Every day I am shufflin’ and hobblin’ and limpin’ around thanks to my tiny baby toe. Who knew such a tiny toe could be such a huge pain in the ass?
It has been 1 week and 4 days since I broke my toe in a tragic drunk handstand accident. And let me tell you, if you tend to take your tiniest toe for granted you should take it for a pedicure or something. I haven’t practiced yoga (or put weight on the outside edge of my left foot) since the incident and to put it simply I think it’s making me nuts.
On the bright side in the absence of any physical activity I’ve had a lot of time to think and chat with people about the importance of a baby toe. And I have since compiled this list of what I miss most about having the use of said left baby toe. And I look very forward to a speedy recovery!
- Yoga: This is hands down the thing I miss most. There are other smaller things of course, but not getting on my mat is the hardest part of this ongoing lesson. On the most basic level I miss getting that deep, intense sweat from power yoga; on a deeper level I miss getting out of my own head and spacing out as I move through the asanas. I knew that yoga was important to me – I’ve known that for several years – but I did not realize how crazy I would feel without it.
- Shoes: Wearing all my wonderful shoes is a close second to missing yoga. For anyone familiar with my blog you know how much I love shoes. I love them all: high heels, slip on flats, flip-flops, boots. I love them all. And now they have been replaced by a very unappealing orthopedic velcro boot that makes my foot look like I belong in a geriatric unit. The only thing that I have found I can do to conceal the hideousness of my new accessory is to put on a white sock under my boot and then wear my black and white converse on the right foot. And I don’t think that’s really fooling anyone.
- Walking normally: I never realized how agile I was before. Now I hobble around my apartment. I limp in to teach my yoga classes. I even stand weird in the shower. I am eagerly awaiting the day when I can stand in Tadasana with my weight distributed evenly across both feet.
- Running: Forget for exercise, I literally can’t run anywhere. If I have to pee really bad it’s a fast paced hustle off to the pot; if I’m trying to adjust a student in class it’s a rocky yog to get to them before I have to call out the next pose. It’s a slower paced lifestyle when you’ve given yourself a mild handicap during a drunken fit of stupidity, that’s for sure.
- My Yogis: Obviously I still see all my yogis when I teach (or am at Whole Foods), but I miss that companionship of practicing in class with them. I don’t get to laugh with all my favorite peeps in my usual Tuesday/Thursday Power Yoga class. I don’t get to talk about the cool new flow that so-and-so taught in class. There’s a reason I love my yogis and it’s because we all sweat together, we workout together, we meditate together. I feel like me and my gimpy toe are missing out on so much!
- Spreading my toes: It’s very challenging to spread only three of your toes, so all the toes on my left foot have basically been encouraged to stay very still lest their smallest teammate receive further damage.
- Stretching in the morning: You know when you wake up first thing and you reach your hands up behind your head and point your toes and then spread them and you just feel wonderful? Well, when I try to do that it hurts my toe so I’ve had to stop. Now I just wake up and roll out of bed without stretching out my spine or my fingers or my muscles. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed!
So as I learn this ongoing lesson I am becoming more and more grateful for all these things that I once took for granted. I made myself this uncomfortable bed so now I’ve just got to lay in it, I suppose. I’m so appreciative of all my friends for being so helpful and patient as I shuffle around. And if I haven’t learned my lesson yet, repeating the mortifying story of how exactly I broke my toe to everyone who sees my boot sure will drive the point home.
Practice safely (and sober)!
XO
Heather C
