Influenza and Yoga Practice

Practicing yoga has not been easy these last three weeks. It all started when my fiance S. came home from a business trip on a Friday with a tiny cough. By the time Sunday came around, he was lying on the couch with the flu. My health quickly declined as well, and by Tuesday of the next week, I also had the flu.

Now, this was not just the flu. It was the REAL influenza. Body aches, chills, fever, loss of appetite….the works. And the worst of it was, both my fiance and I were sick at the same time. We were miserable together and Netflix was on 24/7. There was nothing we could do but just rest.

Of course, I was not well enough to practice yoga. I do usually try to push myself to practice when I have a minor cold or allergies, but I literally couldn’t get up out of bed. This fatigue lasted for four days and I developed a very bad cough along with it. It was the type of cough where I couldn’t lie flat without a hysterical coughing fit. Sitting up was my only option.

Finally, after seven days of not practicing yoga and resting my body, the flu was gone. But, my cough still lingered. I decided to try some yoga poses at home to see if I was well enough for class, but it ended up in a coughing fit. I felt that if I went to class my cough would disturb the other yogis. I had visions of other yogis moving their mats away from me as I coughed up a storm. I was so upset. I felt better, and yet, I still couldn’t practice yoga.

I made up my mind to try remedies to ease my cough. I wanted to get back to my yoga practice. I used honey, hot tea and cough drops for three days, but still I was coughing. I finally had enough. I was going to practice yoga, and if I coughed in class, I coughed in class (which did happen).

I was proud of myself for pushing through my annoying cough to continue my practice. Readers, I would love to know what remedies help you get back to your daily workout routines and/or yoga practice!

~Namaste

Scrappy Yogi