Or one brick.
Or a little stone.
Cut to the chase and I’ll spare bloody details…I’m sitting here waiting to pass a kidney stone. I did this a year ago so I got a little weepy as I asked the walk-in clinic for some drugs (of the non-narcotic variety, so they were happy to oblige with a quick shot in the arse). I have a stash of my own (thank you very much, Dr. Urologist), so I’ve got the lot of them spread out on the counter and am keeping the anti-inflammatory loaded in my system.
The other piece of news is that I’m nursing a thumb injury. Simple can turn complicated and all encompassing when it comes to thumbs. This one wasn’t healing any too quickly, so I got a steroid injection earlier this week. Part of my work is manual therapy to these hands need to work.
The injection isn’t really doing the job yet, but by last night the addition of the NSAID for the kidney stones was allowing my hand to feel pretty good.
Until I went to pick up a light blanket on the couch. I actually saw stars and thought I was going to wet my pants (or maybe that was the kidney stone talking); it hurt. A lot.
So what better to do on this lovely Sunday than write a blog post about…balance. Now that I’m warmed up, my left hand is typing pretty well (except for the thumb which apparently I don’t use in typing).
As a wellness practitioner, someone who has made a living talking about the effects of stress on our lives I have often said that it does not matter how Type-A you are, the Type-B side ultimately is in control. As the yoga practitioner that specializes in the non-working forms of yoga I echo the same sentiment; in your Yang dominated lifestyle, the Yin will always win. You see, we can all glorify the art of busyness, get shit done, work ourselves into the ground, stash away some funds for a rainy day…
…and sooner or later that ton of bricks, that tidal wave, that wrecking ball, that hurricane, that Mack Truck (see, the metaphors are plentiful!) will just come out of nowhere (such a skewed perception) and knock us down. Put us in bed. Lay us up. Institutionalize us. Our patiently mending and quiet side rules (they have pharmaceuticals to help us start the process). The side that receives care and saying thank-you-very-much comes out of hiding.
That’s what I’m doing this weekend.
Unfortunately I may have dug myself into a little hole and am hoping to mend faster.
According to Katrina Ryan, LAc,
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, health is achieved by living in balance with nature and the seasons. Winter, the season of the Water Element, is the season for slowing down, reflecting, and conserving our resources. We all feel this tendency, but we don’t always listen to our bodies. In Western culture, being active is rewarded and expected. We feel compelled to keep up the hectic pace that is typical in our daily lives.
This season is associated with the kidneys, bladder, and adrenal glands and the time of year when these organs are most active, accessible, and even vulnerable. They are more receptive to being restored, nurtured, and energized. At the same time, it is also when they can become easily depleted.
All this I know, and actually choose to neglect. I came off of the holidays and began the year hammering hard. Sunday workshop. Weekend retreat. Honoring the calls for everyone’s New Year’s Resolutions. Training. Scheduling through June (whaaaat?).
Work when the working is good. Get ready for vacation. Plan for the next thing. Eat, sleep, repeat.
It’s actually a little easier to write about all this than it is to look at this week’s schedule…and begin cancelling sessions.
And there is something about writing it down that shows just how much that needs to be done.
Mobile Balance 
Hope that all went well. Sorry if you wouldn’t want to recall about it, but I wanted to add a note about kidney stones, as I have them too. In short, my main principle is to drink a lot of water (0.2-0.5 liters or more) every time when I sweat. It happens after, for example, returning from outside, when wearing a lot of clothes. Or physical activity, such as vacuuming.
I had a deterioration with kidneys in 2018, when my stones had formed (and then one passed, in 7 months after, in the hospital) – I attribute the formation of stones to the lack of water after sweating, constantly for many months.
But after it, I have adjusted my hydration, and didn’t feel problems, although remaining stones are still there. I intentionally drink water (even if I don’t want) when I lost water – with account to other arrangements, such as waiting a pause before taking a meal after the water was taken; and that it would be a pure water with no add-ins; and by temperature, be warm (heated a little); and with low hardness – 120-150 ppm or less – prepared with the reverse osmosis technology, not simple ion-exchange. Although, in some places soft water goes right from the tap, which can be measured with a simple device, and then no selection and measurement of bottled water is needed.
In addition, I always have in mind two state hospitals, where they do endoscopy taking the stone from the kidney. When kidney stone is going out, is, to my view, one of very few conditions, which are so common but present such a big potential risk… My Mom had actually lost one kidney (not working anymore) because of incorrect actions of a urologist, in particular, when he was installing a stent. Treating inflammation with antibiotics is also a thing which is sometimes omitted especially by a new generation of doctors where I live. So it may take an effort to get antibiotics prescribed. Just wanted to share on this subject, as it hit me very hard in my life in the past… 🙏
Good day, Lisa! I am hoping that you are alright.
I wanted to say that, as some 5-6 weeks now have passed since I found you – ! (via YouTube, searching for the word Pranayama and live translations), I have an idea how I will practice. Maybe this information could be of use to you, so I decided to write.
In the last years, I wasn’t good in doing things, did not work and almost wasn’t doing anything in this direction until last year. But I had an ambition and I knew what to do.
And now, above all, I also have a desire and a tool, or rationale (which is – your method of imaginary straw and your videos!) If you are kindly sharing it for free on YouTube.
I will watch your previously recorded live translations in chronological order, starting with the very first (Aug.17, 2020), as the first thing after bed and bathroom in the morning.
For me, the key idea of your method is expressed in the following words: “…place where your mind can stay engaged at the task at hand” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPBMIbBzEs8&t=220s )
And also, after watching it I, for the first time in my life, think that those Chinese guys (with Yin and Yang and energies) maybe really know something. Eastern people have developed their own frameworks, and I, firstly, didn’t want to know them (wanted to be more Western and more oriented on being active, than I actually am – half Korean, half Russian/Ukrainian/Belarus). And from age of 23, I couldn’t know them, being a traditional Orthodox Christian. I define myself as a member of this church now as well. But I personally feel and draw the line in such a way, that everything that you do, what I saw, is in permitted zone for me (as a Christian), if so to say. I use Christian frameworks, and also, not publicly, I now accept that Chinese or (and) Indian music, words, etc, can be of help for me, in your representation of them. To my opinion, they don’t do the miracle, it is by God, and you, and your work, and the physical perceptions of the body. …I know, of course, that you also were an active (much more active than me) member of the Protestant Church. I watched the live translation of Sunday worship service from your past church a couple of times. I loved certain things about it.
If you wish to be broadcasting the morning practice – only at your convenience, as you like – I will watch it on the next morning, if you don’t mind. (My morning, 6 a.m., is 10 p.m. winter Eastern time). Maybe I won’t be attending it online (which is 4 p.m. for me), but I promise that it can’t be that I wouldn’t watch it after. If there was no live translation, then when I wake up at 6 a.m. I will continue my sequence of watching live translations from the beginning in the 2020 to now.
I also wanted to add about the kidney stones, if I can. Sorry, for this turn, there’s no hidden agenda in this. I was talking once to a man with the same problem, and it was what doctors has said to him – that he should never feel thirsty. That he should immediately drink water. I remembered it. And before this, I also figured out my problem of sweating (in the place where I lived in 2018, when going out), and not getting water in compensation of it.
According to Wikipedia: “Kidney stone disease… Risk factors include … not drinking enough fluids” (2nd paragraph, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stone_disease )
When I read your words in the very first post of the blog: “And I ADORE the sunny months. I like the heat, I like to sweat…”, I understood that I will need to write to you about this.
Again, thank you for all what you do.
Your (unknown) friend,
Vladimir
vladimirk46@gmail.com
Lisa, good afternoon! Hoping you are doing well. I’ve made up my mind to write to you because of religious matters… they are tough, but I am very glad that I am writing to you. I wanted to ask you, could you possibly either publish one another comment (this), or hide the previous one?
In my previous comment… I was actually wrong about the permitted zone for me – that the appeal to the energies is in it. Really, as for the Christian, it is not. And also the prayer, in the conclusion of the video… The prayer itself is great, but to whom it is addressed, is not in my permitted zone. After watching it all, already after making my comment, I hesitated to make corrections.
I am entirely “in” with the physical / mental exercises, with the concentration on breathing. I am sorry for being so inaccurate on religious matters, on which I needed to keep my mouth shut. But at least I had a chance to tell it in detail now. Sorry if the time is not right.![🙏]()
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…I’ve been following the news on Helene and Milton. Wishing you great health and to fully bounce back after it. Thank you for the possibility to practice with you. Your friend, Vladimir.
Always good food for thought. You know, I won’t delete the last comment. You have a place to witness change, witness growth. Perhaps it will change again as you continue to grow.
I’m contemplating this.
I am well after the storms. Hit twice, damaged twice. And pulling it back together. The proverb is “Nana korobi, ya oki” which means “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.” Or Proberbs 24:16 For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again. But the wicked stumble in calamity.
Both of those are in my zone…