February 2024
As I am excited to prepare to teach my first yoga classes/workshops in almost 10 years, at the
same time I am confronted with knee pain that has been slowly building over the last 3 months,
without any obvious precipitating event(s). It appears that the Universe has decided it was time
for a brush up course on empathy for those I treat and teach, and to revisit the wounded healer
experience!
So here I am back deep in the thick of it: just how much pain (especially as yet unexplained or
diagnosed, but working on that!) affects our whole being, contracts our energy, saps our
vitality, and can push us toward anxiety, fear, depression and catastrophizing re the future.
For the first time I can remember, something as basic as walking has become extremely
difficult.
How to navigate the narrow straits of maintaining some level of modified activity so as not to
lose too much strength or flexibility, while creating a space for healing to begin?
It has been helpful to adopt a “witness state”: noticing how easy it is to start to collapse,
compress, have core muscles shut down, and not breathe fully, even being a yoga person! What
happens if I consciously lift up, try to expand between my spinal vertebrae, engage deep in my
lower belly and pelvic floor, let my legs swing from my hip sockets, arms from the shoulders,
soften and inflate all my joints with space, lighten my step, and yes, slow down!
That last part may make many of those who know me laugh, but truly, as a kid my playground
moniker was Gail Snail, and not just because of the rhyme. So, in a sense, I can revisit part of my
childhood, maybe to slow down the aging process? We can always dream…
But I am still really looking forward to presenting the little yoga workshops I am doing for the
next few months, please see the flyer attached. I have taught in the past with my arm in a cast,
or the other knee in a custom brace, so this is nothing new for me. Hope to see you there!
A lot of content of the workshops is on my YouTube channel GailDubinskyYoga, so check that
out too, just be sure to click on the icon as shown below.
Dr Gail