Why Injuries Can Be Awesome
4 Truth Smacks when I suffered from Sciatica
Would love to share this story with you…
One late summer day I was helping my husband put in a concrete, outdoor deck for our BBQ to live on. It took us 2 weekends digging dirt, leveling the ground and lifting twenty-five, 50lb concrete slabs. Well the 2nd weekend I lifted a slab and turned my torso without moving my feet. Yup, I felt a zing down my left rear, saw stars, and thought I was about to puke. (To be honest, I felt like I was in labor again with my son). This is was my first ever-sciatic injury.
The following 4-weeks was a true, eye opener for me and realized how an injury can actually be awesome. “Can” being the operative word. Aside from the physical pain that comes with having an injury, it can challenge our egos too. Read on about my truth smacks…
*I focused on what I could do, not couldn’t do. As soon as I took the injured body part out of the game, the awareness shifted to other parts that don’t normally get attention.
Adapting my SharQui class to get what I needed opened me up to a class I’d never experienced before. It felt like a whole new world (cue the song). I didn’t care if I couldn’t do all the moves as I had these amazing new tools to explore, like using my arms more to get an upper body workout, or bending me knees more to get a lower body workout, and more!
*It made me a better instructor. In order to heal, I rested and got a lot of chiropractic adjustments and massages (rough break, I know). I learned from my chiropractor what muscles could’ve influenced my injury and what needed to be released. As a result, I became way more present, and was even more effective at getting my students into their bodies.
*Is what I value really what I should value? I learned something about myself; that I give myself more worth when I can do the physically hard stuff. I thought that I wasn’t “fit” or “getting old” or “less than” if my body was failing. Is that what I’m really about? “Hell no!!” So I decided to be someone who acts with self-love, grace, and a sense of humor than someone who can do mayas all the way down to the floor and up, then into a jump and turkish drop, all while balancing a sword on my head. (Just kidding, but you know what I mean) But what I am getting at is when my values changed, my feeling of being injured changed from pissed off and frustrated to ease.
*It felt good to practice what I preach. SharQui is accessible because it’s adaptable. I encourage people to do what their bodies can control and where they are that day, as SharQui is a multi-level format. Then when it was my turn to walk the talk, I was beating myself up. Well I kicked that negative chatter to the curb and decided to own it, dammit!
So my truth smack to myself is…
I can be 100% powerful, even if my body isn’t 100%.
And so can you!
Now I would love to hear from you. What truth smacks have you experienced during an injury? Comment below!
Oh and if you still have not experienced SharQui yet (for realz??), head over here to check out a class in your area or here to grab copies of the DVDs to practice at home.
Stay passionate,
Oreet