What I Learned From My Yoga Injury

One of my most prized possessions is my health and vitality. I didn't think I took it for granted. No sir. Especially in my line of work, where I have the privilege to work with people during devastating illness and injury or at the end of their life. But when I experienced my own (relatively minor) physical injury last month I had an opportunity to learn a few lessons about myself, my body, and how I can live my life.

I started the year off with action. On January 1st I completed a Yoga Mala Practice of 108 Sun Salutations with a dear friend and teacher, Jenn Maniates. It was tough but amazing! And I went home and rested and soaked in epsom salts, as advised. Then my partner and I travelled to Kripalu for a long weekend of yoga and hiking (and also some dancing thrown in). I felt great! My body felt strong and my mind was clear. So ready to take on the new year. But then, a few days after returning home, I hopped out of my car to walk into work and something happened. All of a sudden I could barely walk (let alone do dozens of poses or hike a mountain). I am lucky enough to work with some really skilled Physical Therapists and as soon as I walked into the building I heard "what happened to you??" You can't sneak any gait disturbances past them!

It turned out that there was a fancy name for my injury: I "overdid it." Too much flexibility and not enough strength around my hip caused irritation and pain in the joint and nerves. It was weeks of rest and rehab before I was pain free. And I was so impatient, I thought I would never feel better again. As I started to ease back into my normal activities, the many gifts that came with this injury came into the light.

I finally went to a yoga class last week. I did the whole practice but took a lot of modified poses. I approached my teacher after class to tell him the whole story, how I was recovering, and all I was discovering in the process. When I was done, he said "congratulations!" I smiled and thanked him, because I did uncover many gifts in this experience.

1. You don't know what you've got till it's gone. I thought I was grateful for my health and physical body. But once it was not available to me, then given back, THAT'S when I was REALLY grateful. Trotting up the stairs, sitting cross legged without pain, and just generally moving around pain free is such a blessing after knowing the alternative. I will treat my body with tenderness and gratitude.

2. My injury colored everything. This particular lesson works in two directions. First, it reminded me that there is much more going on for people than meets the eye. My pain and lack of mobility made me cranky and sad, but it was pretty much invisible to others around me (except my rehab therapy friends who could detect my limping a mile away). Compared to some, my injury was brief and mild, but it had a major affect on me. Especially because I was exploring it as more than just a physical injury, and lots of thoughts and feeling were coming up around it. There is a quote I love "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." And I will.
But also, I had an opportunity and a responsibility to put aside my thoughts and fears about this injury, put it in perspective, and (as the now famous British WWII poster says) "Carry on." I will keep calm and carry on.

3. Even something healthy can cause injury when not in balance. As I hobbled around I thought "but I was doing healthy things!" I am naturally flexible, but others are naturally strong. And we tend to prefer exercise that comes more easily to us, so even in my strength building yoga classes, I was tending to sink more into flexibility work and skip the heavy strength stuff. Now I know, when you stretch yourself, you have to protect yourself... or you wreck yourself. And yes, exercising is healthy, but too much of any one thing can throw us out of balance. The same goes for healthy eating. When choosing food becomes so strict that there is no pleasure, we miss out on one of the important ways food and other things we consume "feed us." I will seek balance in all my affairs.

4. Mindfulness goes a long way. After learning all about the way hips work, and asking tons of questions about exactly what was going on with my pain, I began to notice all the ways I created this weakness/imbalance in my body. I realized that I often cross my legs tightly, or stand in a funny unsupported way, or move quickly in and out of twisty positions. Bad habits formed purely out of living day to day and not knowing the affect they have on me. It reminded me of teaching my patients abdominal breathing, and how they often say they had no idea there was any other way. Mindfulness is a practice, thus it is not meant to be done perfectly all the time, but the more mindfulness and awareness we can bring into our every breath, every movement, every interaction, the more we can create the experiences we want. Now, when I am standing in line at the grocery store I can check my posture for places I am sinking into those bad habits, forgive myself, breathe, and correct. I will bring more mindfulness into my physical body and my life.

5. Doing less can be so much more. I've been back to my regular activities for a week or two now, and the most important lesson I've learned is that "less can be more." Before this injury, and especially when I was new to yoga, I would always reach for the deepest expression of the pose, and that felt good. But now that I have more experience, I see the benefits of building a pose from the ground up and attending to the subtle alignments and micromovements within each pose. I really value exploring these subtleties and I can feel how this work is what makes me grow, not the fancy body positions (which can be a nice bonus of a developed and advanced practice). I took a class with a favorite teacher recently, and I gingerly moved in and out of poses, caring for my still-recovering hip. It was a powerful and centering practice. We ended with a simple spinal twist and I could feel this twist in a whole new way, just because of how attentive to my body I had been. It was divine! When I drove home, the snowy landscape made me happy in a new way. And once in my cozy house, my cup of tea sweetened with maple syrup tasted incredible. All of these thoughts and sensations were hightened because of my careful and thoughtful attention to the subtleties of my body. I will explore doing less to see what more it will bring.

These lessons came from my yoga practice, but I believe they are beautifully applicable to many situations in life. I can see many places where I can find more balance (in my schedule, my food, and my relationships). I can see where I can experiment with doing less (in interactions with friends and clients, in my daily activities). Can you? Can you see the gifts in an unfortunate or inconvenient situation in your life?

The Best Holiday Gifts

As an SLP, one of my greatest joys is to witness the success of the clients and patients I serve. Each of these individuals have left their mark on me, and I often tell them I am learning just as much from them as they are learning through me. I think of many of these strong and inspiring individuals after they complete their time under my care.

The holiday season is a popular time for communication (I write this as I count the greeting cards on display in my home, covered in bright images of wintery scenes and children smiling). And so, at the turn of the yearly calendar, I sometimes hear from a former client reaching out to keep me posted on their progress and express gratitude. What a gift!

This year I got three amazing gifts from former clients, all of whom suffered devastating accidents, and all of whom made incredible inspiring recoveries. All three were individuals with brain injury and all three have returned to their life activities from before the injury (work and/or school). This is a particularly noteworthy feat because the effects of brain injury can be life altering and often permanent. According to Velzen et al 2009, Only "about 40% of the people with traumatic or non-traumatic ABI are able to return to work after 1 or 2 years. Among those with acquired traumatic brain injury a substantial proportion of the subjects were either not able to return to their former work or unable to return permanently." But these three were shining stars!


1. First, I received an email from a young woman who I worked with over three years ago. She was in a cheerleading accident which resulted in a brain injury that severely affected her balance, coordination, and memory. All these years later, she had kept the "Good Luck" card I wrote her when she left the hospital and emailed me to share her progress. She has returned to college and is now completing her senior year! She writes about her story here [http://braininjuryma.wordpress.com/?s=ryan+farrell] and here [http://sharedstory.org/RyRyStory]. 

2. Then I received a Holiday Card from a patient who was injured while riding a scooter on vacation visiting family. The front of the card showed was a photo of the whole family, smiling, and all wearing bike helmets.   And the text expressed gratitude for their blessings and wishes for a safe and healthy year. I'm so impressed at the loving and creative way they shared the message to "stay safe with a helmet!"

3. The third gift: Today, I received an email from a former client who was injured at work. His career is in engineering and needs to be very thorough, organized, and creative on the job. He wrote today with a happy new year message and shared that he has been recognized and given a bonus for an excellent job done at work. 

I treasure these messages from my former clients. Their hard work and tenacity inspires me that anything is possible! 

What can you achieve in 2014?

Citation: 
Velzen, M.(2009) How many people return to work after acquired brain injury?: a systematic review. Brain Injury. Jun;23 (6):473-88. 

Laundry Folding Yoga

Woah! That's a lotta laundry!

"It's hard to fit it all in" is a common phrase for the busy modern individual, myself included. But I believe that is related to the fact that we treat everything in such a compartmentalized way. We go to the gym to exercise, we go to a place of worship to be "spiritual," and our work and play is often so separate that many dread Sunday afternoon because they soon have to "go back to the grind". Our healthcare system is exactly the same way. We have bucketloads of doctors and clinicians who take care of only their own domain. The otolaryngologist for the ear nose and throat, the gastro guys for the belly, the pulmonologist for the lungs and respiration. In some ways this really works, because an individual clinician becomes so expert at his one body system, and it's pretty much impossible to know everything about every system. But sometimes it does NOT work. Like when the problem to be addressed is more systemic, or when there is a lack of communication between the specialists. I advocate for a holistic approach to healthcare, where there is communication and crossover between the disciplines. And I'll also advocate for that same holistic approach to LIFE.

When the components of your life are integrated, everything fits!

Picture it. It's a day off from work. It's rainy and cold, you know you need some exercise, some meditation and mind-body connection, but you also have about a boatload of laundry to fold. Here's how I integrate yoga and breathwork into my usually mundane chore.

Laundry Folding Yoga

First, a few centering breaths. And then try to keep the breath flowing throughout your "practice"

Forward fold and Padangusthasana to prep for sock folding.

Ardha Uttanasana ("halfway lift") for sock pairing.

Standing Back Bend while folding a towel

Virabhadrasana II folding another towel.

Malasana folding napkins and dishrags
(blurry I know, but I ad to use it because Simon the turtle was photobombing! Can you spot him?)

Dancers pose to reach for a T-shirt from the basket

Pigeon Pose folding tank tops.

Finished! Savasana

How can you get creative and integrated in your life? Can you combine cooking time with social time? Chores with exercise? Bring more spirituality into your career? Leave comments below with your ideas!

WEBINAR: Simple Ways to Incorporate Holistic Approaches Into Your SLP Practice

Led by Brenda Lovette MS CCC/SLP RYT
Owner of Healthy Expression:
Holistic Speech Pathology and Health Coachin

This Program Aired on:
Thursday, December 5, 2013 7-8pm EST

Missed it? Sign up anyway and you will receive the recording and materials packet by email.

Cost: $18

This program will give you practical and powerful techniques to move your practice in a holistic direction. 

Who is this for?

This program is designed specifically for Speech Language Pathologists, but may be interesting to clinicians and providers of all kinds

What will I get?

• A new understanding of the benefits of holistic approaches
• Confidence to follow your intuition to maximize your services
• Greater state of health for your patients/clients, and for yourself!

The program includes:

• A 50-minute course, accessible live and available to view after recording
• Techniques and tools to use immediately
• Reference documents including definitions of various terms and resources
• Research articles and other publications to support your movement toward a holistic practice

Are you ready to expand the scope of your practice?

All materials will be sent to the email address connected with your paypal payment, so be sure you check it before December 5.

Hash Browns Supreme!

It was a weekend morning. We wanted something fancy. But eating out is pricey and often disappointing (since we've been perfecting our culinary skills and consistently choosing high quality ingredients to use in our dishes). Pancakes wouldn't do. Oatmeal gets old. We needed something SUPREME!

Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes, diced
- 2 small onions, diced
- 10 crimini mushrooms, sliced
- half a bunch of Kale, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- oil of your choice (I use reserved bacon fat, yep you heard that right!)
- 2 tsp each of thyme and tarragon
- salt and pepper to taste

Method
Toss sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic in oil in your favorite pan (mine was cast iron). Cover and let cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are nearly tender when pierced with a fork.
Add mushrooms, kale, and spices. Toss, stir, till cooked to your liking. Serve with bacon and eggs, or all on it's own. Yum!

Aphasia on Screen: Ram Dass in Fierce Grace

"Aphasia is a loss of language, not a loss of intelligence." That is the National Aphasia Association's motto and tag line. It's an empowering nod to all the individuals who are living with this disorder of communication. Maybe it helps. But it doesn't cure all of the frustration and hard work that comes with having aphasia and surviving a stroke. I must say however, as someone who has sat across from so many individuals with aphasia and other communication issues, these "barriers" don't eliminate their ability to deliver some truly powerful and moving lessons.

Ram Dass is a famous contemporary spiritual leader who was at the height of his popularity in the 60's and 70's. He was(is) well loved by the "hippie" movement and spiritual seekers for his book Be Here Now and for helping to make Yoga and Hindu spirituality more accessible to Americans. In February 1997, Ram Dass had a left hemisphere stroke which left him with right sided weakness and expressive aphasia.

In 2001 he "starred" in a documentary which included his perspective on aging and his aphasia in addition to his life story. I watched the documentary recently and was on the edge of my seat! It was a beautiful illustration of  how Speech and Communication and Spirituality can be so interconnected (one of my favorite things to muse about).

The documentary opens with a clip of Ram Dass in 1969 speaking eloquently and esoterically about the discipline of the yogi to stay present through both physical/external and internal distractions. Then cuts to a more recent interview with him, gray haired and communicating with aphasia. From my perspective as an SLP, Ram Dass's aphasia is on the mild side (mild anomic aphasia to be exact), but his language skills are markedly different from pre-stroke, and immensely frustrating for such a high level communicator, no doubt. The movie was full of these juxtapositions: clips of Ram Dass pre-aphasia or people reading from his eloquent books and letters, followed by clips of current interviews or   speaking engagements. All equally moving and insightful.

Watching this film made me think about my own experiences talking with people with aphasia and the unconventional but effective way ideas are often shared. I have experienced that sometimes "odd" metaphors and word finding pauses, transparent facial expressions, and unspoken parts of an interaction can be even more powerful communication than fancy words and sentences.  Often these messages need little extra explanation. They stand alone. This is good news! It helps me to recognize that we can all be powerful communicators, no matter our real or perceived barriers to being fully expressed and to using our voice.

I had so many favorite moments in this film. Ram Dass working with his Speech Pathologist (of course I loved that). Ram Dass talking about wishing to be free from the aphasia, the paralysis, but also welcoming it as an "experiment of consciousness." A clip of Ram Dass ecstatically experiencing chanting and music. And Ram Dass delivering intensely moving guidance to a young woman who was seeking his counsel after a terrible tragedy in her life. He has aphasia in all of these moments, yes. But he was just as alive, loving, and powerful as ever. Beautiful.

You can watch Fierce Grace on NetFlix or on YouTube (here)

How to Respond to Overstimulation

I recently spent the weekend in NYC, attending a conference on voice therapy and visiting my Speechie Friend Erika. Erika and I met in 2008 when I completed my clinical fellowship year in Detroit and she has been a valuable friend and colleague since the get-go. It was her dream to move to New York, and she loves that city! I grew up in the distant suburbs of New York and I visited a lot in my youth, so the city has a special place in my heart too. But I haven't been back to visit in years. I was really struck by how BUSY it is there! After all, it is "the city that never sleeps"

SLPs (speech language pathologists) and other clinicians often think about how overstimulation and extra sensory information affect our patients with autism, learning differences, and brain injury. We know that it can lead to agitation or anxiety. We understand that it negatively affects new learning, performance, and accuracy. We even create goals for people to try to improve their performance in the presence of extra sensory input like background noise or distractions. But we don't always think about how typically developing or non brain injured individuals respond to these same situations and environments. 

My NYC weekend helped me become acutely aware of how I respond to them! My work with yoga and other spiritual practices has made me more aware of the energy of different people and places. And my intentional lifestyle, which includes early bedtime, lots of fresh clean food, and rest was definitely in contrast to my weekend on the go. I ate out almost every meal, I stayed up late to reconnect with my friend (and to match that notoriously night owl-y NYC clock), and I did a lot of hurrying around to arrive on time to busses, my course, social dates, etc. On monday, by the time I boarded the T at South Station for the last leg of my journey home, I was SPENT! I wouldn't have changed a thing. I had a blast and learned so much but I could tell the weekend had taken a toll. I was extremely fatigued and I felt like every nerve in my body was about to short circuit. I hobbled down my street suitcases in tow and got to work on damage control.

Here's how I took care of my body and mind after all that overstimulation:

1. I drank a tall glass of water. Not coffee. Not juice. Just water, to hydrate and start my intentional mini-cleanse. 

2. I played some soothing music. My favorite is the Putumayo "Yoga" album. 

3. I ate a home cooked meal. Luckily my partner had cooked the day before and there were delicious leftovers for the win!

4. I took a cool shower, with lavender essential oils sprinkled in the tub at my feet for calming.

5. I dried off and applied a soothing face mask. 

6. I finished off with the neti pot to clean out germs that had hitched a ride on my travels. 

7. The rest of the evening was all about resting and connecting. No work, no electronics. I needed to hit the reset button to be ready for the next day!

Post your comments below! What are some ways you have found to reset after being overstimulated?