I woke up yesterday with a pulled hip flexor. It’s nothing serious. It’s completely functional and the pain can be ignored. But should I ignore it and push “play,” or give in to a pause?
My nature is to keep going, using ice and other modalities to ease the pain enough to continue on my planned runs, my marathon training schedule etched in concrete in my mind. Will this serve me in the long run? Or, by pushing too hard and too fast, will I prevent the necessary healing and end up off the trails longer than if I simply give in now?
Over the last three years, I have begun to be more comfortable pushing “pause.” For months after the divorce, I kept going through the pain, ignoring it while pressing forward. That only works for so long. I learned to be more sensitive to the nature of the pain and realize when I needed to give it time and space to present itself and heal and when I could ignore a small uprising and continue as if all was well because it soon would be.
Both buttons have their place in our lives. There are times when we need to keep going and push through the cobwebs blocking our path and there are other times when we need to stop and rest and allow ourselves to mend. Listen to your body. Your heart. It will tell you what it needs.
As for me, I plan to let my hip rest for one more day. There is time enough for play tomorrow. Pushing “pause” is not the same as pushing”stop.”
it is possible to push pause and take actions at the same time…as a yoga teacher/practitioner I have learned how to work more into healing and less into injury, but it’s an exploration for sure…
Yea, I’m still learning that one:) I tend to have an on/off switch rather than a dial. Even my yoga practice tends to be intense…
Sometimes playing through the pain is the worst thing you can do. And I’m not simply referring to sports. For what it’s worth, I vote for “pause”!
Well, I kind of paused:) I ended up running with a friend because she needed to talk and process some things (which running is awesome for!). But, now, I’m pausing and letting it be.
being a cat, i have to vote for paws. 😛
I think Tiger would agree with your assessment!
http://lovelyseasonscomeandgo.wordpress.com
enjoying your thoughts here, thank you for your like of my post why did i get married and your visits to my blog time after time, Have a lovely day. Betty
And, thank you for stopping by as well:)
very well put, and so true! 🙂
It has been and remains to be one of my most difficult lessons. Just gotta keep on practicing:)