July 2021 was the month I was REALLY forced to slow down. Two years of Lyme disease had already slowed me from a sprint to a jog, and taught me how to tune in to what my body was telling me, instead of doing ALL THE THINGS, just because I could. Breaking my leg brought me to a screeching halt, just before summer. Bummer.

Anyone who knows me well was genuinely worried about how I would cope with not being able to walk or drive during the most fun months of the year. I didn’t even let myself think about it. My first tactic was to focus on my breath, to get steady, to deal with the pain, to stay in the present moment and avoid slipping into past regrets or future fears. That worked a treat. As did my armoury of meditation and yoga (there is always a way!) and the plethora of energy healing, plant medicine and general love and support showered upon me by my friends and family.

Following emergency surgery to hold my leg together with metal (see Franken-Ankle, left), my bones healed really quickly. This meant that I only had my beautifully-decorated cast for two weeks. While delighted that I was healing so well, without my comforting exoskeleton my leg felt very naked and vulnerable and I had to adapt my yoga practice to reflect this.

But I still didn’t need painkillers. In fact, despite needing ALL the pain relief in hospital after the operation, once I was home I was able to come off all drugs after a couple of days. I’m using homeopathy (arnica for bruising and symphytum for bone knitting) and energy healing from my gifted friends.

July is always busy at Happy Coulson, especially as we had two French teenagers staying for a couple of weeks to learn English. I taught the language classes and coordinated the activities, with more than a little help from my friends, and the boys had a wonderful time. Once I allowed myself to feel the frustration of not being able to join in, it was easy to enjoy the rare treat of being home alone, with time to just be.

Filed under: Happy Coulson

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