Busted Knees

Shaine Smith (my bodyworker, healer and friend) told me that the knees are associates with fear of change and fear of death. He said that this is why I tore my meniscus in my right knee a few years back. My Dad had received his diagnosis, I came home, became depressed, Dad started to have a bit of a comeback and positive health reports so I jetted off to Asia to plug in and rejuvenate. I had been in Indonesia all winter, surfing the biggest waves of my life. I got home to notice that my Dad was indeed dying, something that I was pretending wasn't true while I was away. The week that I got back and realized this, boom, I tore my meniscus surfing ankle high jersey waves. My foot slipped just a bit and it was game over. Shaine argued that my foot probably slips all of the time, so why did I get injured THIS time? Clearly I was afraid of some sort of change or death. And he was completely right. Fast forward to class the other day. Funny enough, the theme of the class was even titled FEAR. I was fully present and participating in this intention, and it was actively fueling my full-power practice. Go figure, I pushed it too far in hanuman (split pose), which prepped my knee for disaster, and when we came into ardha padmasana forward fold - boom. Actually, POP. I either tore or strained my left meniscus. On a positive note, at least it was my left knee and not a re-injury of my right knee. So now my body will be even in its handicaps. And thankfully I am studying yoga at an Ayurveda Center, so I have been going to the doctor in the afternoons to get a poultice (herbal concoction) of fresh herbs, ground up with warm oil applied to my knee and then wrapped in cotton. And so, here I am at my advanced vinyasa training, and I can't practice asana. I am hobbling around but I'm being mindful of "RICE: Rest Ice Compression and Elevation". Also, this invites me to get REALLY spot on with my verbal cues since I can't demonstrate poses and have to be very clear and articulate. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise! One can only hope!