Quick update...

Very quick, actually.

After I learned I wouldn't have to have surgery, I sat like a cupcake-printed pajama pants wearing vegetable for a few days, finally able to relax. I did nothing constructive for seven consecutive days - and meant to do it. Or not. Whatever. Now, I have realized that I have all kinds of studying and practice teaching to catch up on. Last night's practice teaching was comical, involving brand new names for asanas that included pepperings of the "F" word and getting "elbow" confused with "ankle". Funny what a week can do.

Today, I have made about a billionty flash cards, and have learned that when you see the word, "brahman", giggle, and say "THE BRA MANNNN!" almost compulsively that it is damned well time to put the books away for the afternoon. Getting up and taking an inversion (viparita karani) did nothing to refresh my brain - every time I saw the word, I chuckled and said what I told you I said that I am trying to stop thinking even now. (The bra man!) (Damn it.)

Yes, I have the slightest bit of cabin fever.

Totsi's word association...

Fantastic news from the doctor! While I'll still be in a cast until the beginning of May, I do not need surgery! He said today's X-Rays showed significant healing - so I'm kicking butt and taking names in the bone healing department. He has also taken to calling me "Speedy" because of how fast I jot around on my Roll-A-Bout.

In other news, Totsi the Dog has come to associate an interesting word with Didgeridoo Boy. As in, I say this word, and she acts the same way she does when I say "Daddy". I conducted an experiment - - it's not just any random word she associates. It is this one word. And that one word?

That word, folks, is "asshole". I couldn't possibly make this up.

Rollin'...

Me with my Roll-A-Bout, on errands.

Getting it together...

Talk about a shake-up! Winding up in a cast was *not* part of the plan, but I'm dealing with it. As I said before, I'm putting this time to use to axe a few bad habits and take on a few shiny new ones, plus I want to learn all I can about modifying my yoga practice. That's been the biggest "thing" since I hurt my foot - - how can I practice and still get my practice? I don't want to sit and wave my arms around in imitation of asanas, I want my practice.

In the few days before the cast, I amended it simply by practicing on my knees. The cast has made that harder in some instances, since my foot is frozen in a flexed position. I've decided to begin exploring a lot of asanas that I usually think of as restive or starting points - like this, for instance. For me, this has been the kickoff to a seated forward fold, or someplace I will sit to pretend I am doing something when I would really rather not be doing something, ahem, hard. ("I'll just sit here and stretch my calves while I drink some water.") By raising my arms (or not) and working all of my muscles, it's a whole different ball game. It's no longer preparation or escape. It is its own thing, and it left me sore yesterday afternoon. Where I will escape for a nice calf-stretching water break now is beyond me - this exploration blew that meaning out the door and down the street. It ain't comin' back.

Another big part of this learning process has been not to expect immense amounts of energy to play with on the mat. I'm tired. I'm *damned* tired. Everything beyond sitting with my foot elevated is more work, plus my body's healing a broken bone - - so fatigue is normal. However, nothing could have prepared me for the shock I received in a practice teaching session a couple of nights ago when I broke a sweat under a ceiling fan and wound up shaking. My muscles are learning to work in new ways, I don't have the same leverage in certain instances that I've grown accustomed to having, and I swear I'm working my core and arms harder by default. So I probably shouldn't have been as shocked as I was, but DAMN! (I guess that answered my question of how I can still get my practice -- just do the practice I can, right?) So, rather than being able to cruise right on through a ninety minute modified practice as I thought I would, I'm finding it better to do a few short practices over the course of a day. It's simply how my energy is working right now. While I will be in sixty and ninety minute practices this weekend in teacher training, I'll be using them to keep exploring how to modify while putting forth how much I honestly can - which will be a great exercise in learning to manage my energy. (I am very much the person who is prone to shorting herself out in Sun Salutations.)

And now, I'm off to have my pre-dinner mini practice, which is turning into one of the things I most look forward to. It's absolute bliss after a day of engaging my abs and legs while rolling around on my Roll-A-Bout and somewhat mimicking Tolasana while I'm going up the stairs. Have a fantabulous evening!

Casting call...

As I mentioned yesterday, I broke my foot dancing at yoga teacher training. After a long, strenuous day learning assists, we got in a big circle, and one person at a time went into the middle to lead the rest of the group in a dance. When I went in, I began to jump about like a wild thing, stumbled, and twisted my ankle.

Onward to Sunday. I made it through the assisting workshop, albeit from the floor with a ice pack on my foot, and learned *so* much. When I got back to the hotel, I walked Totsi and ordered a pizza. Then I made an ice pack of a hand-sized Yogitoes wrapped around a little bag of ice secured with a hair elastic:

I thought it was a sprain. Checked out of my hotel Monday morning, drove home, and sat with my foot elevated and iced until yesterday, when I went to see a foot and ankle specialist. Went through the X-Rays and all that convinced I was going to leave with an Ace bandage, perhaps a boot, with a prescription for Motrin and a caveat to stay off my foot as much as possible. Nope:

The doctor walked into the room, said, "That must be some kind of yoga! You broke your foot!" In light of *that* New York Times article, I felt especially compelled to clarify that it was not the yoga, although it took place during yoga teacher training and in a yoga room. I explained that I had been dancing, and he said, "Oh. Now, that's not AT ALL uncommon." Then he went on to explain that it is a pretty bad break, one that was right on the edge of needing surgery, but that we would try a cast for two weeks to see if the bone would begin to mend. And on went the cast - I was given the option of red or green (no pink????). Green seemed cliche, given that St. Patrick's Day and The Masters Tournament are both coming up.

I've set an intention to come out of this in somewhat better shape. I have a Roll-A-Bout instead of crutches, which is immensely fun to cruise around on *and* is giving my legs, backside, and abs a nice workout. I've already gotten the hang of scooting backwards up the stairs to my Temple of High Maintenance, which is great for my arms. I stocked up on all kinds of yummy, healthy goodness while enjoying zinging hither and yon at the grocery store making Didgeridoo Boy chase me. I've reduced the size of my meals, but punched up their nutritional content; this reflects the fact that most of the time I'm sitting in bed with my leg propped up and also supports my body while it does the work it needs to heal my injury. And I'm practicing yoga - a highly modified practice, but a practice nonetheless. Even though it does mean I have to get up more (ahem), I'm staying hydrated. The bow on the package is meditation and bringing myself back to a positive, "let's make this fun", place every time I start getting bummed - which does happen. (Then there are the fun little activities, like the Red Cast Film Festival. More on those later.)

So - that's where I am. I could wallow and eat Goldfish crackers while letting myself get depressed, or I could shift my outlook and treat it as an adventure while being adaptable and keeping myself focused. The latter is where it's at, baby.

Great gawdamighty....

Guess who has a broken foot?

(raises hand)

Guess who will be in a cast for eight weeks?

(nods)

Guess who got this way by dancing?

(waves)

Yep. I'm in a cast for eight weeks and on a Roll-A-Bout until I can walk again. I have a Jones Fracture of such severity that it might require surgery - will find out about that in two weeks. I'll still be going through teacher training (this is a mighty fine way to learn about modifications, no?).

More details later. I'm exhausted, my foot hurts, and Didgeridoo Boy has squirreled my bottle of Advil away.

Me and my dog...

*Wow*. I've been *busy*. Drove home from a teacher training weekend on Monday, and leave again tomorrow for another. Only this time something will be different:

Totsi the Dog is coming along.

Typically when I'm packing, Totsi will mope and stare at me like I'm telling her she can never sleep on the bed with me ever again, ever. When I was prepping to leave for the last session, she took it into maximum overdrive, feigning death across the end of the bed until she finally got up and (I swear) *cried*. When I left, she kept sniffing at her leash and looking up in that questioning way that means she wants to go too. It bothered me all weekend.

I asked around, and one of my friends from teacher training told me of a hotel that will allow my four-legged child. Came home, cancelled all my hotel reservations, and re-booked every single weekend to the pet friendly hotel she recommended. As I started packing last night, Totsi began to mope, and I said, "Totsi comes too." And then she danced.

So, yes. Totsi the Dog is kind of sort of going to yoga teacher training. She'll stay in the hotel about two minutes from the studio, and I'll be hanging out with her on my breaks, but - still. It sounds better to say she's going to yoga teacher training. And, honestly? In her mind, I think she thinks she is.