My Mindful Injury

It had been a long week.  And before that, a long month.  After sixteen hours of lecturing, eight flights, two TV-appearances, and one funeral,  I decided that it would be a great time to move.  And I thought it would be an even better idea to do it fast – lugging the couch, the easy chair and my entire kitchen between a Hip Opening class and lunch time.

It seemed like a good idea…right up until my lumbar vertebrae shifted with an audible pop.

Now I know many of you will read this and remember yourself in a similar situation.  Bent over, frozen, with a FILL IN THE BLANK (love seat, out door flower pot, moving box, small child) in your arms.  Feet planted.  Spine rounded over in flexion.  And then the brilliant, mindless decision to twist.  Nice.  Now I am paralyzed.  Glued to the earth (or the purple easy-chair, rather) for what felt like an eternity (about 60 minutes).  It was bad – and I’m not going to go into it more than that – but I will say that by doing the Aligned and Well exercise protocol and many mini-sessions of Vipassana meditation to control my reaction to the situation, I was walking four, easy-going miles by the next day, and comfortably upright by Day 2.  With no medication.

Why am I bringing this up?  Because I completely caused this situation, and I wanted to spare you the painful outcome of a mindless injury.

As soon as I heard/felt my back shift, I thought “this spasm is a reminder”.  That moment was the bill for every Restorative Exercise class that I swapped for 20 minutes of half-assed stretching in my living room.  And every time I favored a dose of caffeine and a late-night movie over two good hours of sleep.  The wail that seemed to come from my throat was really the sum total of every “YES” I had muttered when what I really meant was “NO, I don’t have the time, energy, ability, desire, etc.”

So here we are, at the beginning of December, with the next few weeks dragging us out of our routine.  What are we to do?  In order to participate, it seems this time of community and joy has to have equal counterparts of stress and fatigue.  But it doesn’t!

They say that the best gift is the one you give yourself:

1.  Send a Christmas or holiday card to an estranged friend/family member as an act of contrition.  You don’t have to create anything deep – just cut and paste this:  “Dear CRAZY:  I am thinking of you and hoping the best for you in 2010.  Sincerely, I’M ALSO CRAZY“.  You can change the names if you want, but you can catch my drift.

2.  Sign up for a retreat this year.  Life can absolutely improve every year!  I can’t recommend a Vipassana meditation retreat enough.  I think every human being should take this course, and it’s free!  Completely funded by the donations of past students, this course will give you the tools to cope with even the worst physical pain!

3.  Practice un-stressful hosting.  Invite a small group of friends over for a little togetherness.  Let them know that you will NOT be cleaning your house, preparing foods, or giving gifts.  But that you would like to be with them, if they would like to be with you.  Try it!  It’s amazing how much more we enjoy showing off our SKILLS TO DO EVERYTHING more than we enjoy just being.  Do it…I dare you.  (P.S. I am no exception.  I was going for the I CAN DO EVERYTHING award when I dislocated my spine trying.  Take a hint..!)

4.  Don’t throw your health out the window for the next month.  You deserve better than that.  Physical well-being is a pain in the butt because you can’t bank it.  You can’t trim a little off the edges here and there and expect the same, healthy-body results.  Keep up your regular routine and encourage others to participate with you and learn from your good example.

I’ll end with a nice email from my dad.  He’s actually a pretty good speller, just not the best typist

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