In two years, I have had three surgeries, I began to believe that I was some kind of oyster as I have had stones removed from my kidneys and gallbladder. The first was an emergency surgery, the second one may have been scheduled and the last one was definitely preventative before I fell into another medical crisis.

Back To Yoga after Surgery

Between the first and second surgeries there was no chance to get back on the mat to practice yoga. A month apart from the fear of injury and the strange feeling that a catheter produces inside the body, I decided to give it time and look for some activity that would not bother physically.

After the second procedure, after the removal of the catheter, the recovery was faster and everything was back to normal very soon.

However, each body evolves differently, not all of us go through surgery in the same way, even if it is the same procedure. Several factors influence the recovery of the physical body: age, physical condition, stress level, knowledge and expertise of the medical staff, health history and many other things. Even the mental body is one of the most determining factors in post-surgical improvement.

Returning to yoga or sports after surgery requires that we considerate:

Did you used to practice yoga before the surgery?

Do not look surprised, this is a basic question because many people think that, even if they had never practiced yoga, it is going to rebuild, heal, recover, and leave it as good as new, and the truth is that it is not.

It is an activity that brings many benefits, but it is not a perfect substitute for medical prescription, medicines, therapies and that with pure yoga or exercise you will recover. If you practiced yoga before undergoing surgery, you will surely understand that your body will indicate the progress of your recovery and, above all, the moment when it is ready to become active again.

What type of surgery did you undergo?

Regardless of whether it is the care of an injury, an illness or a cosmetic issue, you must consider the complexity of your surgery. It is not the same to have a nose job or a tummy tuck as it is to have a herniated disc or a broken bone. The role of your doctor is vital to know and understand how much they invaded your body and therefore, how much time it requires to recover.

Did the surgery leave you with any consequences or sequelae?

There are some operations that bring with them the need to rest for a longer time than usual, others that ask you to start walking and moving almost the same day of the surgery so that you can resume basic functions more quickly and thus avoid medications, and other post-operative actions such as carrying out a series of therapies or rehabilitations to recover.

Do you feel anxious about getting everything back to normal?

We are desperate to get back to being active and doing what we did before the surgery. Even more so when a couple of weeks go by and usually by then we feel very well on the outside, we resume activities such as driving, working, eating normally, etcetera. But what about inside? We may not realize it, but the internal recovery process is very different and lags behind the external process.

This is where the mental body plays an important role, since it is the one that will help us to be calm, to avoid being invaded by feelings of anxiety and stress for wanting everything to return to normal and return my strength, flexibility, endurance, cardiovascular condition and everything I had with my physical activities.

This is where we must control the fluctuations of the mind and give ourselves the necessary time for the body to restore and recover its condition without forcing it to do so.