Many of us would often spend most of our day hunched over and staring at screens, black matte mirrors stare back at us. Such a habit seems almost part of the simple routines that we perform, from making our bed in the morning to driving to work. Time flies by during these small rituals yet we barely pay attention to it. Just how often are we really present in our day-to-day lives while swimming in the mundanity?
On my second weekend of YTT, I had a rude awakening to pay better attention to my body.
My morning started with breath work and a 20-minute meditation. It seemed easy, sitting and meditating, how hard could that be? Turns out the brain is a difficult organ to calm. So many of us grew up in environments that encourages us to play the game; to chase and attach ourselves to the next big thing. We may sometimes get so obsessed that we forget to acknowledge our surroundings and pace ourselves due to how we were nurtured.
As the meditation slowly eased itself to a gentle end, I shook my legs and I could feel the tingles creeping about my feet. My left foot came back to normal feeling in no time while my other leg was still numb. I felt tingles from the bottom of my feet to my knees. Weird.
Ten minutes passed, and this feeling of needles and pins was still present, I caught myself staring at my foot to check if it hadn’t turned blue.
After a series of frantic google searches I decided to sleep on it. The days turned into a week and I still felt numbness. I grew increasingly worried overtime and saw a physiotherapist.
As it turned out my right hip-flexor was weaker than my left. This was mostly likely because while running, I seemed to lean to one side every time. I kept running, unaware of the effects from this bad habit until it was too late. My hip caved, dis-allowing me to perform.
This experience has taught me to re-learn things I often over-look for someone who loves to stay active with double gym sessions. An injury from sitting was something that I never thought could happen to me.
Cheryl
200 Hour YTT Oct’20
