Honouring the Body We’re In

Since returning from Tanzania, I’ve had to admit something my mind was slower to accept than my body: I’m a little… stiff. In the spirit of being proactive (and perhaps a touch optimistic), I signed up for a couple of Yin and Restorative Yoga classes each week. Gentle, grounding, good for the nervous system. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, this week, somewhere between surrender and stillness, my knee had other ideas.

What followed were a few humbling days of hobbling; when walking felt less like a given and more like a negotiation. There is, it turns out, no glory in injuring oneself during restorative yoga. No dramatic story, no hard-earned badge. If anything, the only thing truly bruised was my pride.

Terry Biles, a veteran and therapist here at Landing Strong, offered a reframe:

“Just tell people it happened during combat yoga,” he grinned.

I appreciated the spirit of his suggestion; it had a certain edge that my reality lacked.

But beneath the humour was something worth paying attention to. This small misstep (quite literally) has been a quiet reminder of the importance of meeting our bodies where they are, not where they once were.

Muscle memory can be misleading; so can identity. We remember what we used to do with ease and assume it’s still ours to claim.

The truth is, we are not getting younger. Perhaps that’s not the loss we sometimes make it out to be. There is wisdom in recalibrating, in trading intensity for attunement, in choosing compassion over correction.

Perhaps the goal is not to return to who we were, but to care well for who we are now, striving for optimal wellbeing, given this body, this moment, this season.

Even if it comes with a slight limp.

Warmly,

Belinda Seagram, Ph.D., R. Psych.
Executive Director, Landing Strong