Easy to say harder to put into practice, especially when there is pain. I had my first PT appointment and the difference in my pain and ROM was amazing after an hour of movement. It was so scary as I had just been given the ok to wean myself off of my boot. I had not even slept with out that silly boot, and now he wanted me to walk with out it!
Fear mixed with excitement as I explored a few steps with out my beautiful black boot. Ok, not to bad, stiff and some pain. So the next day I make it to PT and Rich, my therapist massages and moves my ankle and I am thinking cool, I get to do this twice a week! LOL, little did I know he was assessing and exploring my ROM and my soft tissue, now for the real work! First thing he has me do is ride the bike for 10 minutes, OMG that was a grueling 10 minutes, but with each slow rotation of the pedal I felt my ankle opening and releasing. After several more ROM exercises, I was amazed at how open and loose my ankle felt. The pain seemed to decrease as I put my weight on it.
Each morning when I awake, those first few steps have been so painful and as the day progressed the pain decreases. I get the fear associated with protecting an injury, yet I also know that unless there is a structural reason not to, when we suffer pain or stiffness, movement is the best remedy. Where does that conditioning come from to protect the body from what it wants and needs. /the aversion to pain seem to over ride my desire to move.
Even as I sit here I find myself being overly cautious and protective of my ankle. The longer I baby it, the longer is my recovery. However there is a fine line between over doing and under doing. For me finding that balance is going to be key. Obviously I do not want to strain, or push the limits of my ankle, but as I gain this valuable information within my own body, it is going to allow me to be more compassionate with clients that come from that place of fear, share my own experience with movement and healing and hopefully be able to encourage them to let the body move and heal.
Each step along the way of my progression has required me to drop a crutch, be it the crutches themselves, or the boot, I find that my progression in mobility first takes me a few steps back, yet my progress toward healing is moving forward.
As you step on to your mat, observe the Crutches of your practice. Maybe in your forward folds the fold comes from the upper back rather then hinging at the hips, and to correct this, to really gain the full benefits it may mean that you don't go quite as far into your forward fold in an effort to keep the heart open and direct the stretch into your hamstrings, tipping the pelvic bowl forward.
We all have crutches in our practice, they give us a false sense of depth and ability while cutting us off from progressing naturally in our practice. You may find as you uncover and release your crutches, you also are able to release the ego as your worry less about the end result and take time to enjoy the process.
As you prepare to leave the mat, set an intention to Slowly set them down, be open to take a few steps back as you then move forward with a deeper awareness and truer since of self. This too is a process and takes time, don't throw out all of your crutches at one time and rush thru the process. It takes time and it can be frightening.
Would love to hear what your experiences are as you slowly release the crutches (both in your physical practice and in your life) that appear to keep you balanced but actually have prevented you from standing confidently on your own to feet.
See You, on the mat!