[From Friday] I was just warming up for some basic movement/mobility work with some skate-boarding outside and tried a trick I’ve probably done 10,000 times, over a curb.
For whatever reason, it didn’t work out, I twisted and landed on my back on the side of the curb. It’s not serious, but I wasn’t walking afterwards.
So, while I lie here waiting for a lift home, I thought it fitting to share my thoughts on how I deal with injuries like this (not major ones, but ones that stop you in your tracks: strains, some falls, etc).
- Down regulate the stress response. Whether you realise it or not, your body goes into a very stressed state, very quickly. I do this with balancing blood sugar (eating a small balanced meal/shake, which includes plenty of carboyhdrate/sugars). Also bring attention to the breath. If food isn’t available, just the breath. Nasal breathing, ensuring no hyperventilation. We are telling the physiology that we are in fact safe and in an abundant environment, despite what it might feel like.
- Tentative movement. For me, this one was fairly painful. Any movement in the short term made it worse and gave signals to stop.
- More down-regulation. In this case, it seems like bad muscle spasming in the area where I landed. I usually will try to get into someone for very gentle work – cranial sacral osteopathy or cranial sacral work. I avoid hard therapies or hard movement.
- Stay patient, stay mindful. There quickly is a point where you might need to rest from whatever you were doing. Sure, rehab movement helps, but I find not as much volume and not as quickly as I used to. I now prioritise the nervous system (down-regulate the stress response), the breath, then the macro movement. I’ll start the movement process tomorrow.
Injuries are part of life, whether you are active, or not.
The first arrow of the injury can hurt, but the main thing is to stay aware of the second arrow – the emotional one. Thankfully this is a small one in this case, so it should pass fairly quickly.
The body might be in pain, but all we can do is remain alert and deal with it one step at a time – there is surely always something to be learned in the process.
