It all started 3 years ago when I broke my ankle in a freak accident. It was then, feeling really stupid and sorry, that I learned the most important thing about my body. I learned in that instant how much my body loved me. I was trying to install an air conditioner in a heat wave, first mistake! It was hot, my brain was a bit like melted putty and the very old air conditioner was heavier than I imagined. As I was fiddling with the plug, I balanced the air conditioner on a rolling stool, 2nd mistake. As I so diligently untangled the plug and was proudly ready to install the air conditioner on my own, it oh so quickly slid off the stool and landing on my unsuspecting ankle. Ouch! I screamed.
At first, I was in shock, not knowing what happened as I turned to see a very large and heavy air conditioner sitting smack on my ankle. In my shock, I picked it up and popped it into the window. It was at that point, that my body called very loudly to me to stop, pause and notice what had happened.
First lesson in body awareness. When we have an accident, everything speeds up and we want to slow down and attend to the slower pace of the body. After catching my breath, I just sat with my body and spoke softly to it; listening to what it had to say. It was hurt for sure, the pain now pounding.
Gently I touched my leg to notice that the fibula (small bone on the outside of the calf connecting to the ankle) was moving. Oh, I thought, this is not good, and I immediately felt sorry that I had hurt my body. Being in the habit of talking to my body, I apologized to it for my unintentional mistakes in planning.
What happened next was a surprise and an amazing gift of body intelligence and unconditional love. I felt this overwhelming energy from my body, it felt like the essence of my body speaking to me in sensation. Beyond the hurt and injury, there was a loving presence and it conveyed to me that even though I did something that I believed to be stupid in the moment, my body loved me. It loved me unconditionally. It did not blame me or think I was stupid, it just loved me.
What a gift this was to me to connect with the essence of my body wisdom and to feel it’s presence so profoundly. I felt the ancient wisdom that lives in our cells. I felt the capacity for a profound relationship with my body. My body felt like a loving, caring friend.
Over the next 2 months as my body healed I remained amazed as the healing happened with such grace and intelligence. My body knew how to heal. It did not need an instruction manual. It only needed for me to connect with it and listen to what I could do to assist the process. My ankle healed amazingly well, and I had no residual pain or limitation in my lower leg and ankle. I have to attribute this to tapping into by body’s wisdom and working with the loving intelligence that is always available to us if we pause and listen.
