namasteph yoga blog

My chronic fatigue was acting up earlier this week. I had been exercising heavily (a lot of swimming, etc.) and had not been eating well. Tuesday night I went to a green networking event that included the worst tofu “sushi” ever created in the history of man. But since they had promised lots of yummy appetizers, and I had paid $10 for an event that went through dinner time, I figured I could have those appetizers for my din-din.

Big mistake. Bad tofu sushi - or “tosushi” as one networker called it - plus a handful of organic “Cheetos” is just not a good dinner meal. So the next day, I was wiped out, tired, and filled with brain fog. I had done a simple yoga twist on the floor, stood up, and gotten quite dizzy. What was going on?

I have chronic fatigue syndrome, and I have been diagnosed with anemia and low blood pressure in the past. The thought occurred to me that perhaps I had not eaten enough protein and was maybe anemic to boot.

I thought I’d try something else. Since my head was feeling the lethargy more than anything, the first thing I tried was doing a shoulderstand. Well, amazing. The blood flowed into my brain during the inversion and I immediately felt better. (And I did not get dizzy.) Aha - I was suffering from low blood pressure, and I was not getting enough blood to my brain.

Intuitively, I felt I needed some red meat. Yes, I know that red meat is a big no-no in a traditional yoga diet, but as someone who manages chronic fatigue syndrome, I find that red meat sometimes makes a huge different in my energy. Even my acupuncturist told me I should eat more red meat. (And she’s a very spiritual, new age-y acupuncturist!)

So that night, I got myself a big steak burrito from Baja Fresh. I also took some iron and potassium supplements. The next day, I felt light years better. I have eaten some meat every day since then and all my symptoms went away.

And as for the yoga inversion itself - I think I will try to fit in some sort of yoga inversion daily even for just a minute to let more blood flow back to my head. We’ll see what happens, but I think it will help overall.

And - no more tosushi!!