Dealing with Side Effects

 Dear Yoga Therapist,

I have some side effects from the medication I take. Fever, achy, flu-like symptoms. Is it better to just rest or do a light stretching session? Don't worry, I'll listen to my doctor, and to my body.

 Your #1 Fan

Dear Number 1 Fan,

 I can tell you're someone who reads often. I'm glad you already know I'm going to tell you to listen to your body and check in with your physician. You're ahead of me on that one.

 Fevers, body aches, that whole flu-like wave are some of the most commonly reported side effects of new medications. This is often just your immune system reacting to something unfamiliar moving through your system. Yoga isn't going to change that chemistry. What it can do is meet you where you are and make it more bearable while your body does its work.

Fever, inflammation, anything ending in "-itis” all of it belongs to agni, fire. And fire has earned its reputation. It transforms. It changes form. It gets things done. However right now, your body is already doing plenty. All that heat, all that doing, might be exactly what needs relief rather than more fuel.

So here's the question to sit with: What would it look like to rest into earth energy instead? Less generating, more being held. And what if you borrowed something from water and its many forms? Water knows how to pool, how to sit still, how to be playful and unhurried. It isn't always rushing somewhere, although it can do that too.

 My recommendation is simple. For now, add to or replace some of whatever heat-generating practice you'd normally reach for. Try something earthier and wetter. Make some mud! Grounded, supported, low to the floor. Let stillness do some of the work we usually assign to fire.

 And consider how water behaves when it meets an obstruction. It doesn't push harder or fight the blockage head-on. It slows, it pools, it finds the smallest opening, it moves around. There's something to learn from living with an illness you can't force your way through.  Meet resistance, with patient, adaptable yielding until the way opens on its own.

 — Your Yoga Therapist

This column offers general education and perspective, not medical advice. Please consult your physician or healthcare provider about your specific health situation. If you have a question for The Yoga therapist, please feel free to write them to Ronny.pearsall.yoga@gmail.com