I broke my back while participating in Red Bull's Art of Motion: Detroit. To be honest, I wasn't worried about physically recovering as much as I wanted to remain mentally sound. The annoyance of limited movement, doubt of future ventures and trying to change, justify, the past event were common obstacles that continually reappeared in my rehabilitation process.  
     
     I understand that in my profession, injuries may occur, so I made it my goal to reach a mindset on injuries and how it should impact my life. I used water as a tool. Swimming was the perfect way to stay active at an extremely low impact level. While swimming repeatedly back and forth, I began to wonder, "What body of water would be best to mimic in this time of injury." 
  
     The first form that came to mind was a pond or lake. I figured that a lot of people kept telling me to stay still, lie down, basically, stay stagnant. If you have ever seen a pond or lake that has not been tended to, it is dirty, mossy and it's sole purpose is to let other organisms feed off of it...not something I need at this state. I find that people are drawn to the "weak." It allows them to feel superior, helpful and is simply a way for them to hide their own insecurities. I recognized very early that i needed to maintain my energy, the little that I still had, rather than dish it out to others. 

     That evening I opened my email and sitting there was a quote. A quote that answered my question instantly.
"Like a river, my body changes as the moment changes, and if I could do the same, there would be no gaps in my life, no memory of past trauma to trigger new pain, no anticipation of future hurt to make me contract in fear." -Deepak Chopra – Ageless body, Timeless Mind (pg 39). 

     At this stage or moment in my life (personified as a river) I had just smashed into a rock! Yet rather than staying there confused as to what had happened, the river continued to flow, therefore, as did I. This removed the gap in my life and allowed me to stay present in all moments. There was no accident, I didn't  fracture my spine...at least, there was no memory of it. So how could it possibly hinder me in the future. There is no memory to bring up fear that would stunt my progression. 

     The mind will try to stay stagnant and clutter itself with distractions, yet life(the river) will continue to flow to its final destination. Don't ignore an injury, allow it the time to heal. Just understand, it will heal more efficiently if the mind is flowing in the present moments.


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