twists and turns of a human life….9-16-19

Broad perspective and a long life: double whammy needed for revelation of often astounding patterns.  Our physical body is so uber-familiar, so basic, so much a seamless part of our 24/7 experience.   Understandable how we can be blind to the obvious: fascia and bones, muscles and ligaments, breath and being self-organizing over the decades.  This below surface domain fascinates me—in myself and in you.  And this year has brought me full circle on one of these patterns.

In ‘74 a whiplash impacted my left neck. For several years it would annoy and then go dormant.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have paid more attention.  Very insidiously this injury progressed in frequency, intensity and duration.  This is how human bodies communicate change.  After a decade, the increasing bouts became more debilitating with neurological pain and numbness in the left arm.  In my quest to heal this trouble, I landed squarely on this incredible path I still tread.  Fate.  No regrets.  Fifteen years into this whiplash, the turning point arrived; frequency, intensity and duration began their downward spiral. 

It was another five years before I was symptom free.  Twenty years total.  Wow.  During those remarkable years I certified in orthopedic manual therapy, the branch of physical therapy that treats just this type of challenge.  This education schooled me in so much and also made me aware that I had become symptom free, but not sign free.  In other words, there was a profusion of hidden underlying dysfunction, it just wasn’t expressing in pain.  I’m an active gal and over the ensuing years I dealt with other physical issues, moving methodically through each with the knowledge that this original injury set the stage for all that followed.  By 2000 it was apparent that all the ensuing compensation and adaptation had created an asymmetrical body, a functional scoliosis.  But, like an old twisted oak tree, I was alive and thriving and quite adept at managing periodic bouts of pain.

Then came twenty years of diving much deeper into yoga and dance, which ironically compounded some of the dysfunction.  And, at the very same time, illuminated what I could deeply sense and imagine about my body in motion.  Some kind of passage I needed to move through.  In the last five years I’ve addressed the asymmetry in some fundamental ways that have definitively brought pelvis more into balance.  Through all these years of change, that original left neck injury remained virtually dormant.  But it was no surprise when it re-emerged this last year, although the way it manifested fooled me for a bit.  Left hand pain coming then going.  Intermittent left earache or headache.  Sharp left elbow pain on again, off again.  Took me awhile to realize that my left upper quadrant was not really down for the shift created in alignment down below in the pelvis.  This dormant dysfunction had actually adapted and compensated quite nicely, thank you.  How dare I rock the body boat?

Lately I’ve been curiously exploring left head and neck, jaw and armpit, upper arm, forearm, hand in ways that were inconceivable to me 45 years ago.  Energetically, this left side holds the quality of feminine reception, a pulsating connection between my heart and my hand.  A hand that has perhaps given more than it has let in.  And so it goes…the twists and turns of a human life.  Bodies: the master recorders of it all.   A broad perspective and a long life: double whammy for revelation of some often astounding patterns.

In ways direct and convoluted being with this body in evolution has led me to create the two weekday morning offerings that truly excite me this fall:

• After a trial run this summer, Body Joy comes into its own.  Finally.  You can read about it at this link but you have to be there to get it.  So come out on a Tuesday morning at 10:00 and luxuriate in the 90 minute experience. Drop in or pre-enroll in the ten sessions.  We are moving together at Centered 700 Alhambra at G Street.
• Deeper Being is my invitation-only yoga class for those of you I’ve treated in my physical therapy clinical practice. An intimate revolving group of five who come to be supported in their own home practice.  It’s juicy and there are some openings this Fall.  If you have been a patient in the past and are interested in home support, let me know. I’ll send you the link to enroll.  If you are experiencing a body challenge, please consider a one-on-one .  After which you may want to check out Deeper Being.

Did you know they just discovered that the universe might be only 11 billion years old instead of 13 billion?  Inviting us all into a broad perspective….love, bella