HEALTH YOURSELF

HOW TO BOUNCE BACK AFTER SURGERY

We invest in gadgets, stock up on supplements and sign up to gym classes to improve our health and wellbeing, but what if we told you the most powerful tool you have is actually free? In our new weekly column, JANINE THOMAS explains how using your body, mind and breath can help you sail through life — and it won’t cost you a cent. Each week she takes a different, often challenging, scenario and shows you how to make the best of it using the simplest methods.

WHEN you undergo any type of surgery, your body takes a double bashing. There’s a wound that needs to heal and you also need to recover from having a general anaesthetic — a strong cocktail of drugs that stays in your system for up to a week.

Whether you’re recovering from a hernia or heart operation, hysterectomy or thyroidectomy, you can help your body heal faster and ease discomfort. Eat well and drink plenty of water to rehydrate, However, check with your doctor before you start any physical activity.

After surgery, nearly all patients are encouraged to get moving. As soon as you get the go ahead from medical staff, lift yourself out of that hospital bed. Go slow, though, and get plenty of rest, too.

I’d recommend dabbling in a bit of pawanmuktasana — a complicated Sanskrit name for a series of gentle yoga exercises that can release tension, improve circulation and get your whole body moving. After surgery, it has the added bonus of helping to prevent blood clots, increase blood flow to promote healing, ward off pneumonia and boost a sluggish digestive system.

You can even do these exercises in your hospital bed, but get to a chair if you can. Skip any parts that might pull at stitches or make you feel sore.

1. FOOT WORK Starting with the right foot, flex and point the toes ten times. Roll the ankle clockwise five times and then anticlockwise. Repeat with the left foot.

2. LEG STRENGTHENER If you’re in a chair, engage the muscles of the right leg and straighten it, lifting the foot off the ground. Do this 10 times with each leg.

3. HIP OPENER Place your feet flat on the ground, lengthen the spine and sit upright without the support of the chair back. Circle the hips, as if you were hula-hooping while sitting down. Go in both directions.

4. SHOULDER RELEASE Take your fingertips to the shoulders (see picture). Make large circular movements with your elbows to open up the shoulders, back and chest. Repeat 10 times in both directions.

5. WRIST STRETCH Lengthen the arms and flex both wrists so the fingertips point

upwards, then move the fingertips to point towards the floor. Repeat ten times. Now make circles with the wrists, moving your hands clockwise first, then anticlockwise.

6. NECK ROLLS Drop your chin to the chest and slowly start to circle your head in a clockwise direction to stretch the neck. Complete five full circles and then move anticlockwise.

7. JAW RELEASE Open the mouth wide and slowly close it. Repeat five times.

Repeat this sequence as often as you like and feel free to get creative and add in any movements that feel good for your body.

8. WHITE LIGHT MEDITATION Deep breathing works the lungs to avoid post-surgery complications such as chest infections and brings a little energy, too. It also relaxes the body, which can make any discomfort a little less intense, and studies indicate that it could boost the immune system.

Meanwhile, surgery can knock your confidence. A healing meditation such as this can help you stay positive.

Get comfortable and close the eyes. Focus on the breath and gradually start to extend your breathing as you inhale and exhale. Explore this feeling of the lungs filling and emptying for a couple of minutes.

Next, as you inhale imagine a bright, white healing light entering the body. Watch it fill the heart space. As you exhale imagine a soft grey haze leaving the body, getting rid of anything you don’t want.

Each time you inhale, imagine the soft, white bright light spreading out a little further from the heart until it eventually fills your entire body.

Observe the grey haze drifting further from your body each time you breathe out.

If you have a question email janine@ thisisyoga.ie. Follow This Is Yoga on Facebook and Instagram; thisisyoga.ie