In the early eighties, I was a military officer in the Army. Part of my training was to go through Airborne School. For those who are unfamiliar with military language, that means learning to jump out of perfectly good airplanes and jets while in flight. On my first jump, I encountered a parachute malfunction. I managed to fix the problem and open my parachute about 100 feet off the ground, however I did sustain injuries. Being young and invincible, I completed four more jumps that week. A few years later, I went through Air Assault School and learned how to jump out of helicopters. I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and stayed with them until 1989.
By early 2008, all of that activity finally requested payback. I discovered that I had 4 disks in my neck that were seriously out of alignment. One of the disks was applying debilitating pressure on my spine which caused my right arm to be paralyzed almost completely.
Nine months later, I had the worst of the four disks removed and my vertebrae fused. After a long recovery, I decided to use Bikram yoga as my rehabilitation. I requested that the doctor measure the displacement of the disks in my neck. What I discovered was that even after the correction of one disk, I still had three others in serious condition. The doctors told me that once two vertebrae are fused, eventually the disks above and below the fusion will fail. He suggested it was a waste of time to try and correct the other problem disks.
I chose to have faith in Bikram yoga and to continue to work as hard as I could throughout the practice. One of the basic principles of Bikram yoga is "try the right way" and even if you can do only 1% of the posture, you will get 100% of the benefit. My goal is to practice 3 to 5 classes per week and I can feel the difference when I do not. As a result my consistent practice and trying the right way, I quickly gained strength back in my arm and hand. I was surprised at how fast the atrophied muscles in my arm came back to life. My body and spine felt more balanced and stable.
Recently, I had the doctor perform another stress test on my neck. The results showed all but one disk in complete alignment. The one disk that was still out of alignment was no longer serious. With continued practice, I believe my neck, back and spine will continue to heal and will remain strong.
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