After having a second surgery to repair a broken radius bone in my left arm, I spent a lot of time walking in nature. I could not do a lot of the things I love to do. No yoga. No surfing. No bicycling. No tennis. No swimming. No roller skating. The combination of the heavy cast on my arm and the fear of re-injuring the bone slowed my roll considerably.
Hikes in the forest and along flowing creeks were very therapeutic and soothing. I felt a sense of ease in the expansiveness of nature. Trees grew to the sky. Clouds floated by high above. The sun shined. The rain fell.
Being in nature helps modern humans like me open our apertures to take in the great beyond - beyond our selves. We constrain ourselves with our pains, our limitations (see above), our fears, regrets and anxieties. So opening the aperture of the mind brings in more light and ease. This opening allows space for stillness and expansive being. It makes it easier to wait for the return of the activities I miss in my life - the things I like to do.
After my cast was removed, I wanted to do everything but felt vulnerable. My arm felt weak and tender. The surgeon was cautious about letting me leave with only a removable splint.
I kept the splint on for a day and then I unwrapped it. Still tender, weak and vulnerable, but it felt like the arm needed to experience some of the movements and applications from before the injury. So I put on a wetsuit and went into the ocean - without a surfboard (I’m reckless, but not completely irrational). The cold ocean water enveloped my wounded arm with a soothing chill. I imagined the swelling going down.
Today I returned to the yoga studio for the second time since the surgery. The vulnerability and tenderness were still with me, but I was able to get through 90 minutes in the 105•F room with more ease, strength, flexibility and… expansiveness. That feeling of expansiveness in some of the poses made me realize how important the concept is for wellness. It’s beyond flexibility and stretching. It’s making room for your body and mind to do the healing and restoration it needs.
We tend to get in the way of healing as we develop unbalanced habits and patterns. Places in the body and mind get stuck and things feel constrained and closed in. When you go through a sequence of yoga postures with awareness and intention (my intention from my morning meditation was “healing”), those stuck things that are in the way loosen and soften. The stretching that is often identified with yoga goes beyond the muscles and impacts the function of glands, internal organs, the spinal column and everything in-between.
The expansiveness comes with an awareness of all the places in your body and mind that are opening up. Sometimes it comes with pain. Sometimes there are huge revelations and breakthroughs. Other times just a feeling of ease and relaxation. Whatever the result, the practice promotes wellness if you are open to it.