Wednesday is body wisdom day

That's me and my friend Sanae at an Om Yoga retreat at the Overbrook House in Bourne, Massachusetts last weekend.
Inspired by a weekend of attention to being present in body, mind and being, I've declared Wednesday Body Wisdom Day. And all that means is that I will be sharing with you whatever the universe has shared with me, through my body and the experiences of the day.
For the last several weeks, I've been focused on my left ankle. Having sprained it back in September, I finally sought out Physical Therapy and have been working on strengthening it for weeks.
It's not that big a joint, but it is huge in terms of everything from balance to body alignment.It effects everything above and below it. And once you've sprained an ankle, it's likely to keep getting sprained.
But the obstacle is the path and since there's no getting around it, one simply has to accept the circumstances and do the necessary work. Wear an ankle brace. Go to PT. Retrain the ankle to work like new.
And it's working. My ankle is getting stronger. I was able to take a karate class for the first time in what seems like months without pain or a brace.
And now my right shoulder is killing me. So much so that in yoga today, I stayed in child's pose while everyone else played with hand stand.
Basically, the shoulder is just screaming louder than the ankle. It's been bothering me for longer than the ankle actually. All those punches, and now downward dogs. My shoulder needs some love. It needs to be noticed and nurtured.
It will heal. And I look forward to the lessons it has to teach me.
My ankle has been a fabulous teacher. I've learned what it's like not to go all out in a karate class, but take it slow and stick it out. I've learned to not push through, but to back off. And I've got a whole new alignment thing going on. I'm still learning, retraining my sway back to relax into neutral.
As our weekend yoga teachers coached and coaxed us to do, I'm learning to do less.