As I am writing this, I am recovering from a perceived freak accident that occurred 11 days ago when I went to work out at the yoga studio. As I have routinely done over the past three years, I went to grab a 25 lb. dumbbell. It suddenly slipped catching my left pointer finger on the weight rack. I immediately pulled my hand away but apparently not fast enough as blood began to drip copiously onto the studio floor. I quickly grabbed my pointer finger knowing from my Boy Scout days to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. I was in a state of befuddled shock scrolling through my brain what to do. I went to the bathroom to rinse the blood off and take a look at my finger, still in denial that it was something small. However, there was a stinging pain when the water hit my finger and when I looked at it, I knew I had to go to urgent care.
I will spare you the gory details, but I made it to urgent care an hour before closing and was luckily able to be seen. What transpired was an x-ray which confirmed no broken bones (whew), no torn finger nail, and after six stitches, the torn section was closed and the caring and healing part of the process had begun.
The worst part was when the local anesthesia wore off, which to my surprise, there was a burning pain not where my finger was torn, but where the doctor had injected the anesthesia. The throbbing throughout the first night kept waking me since I chose to take the homeopathic remedy, Arnica, instead of the pharmaceutical, Tylenol.
For the past 10 days, I have been reminded of how much we take our appendages for granted and also when we don’t stay consciously present. I kept bumping my finger or stubbing it! What this experience has taught me more than anything, is how I’ve chosen to perceive this experience has made all the difference.
Our perceptions can either make an experience a horrible one or gives us an opportunity to learn and grow. It’s really up to you, however, going down the black abyss of frustration, anger, sadness, and the should’ve and could’ve, are hard to avoid. Even if you do enter that realm, you still always have the power to choose to stay in that mental/emotional space or get yourself out of it. This is where the power of reframing your experience of what you are perceiving can be a great strategy to employ. One way to reframe your experience is to make a list of how this perceived negative experience has, or is, benefitting you. The more you can allow yourself to suspend negative judgment and observe any benefits and silver linings you’ve gotten, will help you reframe it into a positive experience.
A few of my members have asked and prompted me to share what the mind body connection reason was, that is the root of this freak accident. I knew this was going to be asked, but because I truly believe in how our mental/emotional state impacts our physiology and vice versa, I had already been reflecting on what caused this accident to happen “for” me.
I recognized that I have been pushing myself a lot to take a minimum of 30 yoga classes a month since February 2024, sometimes reaching 40+ classes. I was judging and punishing myself for not easing up, and at the same time I’ve been stalling on making some decisions and not taking action.
However, since I wasn’t going beyond my abilities, I didn’t fracture my finger bone, where the injury would’ve been a lot worse. This injury has also gotten me to ask for help and to be cared for, instead of me choosing to take care of myself and not bother anyone. This experience has also reminded me to stay vigilant and be more conscious of everything that I am thinking, feeling, and doing. Being present and mindful is key, along with learning to be more kind to myself is what I discovered to be the silver linings of this painful ordeal.
All in all, over the years I have observed and questioned, “is an accident really that, or is it our subconscious getting us to pay attention to what’s going on in our lives that we are conveniently ignoring or not wanting to see, and it is then pushing us to take action?”
I’ve heard so many stories over the past 27 years of practice that it’s hard for me not to share that an accident is not an unfortunate event, but an event that we created to learn and grow from. Sometimes a freak injury gets a person to go to the hospital where a hidden health crisis was brewing, and since being brought to light, it can be addressed and healed. Sometimes an accident prevents someone from a more catastrophic injury or even loss of life.
Next time an accident happens that delays you or throws your plans out of whack, take a look at the benefits it is bringing you so you can move through the experience more gracefully and continue to grow instead of getting stuck in a muck.
