As you probably know, I (Dr. Ivey) published a book this past spring. The process of writing a book was both easier and harder than I expected. I like to write, as you can see if you look through the archives of our website at the monthly newsletters. Life has given me lots of opportunities to observe storms in my life and in the lives of family and friends, as well as the members of my practice. I’ve gotten to observe which strategies help during challenging times and which can add more stress to an already stressful situation.
I thought that once the book was published, I could put it down. However, the ride continues as storms are a natural part of life. Since the book came out, I have experienced a leaking water pipe in my office ceiling which was repaired but then leaked again after I had the ceiling replastered, as well as various health challenges including a broken arm just before we headed to Europe. The funny thing was that I had turned down an opportunity to do the “Tough Mudder” in September (an intense obstacle course race) because I “didn’t want to break something” before I went away! I then broke my arm in a silly manner during a Zumba class. My sister asked if I was perhaps setting up for a sequel to my book.
I am happy to report that I think I have weathered each of these storms well. I have used the principles I describe in the book, doing my breath work and burst training to burn off the extra cortisol when I couldn’t exercise my upper body due to injury.
While away on our trip, I got a health reminder regarding something I have taught about for years. I regularly tell people not to carry a back pack on one shoulder. I have taught workshops at schools on the subject. Unfortunately, while travelling with a large brace on my arm, I had a lot of trouble getting my back pack onto both shoulders- I had to get Jane to help me get it over the brace. This meant while travelling from Rome to Trieste on 3 different trains, I cheated half the time and wore my heavy back pack on my right shoulder in order to facilitate getting on or off a train. I didn’t think anything of it, but the next day I had such a painful right hip that I was limping. I didn’t know what I’d done until I went to put my back pack on a few days later and immediately felt it in my hip. The hip bone is connected to the back bone, as the old song says.
I listened to my body and took it easy for the first part of the cruise, minimizing the amount of walking I did. Jane explored some of Slovenia without me, as I reclined on a bench in the sun and enjoyed the view. I took FULL advantage of the thermal spa and stretched my hip flexors using the exercise described in the video from this newsletter, In a few days I was back to normal.
There is never a convenient time to injure yourself. Travelling, on my very first trip to Europe, with all the walking involved was not a time I would have chosen! However, maintaining a good perspective and attitude, listening to my body’s cues so I didn’t keep aggravating the condition but allowed time for healing, and having a regular stretching and exercising regime for maintenance all served to make this health storm blow over quickly.
Preparation for storms is crucial. I was travelling with zip lock bags to put ice in- I thought they’d be for my elbow, but they came in handy for my hip. If you’d like to get more tips on storm management, you can pick up a copy of my book in the office for $20 or order it on Amazon by clicking on the picture above.
“We can’t stop the storms, but we can learn to dance in the rain“. – Vivian Greene
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The Storms Keep Coming
