Kauai: Ease in Over Time

Taking down the swelling with an ice cold coconut…
could be worse!

Well, I’ve had an eventful 24 hours which landed me in an emergency room in paradise.

No, I wasn’t hiking, surfing, or even at the beach. I was receiving body work. A jaw massage, specifically. Posessing a strangely high pain theshhold, I let the practitioner know he could go for it. He was so excited by how deep he could go (most people would’ve been screaming in pain, according to him), that I ended up with a slightly longer than an inch laceration from my gumline to my cheek.

Guess I’ll be sipping coconuts for the rest of the week in Kauai. I’m definitely in the right place for that.

Since the practitioner came highly recommended, I already trusted his work. However, all day long I had the intuition that I did not want to go to this massage; I’d rather stay in my jungle haven and just be. But I went anyway, because I should…instead of following my body’s talking: anxiety, can’t sit still…

Well, my body spoke loud and clear when the bleeding started and I ran my tongue along the inside of my mouth. Sympathetic, or fight-or-flight, nervous system chiming loud and clear feeling the gash. I wanted to go to the doctor now and made that clear. The practitioner took full responsibility, driving me to the emergency room, paying the bill, admitting he’d lost touch in the moment with sensitivity and begun using muscle energy, a big no-no in body work.

In Yin Yoga, a yogi eases into an asana, a posture, over a long period of time. Holding an asana anywhere from five to sometimes longer than 20 minutes, the connective tissue around the joint softens, unlike the muscular engagement and relaxation of a yang yoga practice such as Vinyasa. I’ve melted into the deepest forward bends of my life in Yin, easing in little by little: my forehead and stomach touching the floor in seated upavista konasana, wide-legged forward fold, is the product of Yin. In fact, I can only get there in my Yin practice. It takes time and sensitivity to know when your next breath will ease you another inch towards the floor.

After this experience, I believe the same sensitivity applies to both giving and receiving body work, as well as our lives.. Even if we’re gluttons for deep pressure, can hold our foot behind our heads in Nataranjasana (Dancer’s Pose) and are this-close to Hanumanasana (Splits), or feel love at first sight, does not always mean go for it. Deep body work, select Yoga asanas, and certain aspects of life such as trust and love, one must ease into over a duration of time. Simply, we cannot open up–body, mind, heart–until we are ready.