As a proponent of self care, I (Dr. Dave) treated myself this week to an amazing massage with Gabriela Mezmer, just up the street from us. On the way home I went by Canadian Tire to pick up a Canada Day planter to go outside the office. As I was leaving, I was stopped in their laneway waiting for the Sheppard traffic to have a break when I felt a jolt as a huge Jeep ran into the back of my Toyota Corolla! I got out and checked the car and the aged bumper didn’t look too much the worse for wear, so I let the driver off with an encouragement to be more careful.
As I drove away, I realized that my neck was sore and I had a slight headache. While the car hadn’t sustained visible damage, it is not a surprise that the jolt I received had affected my body. Physics tells me that the force sustained from his much larger vehicle hitting my little car would lead to my head taking on this energy in forward motion, and my neck muscles would have to apply the brakes before it hit the front window. My initial reaction was to be bummed out- I had literally just had an amazing relaxing massage 30 minutes before that! It was “wasted”. Then I changed my perspective to gratitude. If I had not been coming from a massage and was carrying muscle tension and knots, the impact on my body would have been much more severe.
A number of years ago I had a patient who was in a significant car accident. His car, a convertible, ended up with an SUV on top of it and was completely totaled. He was standing at the side of the road with the crowd and the first responders could not believe that he was not in an ambulance. The police officer said, “I’m looking at a dead man!” This patient attributed his ability to handle the impact of the accident to the resiliency of his body which he credited, in part, to the regular network care he was receiving.
So what are the lessons I learned from this event, what steps did I take and how can we apply them to our every day wellness?
1. As I already said, try and change your perspective. If I’d held on to the “woe is me” view, feeling sorry for myself and my “wasted” massage, I think I would have had a harder time healing. Gratitude is a powerful healer!
2. Listen to your body! I had a long “To Do” list for that day which included some computer work. I gave myself a pass and took it easy- revamping my priorities for the day.
3. Do some Somato-Respiratory Integration (SRI). Gentle focused breathing helped me to release the stress and tension in my muscles and tendons. See our SRI videos in the “Helpful Links” section of our website.
4. Keep moving. Sometimes when injured or sick, I can be tempted to stay immobile until I feel better. This isn’t great for me, as gentle movement will help blood to circulate through my muscles and promote healing. I rested more, but still got up periodically and moved around. When I rested, I made sure that my head was supported to allow my neck muscles to be fully relaxed.
5. I saw a chiropractor within 24 hours. I am lucky, I happen to live on top of a chiropractic office and could see the wonderful Dr. Corey Cultrera by walking down the stairs. This made a big difference. You may not have that luxury to have a chiropractor so close at hand, but the office is now open 6 days a week with early morning and evening appointments available so that we can see you quickly.
We will all have times when our body will take a little jolt in our lives. It may be from gardening or a sport, from playing with your kids or a fender bender. Make sure you don’t leave that tension pattern in your body, but get it checked right away. And keep up with regular Network care to optimize your resiliency to handle the stresses of life. They are going to come- let’s be ready!