Musings on Back Pain and My Grandma’s Cane
Hello Friends,
As many of you know I had a back pain flare up this past month, and had to limit my time at my desk. My injury meant that I didn’t send out a newsletter last month, so the news has piled up a bit! Below I have some updates on Gawler & Canberra workshops and some new videos and blog posts that I hope you find useful.
But first, I wanted to share something that I posted in my social media feeds during the worst of my injury about how I had to address my feelings and biases about using a mobility device. I got so many messages from folks who have had similar experiences and it was really nice to know I wasn’t alone in my feelings and experience and to have your support.
I wrote about this during the worst of my pain flare up, when I had to use a cane to get around the house – something that is new and kind of distressing for me.
What added to my distress and had me catastrophizing for a while is that the cane I was using belonged to my 91 year old Grandma, and now here I am, just approaching 50 needing it to get from the bedroom to the kitchen!
At one point I was feeling too embarrassed to use my cane to go across the road to get the post, and that’s when I saw that this was my own internal bias rearing it’s ugly, ableist head.
My truth is that at this stage of my life I will sometimes need help to move around. It’s a tool, much like the glasses I wear to see or the props I employ in yoga, to help me, to adapt my movements to be safer and more comfortable. Why do I need to be embarrassed about that?
It’s important and necessary for me to keep moving as much as I can for my body, my mental health, my household, and my work. If a cane helps me to do that, I’ll embrace the cane.
And, it’s kind of nice to have my hand settled into the same grooves as my Grandma, finding the same support and mobility as I navigate my current world. It’s kind of nice.