Structure in September
My practice members have heard this story: In early July I took on hiking the 75 km West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island to commemorate my 45th birthday, camped for 6 days, had some falls and tumbles in the middle, and completed it after hiking out for 2 days & 24 km on an injured knee. I thought I had a strain/ sprain injury and endured crutches for 2 weeks, then walking sticks, got adjusted with chiropractic, had massages, went to my medical doctor, then the acute knee injury clinic and a sports medicine doctor and finally had a questionable x-ray and a confirming CT scan indicating that I fractured my knee (plus a meniscus injury).
As I write this at the end of August, it seems timely (it always does) that we're here to talk about Structure in September, and my structure has been dumped upside down. Partly my structure in my body, and also my structure in life.
It is impressive the health care services that are available to diagnose this in a timely manner. It has been a discovery for me to relearn how this important part of my body works and how much of our everyday life relies on our structure! Once I had the pain of the injury under control, brought the swelling down, and I started to re-hab the leg, I was amazed that not just the strength and muscle tone was reduced, but my balance and proprioception was largely gone on my one side. Just like the exercises we do for our brain and body balance, I challenged my body with balance exercises like one legged stands, leg swings, and heel to toe walks. The days I practiced those were the days I saw my best improvements in my walking stride. It was neat to see how getting the nerves synchronizing better was helping my healing process-just as it should be!
And the Structure in my life? I've gotten a lot of rest this summer as I rest up my leg. Forget walking the neighborhood, or hiking a local train or tiring my kids out at the local playground; 90% of my world has been reduced to a 1 km radius-mainly in my house or backyard. For summer, that may be a gift to be “forced” to rest in this way. As we head into fall when Structure and Routines become all the focus, keep in mind this modified quote from the article Stealing Time in the current Pathways to Family Wellness magazine, “[We] need to have time on our own to play, explore, and grow. Don't let...structured activities steal that time away.”
I thought I had the plan to be my healthiest (yet!) once I turned 45 and yes, I spent about a week there-ha! Guess that healthiest-in-my-life phase is still to come. I'm hoping to share my lesson that we can plan and create the Structure we think we need and want in our life, but when things go another direction, then let's go along for the ride and be flexible with the change. I've been reading lots, journaling, and enjoying the pampering at this unexpected change in my structure this summer.
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