the best instruction possible.
Describing the movement of muscles to effect a particular body motion is like talking about feelings, or describing the color red, incredibly difficult. Shona and Leni are just perfectly skilled in verbalizing metaphors and imagery to make you understand which muscles to draw strength from and which ones to focus on relaxing when doing the most mundane of movements, like pulling a bar down or pushing yourself up from a sitting position. When I don't understand they relentlessly look for the right observation or demonstration to make me move correctly. This, along with their encyclopedic knowledge of exercise types, has made all the difference in the world. By constantly paying attention and focusing on exerting effort in the right ways, my brain seems to have slowly changed ever so slightly the way I do everything and the pain has been slowly dissipating. The change is gradual but unmistakable, I vividly remember recently in the middle of my workday I was going about my business when I just stopped and had a thought, I realized that nothing hurt in that moment, not a thing, for the first time in a long long time, it was wonderful.
Individual results of course, may vary. This is also a LOT of work, in and beyond class, this is something that requires your focus constantly and also demands your patience. Price-wise it is comparable to a top tier personal trainer at a gym, and in some instances it may be covered with an FSA (you'll need to do a lot of phone calls though) and in the end price is nothing compared to the obscene amounts of money you will spend on pain management or surgical medical options and the payout is truly invaluable. I can't recommend them enough.
