pain – We Only Get One Chance

BE MINDFUL

I am hoping that you are connected with us over Facebook, but if not, HERE IS THE LINK to go straight there. You can also look me up individually and follow that way. I have been doing some live shares over facebook as I drive and think and the last one was a warning to BE MINDFUL!!!

…and here is why that came up.

Last Wednesday I was in my practice and a woman came in that had been under care in the past but had to take some time off to heal from a fall where she fractured a vertebra in her neck. She was carrying a box down a set of stairs and stepped off the side in a bad way and hit the back of her neck on a steel handrail resulting in a fracture. She has healed well and is ready to get back under regular chiropractic care (some of you may be curious at this point that I can even adjust someone with this kind of injury. I want to remind you that I have a lot of tools in my bag of chiropractic techniques that allows me to work with and around all kinds of injuries as each person’s care is tailored for each individual and their needs).

I see a lot of people with injuries which probably goes without saying. Some of the stories make my stomach churn as the phrase that follows is always “WOW! That could have been way worse!!”

The next patient that same day was up north and cleaning up the kitchen and tripped over the dishwasher door that was out of her line of sight. This resulted in yet another conversation that went “Wow! That could have been a whole lot worse!” The final one that day was a slip and fall while getting into the car and sliding right underneath the vehicle…which “Could have been a whole lot worse!”

Our lives are super busy these days. I have to be honest, I am trying to do too much at once, carry too much at once and my brain is filled with all kinds of running thoughts also!!! I am in that same club however when I get to see these kinds of injuries, I take note of the theme. The running theme of all of these injuries…trying to do too much at the same time. Me too!! Me too.

Be mindful. Easier said than done often. What I notice for myself is that if I can slow down my mind to focus on the task at hand, I am so much safer, healthier and happier.

Being mindful wouldn’t necessarily have prevented these injuries however, we can’t know for sure, it may have. It is always hard to say at the time and easier to reflect backwards to see situations retrospectively.

I was getting ready the very next day and listing to a podcast or making a video for a friend AND curling my hair at the same time. Without looking down at my curling iron, I didn’t realize that it had spun around and was facing the other direction. When I reached down and thought I was grabbing the handle, I was actually grabbing the hot barrel, resulting in burning the pads of my thumb and two fingers.

When that happened, my first thought was how easily that would have been avoided by simply being present, looking up and then looking back down. I am notorious for trying to do too many things at once. As I navigate through my days, I notice just how many things I drop and realize that is a strong indication that I am not fully paying attention.

Look around in your life. Where do you find yourself trying to do too many things at once? Have you stumbled as you were trying to do something else? How many different directions do you think the mind can handle going in and still pay attention?

Be mindful.

Being mindful is much easier said than done however I am hoping by just having this brief read and reminder, it is more in the forefront of your mind as you navigate through your days.

I am not minimizing any of the things I mentioned before nor am I saying that they for sure could have been avoided. I just wanted to share this theme of the week so that you can be mindful too.

HOUSE SHOES

I am one that has to wear house shoes now.

One year ago I was preparing to turn 40 and I was really busy calling it “Version 4.0” and redirecting my attention away from the number and more towards an “upgraded version” of myself. Reframe on point!

I had summitted Mt Kilimanjaro a month prior and although I am sure my body was still trying to recover from the physical intensity of that experience, I was also in the middle of a 6 week yoga challenge when my birthday rolled around. Looking back, I am not sure that much yoga was a good thing for my body at that time.

As I continued with the challenge, I experienced more and more pain in my left foot. I was always fine during the class and for the rest of the day following, but the mornings were continuing to get worse and worse, with very painful first steps out of bed. This continued until I finished the challenge and took a break from that kind of movement….and then every other kind of movement as well. (All of the rest of the year following that injury and my “boot camp” has been written up in previous blog posts so I won’t go over all the details here but look back through the blog history).

Two days ago I was getting ready to head over to my brother’s house to celebrate my niece’s 8th birthday. I had a few things I needed to gather however front and center on my list of “things not to forget” were my house shoes.

I have been unable to comfortably go bare-footed in my house, or anywhere for that matter, in months. I spend all of my time with some sort of shoes on my feet.

I have been to quite a few yoga classes lately and sections of the classes are comprised of dramatic movements and jumping around…on hard floors…in bare feet. As I glance around the room at the other yogis, I find myself wondering just how much they take the fact that they can go barefooted for granted. And that is not saying that I wasn’t that same way not long ago.
I look at them and their feet and I think to myself…I remember a time when I didn’t think twice about being barefoot. Now I can wear one of 3 pairs of shoes but I have to have a pair on my feet at all times.

Yes that means getting up out of bed in the morning and stepping right into shoes.

Yes that means carefully crawling onto my double yoga mat (for extra protection) in the yoga room and being mindful enough to get through the classes.

Yes that means every single outfit I wear is matched with sneakers…either my Brooks or my Saucony…black or navy blue…and when I say every single outfit, I am serious.

Yes and that also means that I have to pack house shoes whenever I go anywhere.

I have a healthy fear of hardwood floors and tile now which seems really unfortunate but is apparently how life will be moving forward.

I always thought I would be able to do what I have always done. Version 4.0 told me different. I am not a fan of blaming age and years for all of our ails and have been seeking any and all information about healing foot tissue and nerves and bones…and everything else for that matter.

It has lead me down some interesting paths, into some interesting offices, trying interesting remedies, meeting interesting practitioners and reading some interesting books. I have a whole lot more knowledge about the foot and leg than ever before and I will continue to progress down my path of healing.

I still have quite a road ahead of me with this foot and have never had anything take over a year to heal. In fact, I am at the point of accepting maybe it will never ever be the same. I am trusting the slowing down process that has been required of me so far. I will keep walking forward even if every single step is inside of sneakers or these silly house shoes. Here is to celebrating the completion of my 41st trip around the sun!!! 🙂

LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE

I cried when I read this. This spoke to me in a huge way and is a small lesson to help teach you to listen to your inner voice:

Hi Erica, I’m going to call and make an appointment for both an adjustment and massage. I could wait and tell you all this when I see you but sometimes it seems easier to put my thoughts in writing rather than to just tell it, plus you are a busy person and I don’t want to take a lot of your time. (Although I’ve been known to write books instead of messages, which could take a lot of time anyway. LOL!)

I keep trying to think of how I got so far off track! It’s just these little slips that happen without thinking it will be permanent – like family coming and just not taking time to take care of self. It’s preparing food that they like (and I like) even though it is not at all healthy. Pretty soon, a slip becomes a slide, doesn’t it? So that’s part of what happened last summer.

But then, I decided that the yoga schedule was too hard for me to work out so I joined a local gym, not intending to never go back to yoga. However, I got convinced that working with a trainer would be a helpful thing so I paid huge bucks for that for several months, which meant I couldn’t afford to go to yoga, to the chiropractor, to a massage therapist, etc., etc. The trainer also believes in eating vegan, but is strict on high protein and low, low carbs, which I tried hard to do but couldn’t stick to it. So I started doing high protein/low carbs eating meat, cheese, eggs, etc.

Then, the knee that you had been adjusting got worse and worse and I went to a surgeon who said I had a torn meniscus and he did surgery. He also said I have a significant amount of arthritis in my knee and probably in the other one. That was back in September and I’m still in pain, still stiff and am now doing physical therapy trying to get some strength and flexibility back.
I eventually could not afford the trainer anymore and began so slide off the diet and because my knee hurt so much I also quit going to the gym for the most part. Then I started eating whatever I wanted and gained some of the weight I had lost back.
So, there I was, sitting in my recliner, hurting all over, swollen up in my joints, feeling tight in my muscles, feeling dead in my stomach and OLD, OLD, OLD!!!! And I started praying about it and asking God to help me. And I began remembering how I felt when I fed my body the healthy foods – fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts – all the things that are good (I was basically off fruits and whole grains on the low carb diet). And I remembered how limber I was, doing yoga, and chiropractic, and how great it was to have you support and encourage the yoga and the healthy diet and how easy and wonderful it was to get massages.
I think in the midst of all the voices that have swayed me one way and then another, I finally heard God’s voice – and my voice – saying “you know what is best for you! you remember what works, what is gentle, what is peaceful, what is healthy.
Sunday night I could hardly walk, hardly climb the stairs, barely even turn over in bed, I hurt so bad. Monday morning wasn’t much better and that is when I decided to make a change NOW! The yoga schedule will be the priority and my work schedule will be worked around it.
I will be going to PT for a while, but I want to come back to Cafe of Life and get back on the journey to health and wholeness. I have to stop allowing myself to get pulled off the journey and to stay focused!
I will be calling this afternoon and trying to get in next week. But I just wanted to tell you where I am in all this. I never intended on stopping my treatment there. It just little by little, day by day, time went by and pretty soon, I almost forgot.
As the yoga instructor says “BEGIN AGAIN.” I went back, by the way, on Monday evening. There was so much I could not do with my stiff knee but I did a lot and I felt more limber and not as tight and did not have as much pain Tuesday morning. The yoga instructor reminded me “Be gentle with yourself, but be persistent.” Good advise for someone who gives up rather easily, isn’t it?
I miss you and your gentle smile. I will be glad to see you and hope you haven’t given up entirely on me! I’m hoping to get this right this time.
Have a blessed Easter. I will see you next week, I hope.

MY RESPONSE:

Thank you so much for that email. I really appreciate you giving me all the details in your update because all of that stuff is important for me to know.

Life is a game of slipping and checking and BEGINNING AGAIN is always an option.

I never give up on anyone. Instead, I hold a space for healing for people whether you are at the Café of LIFE or on a journey that takes you from here. Either way, you will always be welcome here no matter how long it has been since your last visit. I realize that life takes twists and turns as mine does exactly the same. Healing comes from within and it is best to find something on the inside to anchor to so you can stay consistent, which sounds like you may have found that. Being gentle and persistent is how we progress, but take bite size pieces so you keep yourself having small successes that lead to bigger ones and then celebrate those.

There is a lot of “should’s” that can fall on us during a day and make us feel like we are failing in one area or another. Just do your best every single day and know that is all anyone can ever ask.

And give yourself a break, drink your water, find time to stroll and enjoy your days, make good food and exercise choices and believe in your body’s ability to heal. Your thoughts are powerful so make sure to use them in your favor.

Looking forward to seeing you…

Erica

Health & Happiness,

Dr. Erica Peabody

Every time I re-read this, the tears well up because I know there are so many people that have slipped and are struggling. Bless this particular person who shared her words so eloquently and is allowing me to tell her story.

Do you have a little voice in your head that guides you when you are lost? Does it talk to you in a positive way or negative way? Do you listen to your inner voice? It may be the most powerful guidance system you have for your life. There is so much technology, so many opinions, so many things trying to influence and steer you in this direction or that direction. Take some time to be quiet and listen to that inner voice…it is always right. Once you start to listen, and if you find yourself way off course…just BEGIN AGAIN.

A GREAT WEEKEND

It was a GREAT weekend, I mean really great. It was the most perfectly balanced weekend that I can remember in a long time. It started with a coaching meeting and getting my hair done on Friday morning. The evening marked the last class of Yoga Teacher Training with concluded with 108 sun salutations to a live bongo band. Awesome! And maybe you are not familiar with what a sun salutation is so let me breifly describe it. It follows the length of about 5-6 breaths and includes 11 postures, standing, forward fold, top of a plank then bottom, up dog, down dog and back to the top of the mat. Multiply that by 108 = A LOT of work. Good work though. Saturday morning began with the Le Leche League doing their cloth diaper sale in the front yard of the Cafe of LIFE. It was great because I came and helped set up and didn’t have to stay and work. So I chose to head up north. There is a bike ride called Zoo-De-Mack(http://www.zoo-de-mack.com/) that happens once a year and I have gone up and participated for 7 years. This year I didn’t get to do the ride but I went up for the celebration anyways. Mackinaw Island is such a cool place. There is so much to do and see there, I really enjoy it. The evening was filled with friends and dancing and everyone was in such great spirits. I woke early on Sunday and made it home to finish the weekend hanging out with my family and having dinner on the lake.

This is the frist weekend where I actually felt like I was able to catch up with myself. Seems life is so full anymore that I feel I fall behind a little with myself. Great to relax and have some fun and catch up. This morning I woke up loving the fact that it is Monday. Monday mornings are so full of potential. Some people really dread Mondays however I feel like there are so many possibilities for the week when I am staring at the ceiling waking up on Monday mornings. In that same moment, I am so grateful that I play a part in choosing to make the week a good one or not. It was a great weekend. May as well do our best to make all of our weeks great…we only get one chance.