This is a re-blog of a personal story about dealing with some physical pain while I was at Kripalu. For those of you who live with chronic pain, I hope you will be inspired by this.
I have a deformity of my low back, which was exacerbated in a skiing accident in the 1990’s. The bottom line is that I have to be really careful not to jolt it, do quick movements or backbends that could bring about spasms or make the condition worse.
So, going to Kripalu a few years ago, I made sure I had strong antispasmodics if my back went into spasm. I didn’t want to be incapacitated for yoga teacher training!
I was alert and prepared. I was also pretty tense about it.
The first two days I was being so careful; avoiding certain poses and making my own adjustments. I feel good about taking care … “of this darn back of mine that is preventing me from having as much fun as everyone else!”
Then I experienced a sharp pain in my left knee. With all the sitting I wasn’t surprised, and I needed to give it attention.
We were doing pranayama and meditation practice, and what I was learning was to breathe deeply, adjust my body, and let the prana or life force flow into the area that hurt.
The idea is to allow the channels to be open so that the body’s natural healing can work. There are different breathing techniques to activate and move the prana energy.
The next day my knee stopped hurting. But there was a shooting pain in my ankle.
So I adjusted my position and breathed deeply letting the prana flow there.
The next morning, there was no pain.
What about my back? I had forgotten about it. It should have been aching after six days of sitting but it was doing okay.
In fact, I felt wonderful. No pain anywhere.
The lesson I want to share with you is:
Notice it.
Let it relax.
Give it space.
Breathe into it.
Let it be.
What I now understand is that this can work for all pain – whether its physical or emotional.
Our body has a way to deal with hurt and brings its own ability to heal when we recognize it, and are kind towards it.
I’ll still take the meds and apply heat when needed …. but I’ve learned a valuable lesson about living from my Middle Ground.
I am so grateful.
Namaste.
Find Your Middle Ground 
I’d love to hear from you …