Sometimes the Universe Tells You What You Need...

They say the hips are an important storage vessel of emotional stress. This is due to the psoas' link to the adrenal glands and the location of the sacral chakra.

I've been under a veritable sh!t ton of stress since the last quarter of 2021. And it seems that if you bury your emotions inside, these stresses can end up testing this storage vessel to it's breaking point.

Snap! Pop. Not the sound you expect to hear coming from your hip during a run. Having your leg immediately give out from under you is also something you don't expect.

Diagnosis. Hip Bursitis. Ain't that a b!tch!

Running has never failed me as a stress reliever before. It’s been my go to mind, body, and soul therapist for decades.

And now, during one of the most stressful periods of my life, it has abandoned me.

When it first happened I could barely walk. We’re talking lots of ice, anti-inflammatories, and not putting any weight on it. It was bad.

I still can’t run. I can’t bike. I mean, I couldn’t freakin’ walk for a while. It turns out you can’t just keep going and going and going.

Well, I guess you technically can, but eventually it’s gonna bite you in the a$$ (or the hip).?

For me, it was in the form of an audible pop on a run that reminded me to slow the eff down.?

With Valentine’s Day, being last Monday - a holiday that I usually am not a huge fan of, I started thinking about the idea of self love.

The idea that you should get in the habit of checking in with yourself. The same way you’d check in on a friend who’s going through a hard time.

And during these checkins maybe we could give ourselves permission to take a break before we literally break (or snap). Maybe we could realize that:

• You can love yourself whether you’re being productive or not.
• You can take a break and still be worthy.
• You can be broken and still be kind to yourself.?

It doesn’t always have to be about the next sale, or the next event, or the next contract, sometimes we just need a break. And that’s ok.

That’s showing yourself the love and rest you need. Take it from me, if you don’t take it when you should, the universe has a way of making it happen regardless.

So - what have I been doing now that I can't run....

Yoga!

I'm not really a quiet the mind kinda girl, but I've fallen in love with Sunday Gospel Yoga (yeah - you heard that right).

Me and the church had a parting of the ways a while ago (I'm not really into male dominated hierarchical structures anymore) but there I am on Sunday's going through my vinyasas singing about finding a higher love and how my soul is being saved….

It's not just the gospel yoga. I've been taking yoga classes in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, never mind Sanskrit translated to Spanish.

?I've done more down dogs and peaceful warriors in the past month than I can count. Royce and Maddie look out, there’s a new dog in my life. Just kidding, that would never happen.?

But the silver lining in all this is that when you can’t do the things you love, you make room for new things to love.

?I would NEVER have given up running for yoga.?

But when hip bursitis popped in, running was out. And I was forced to look into other options.

?Perhaps I don’t need to wait until I render myself completely incapacitated before I branch out next time.

But it’s been a good lesson for me. Slowing down gives you not only the rest you need, but also the space to explore new things.

I'm almost ready to get back to running. I'll start slow, with run + walks.?But I think no matter what - this yoga thing is going to stick around.?

Meditation. I still suck at that. But never say never.