On the playground, do you remember wanting to be THE BEST? Jump higher, last longer. If you didn’t want that, you probably knew who did. That STRONG person.

As I am recovering – now in my second year- from falling on my left hip, I see two very different practitioners: one is western medicine/ Medicare covered PT. He’s good at what he does. He looks at my hip(s) and gives me ways to stretch (mostly) – I’m strong enough. I grew up with a mountain hiking mother.

And the other is Dr. Wu. Yes, he pays attention to my hips. But then it’s also, clearing the meridians: the emperor brain, the liver: so anger expressed appropriately is kindness, the kidneys which hold fear when blocked, etc. … I only understand a fraction of it. Before my sessions with him, we do chi gong. Less effort: more ease. That’s what you want. To help the body find quiet even in the middle of movement, slow or fast. To open up pathways for the flow of energy. And then Tai Chi, where the whole idea is that you move with the least effort necessary in order to allow the chi to move. But in fact, it’s a martial art: done correctly, that small nudge will push a person over. If it’s well understood, less can be powerful.

The western PT is an answer to my impatient side. I look at my body like a math puzzle that can be solved and then I’ll be “just like my mother”. But from Dr. Wu, I’m learning how valuable it is to pay attention to the nervous system, to the flow of energy, to honor that slow gentle movement that, in fact, may be the key to greater strength.

Ah… someday, when I’m healed from the hip fall, when Lyme is not an issue, will I have learned from all this how to, yes, listen to my body?

That dream day. Feeling better. How gentle will I be?

I’m guessing you want ease too?

I wish it for all of us. That our lives bring us softer, kinder paths going forward.

And that willingness to listen? “Yeah sure! Just play with me”, says you-know-who.