What Does Playing Through Pain Have to do With Yoga?

I had a great conversation on the phone tonight, and one of the memorable subjects that resonated was "playing through pain." Have you ever played through pain? I have. In fact, a particular racquetball competition from my college days comes to mind. I made it to the semi-finals and was neck and neck with a fellow classmate. I had my game face on and was ready to go. We were tied and it was her serve. I jumped to hit the ball. I hit it alright, and fell on my ankle in the process. It swelled up and was handed a set of crutches immediately. My schoolmates were nice and carried my book bag to the classes they could, but making it around campus proved quite difficult. After two days, I decided I would just walk in pain rather than use crutches. I limped considerably, but after a few weeks was back to normal.

I don't mind working out when I'm sick or injured. I have heard mixed reviews about exercising when you're sick, but it usually doesn't bother me so I do it. I do, on the other hand, try to be fairly mindful of my body when I am injured. For instance, at the beginning of this summer, I hurt my right hip trying to do the splits after a long run. I thought my body was warm enough and could take it, but apparently not. Now that it is September, my right hip is still not at 100%, but I am getting there. I have yoga to thank for much of my overall improvement. It has been great for increasing my flexibility and relaxing my mind; I highly recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested in those two areas.

Speaking of yoga, I have another story of how it has helped me in running. When I moved to Georgia at the beginning of the year, I was injured and couldn't run any longer than 7 minutes without hurting. After practicing yoga for a few weeks, I was able to take up running again, and last much longer than 7 minutes!

As noted earlier in one of my posts, I am on my way to being a cycling instructor. Another one of my goals is to become a yoga instructor. First things first though- right now is cycling. Once I master that, it's on to yoga...

Discussion Questions:

What's your take on playing through pain?

Do you practice yoga? Why/Why not?