Take it off the mat today... Donna Jackson

I got up this morning and was planning on a really hard 'self' practice. But, all those plans came to a halt when my orthopedist said, "Every time you practice deep hip opening on the left side you push your joint to it's limit and your gonna be in pain".. the result of a labral tear in my left hip socket. Then he told me I was just like Alex Rodriguez and that I will need to learn how to practice without injuring myself. In other words a really deep hip opening practice is not in the cards for me unless I wanna be in pain for the next 24 hours. This he said is something I will have to live with. A tear in the labrum is basically untreatable. Not life threatening news. In fact, it's the kind of news that most people would not be that upset about. I, however, am pretty upset. My practice is so much of who I am. I love moving my body and I love practicing really hard. To me 3 hours on a yoga mat, breathing, and sweating and moving my body in a really deep way is just about as beautiful as it gets. So I decided to call some people who I know will make me feel better...

My dad (being the guy who once sold peanuts at Yankee stadium) said, "My daughter is just like A-Rod, I kinda like that". Massimo (being the look at the bright side kind of guy) said, "So you'll be a better handstander". MB (being the healer and fixer kind of guy) suggested taking a strap and some tape and doing all sorts of wrapping me up before practice. I was grateful for all of these conversations because they made me feel loved and supported but I needed to get this from myself. So I decided to take my conversations on this subject to a deeper place inside, off the mat. I shut off my cell phone, and took to the beach for a walking meditation. My kids had playdates and I had enough of a window in my day to make it happen.

Home now I can only say it was a beautiful experience. I took deep breaths. I didn't speak a word. I walked and I repeated the mantra "May I be peaceful, may my spirit be free" to myself a lot. It was a beautiful experience. I feel like I did what I needed to do for myself. Grateful for the water and the sun and the beautiful light and grateful for the opportunity to get to know & understand myself a little bit more.

And so lovely creatures of "The Promiseland", my suggestion for your self practice is just that: A walking meditation. No cell phone, no I-pod. No friends (even if they 'promise" to not speak to you). Make sure you're warm and cozy and just go... go and be quite.. go and breathe... get to know yourself and be grateful..

love, donna