I hardly slept that night, the pain killers only took the edge off and I was pretty much in that place for three days, I don’t know how people manage with chronic pain that goes on for years! I got a lift back to the city and I scared my flat mate when I rang him and asked him to get me the strongest pain killers he could find without a prescription. I never even took aspirin for headaches so he knew something really bad had happened.
I couldn’t afford to take much time off work but I stayed in bed for a week and then somehow I got back into doing my corporate massage jobs. Looking back now I’m not sure how I managed but you do what you have to, certainly I was mindful every moment from this point on, even now I always walk carefully to guard against falling.
The treatments I had didn’t have much impact until I got in to see a man I had to wait two months for, from that moment on the healing began, but it was a slow process. He gave me stretches for my shoulders that I did religiously and advised me to change the way I did my massage. I discovered that I was working harder than I had to, my shoulders felt like they had to do most of the work but when I relaxed them the whole of my upper back could participate. I cut back my effort by about 30% and low and behold, people were just as happy with their massages!
I also did many little stretches through the day, often in the few minutes between clients, and it’s amazing what a difference those few minutes can make. Never think that you don’t have time to stretch if your body really needs it. In the end I was working in a way that was much better for my body, I couldn’t exercise so I improved my diet so I wouldn’t put on weight. I toned every day for my healing and started to hear the most beautiful overtones and harmonics emerging from my voice.
I would never want to go through an experience like that again, but it taught me so much, and inspired such growth in my health and well-being, I look back and I offer blessings and gratitude. Even now as my shoulders are aching from flamenco, even so I can bless that most painful part of my journey. I am stretching my shoulders every day and being very mindful in my dance practice, this body is too precious to me for me to allow myself to go unconscious and allow it to be hurt.
Blissings and gratitude for the obstacles on my path which have been such awesome teachers!
Through the Vortex 