So here it is, the things I have noticed and learnt from having a broken foot. Some are serious, some are tongue in cheek, some are odd and random and some obvious. This was written back in 2017 but I found it the other day in my drafts and decided to post it.
1) How much we take our feet for granted and how bloody difficult it is to walk even upright when the foot doesn't bend. I have a new pigeon posture
2) The feet even help when open heavy doors. The weight change and distribution all get affected
3) Patience and lack of it
4) When to say no and how much I don't say no.
5) How much the physical form of yoga and other exercises really does affect my mood and my ability to cope with everyday life
6) Lack of sleep due to discomfort / pain and wearing a silly boot or sandal, this then leads to irritability and irrational thoughts
7) How much you can actually verbally instruct classes when you really have to. I recommend all new teachers to wear a fracture boot and teach as it will speed up your verbal cuing.
8) How to adapt yoga and exercise sequences and work around not using the feet...which is surprisingly hard as so many yoga sequences involve feet. Kundalini yoga, yin yoga and pilates have been lifesavers...as well as chair dancing and air drumming!!
9) I've learnt that those you thought would help, don't and those you thought wouldn't, have.
10) People have opened up and blossomed into friends.
11) Some friends showed little care and some have even cut me off because I didn't tell them straight away about the break ?!?
12) Having a broken foot has somehow shown the best and worst of people - some have stepped up and challenged themselves more in class and certainly everyone has a new concentration and vigor in their practice. Some have declined to be taught by someone with a broken foot on the assumption that I wouldn't be able to teach well enough. Thanks! I would've liked the opportunity to have proved them wrong but they're not worth my effort right now - that says more about them, than me.
13) It's brought weird people out to gawp at the spectacle that is me in my Beckham boot!
14) Some classes seemed to increase massively when it happened
15) I found the body and its healing power even more fascinating and amazingly strange than usual, as I watched the foot protect itself, build a little callus around the bone and then the lump harden and then form into new bone, I watched the wonderful shades of purples and blues that foot went through and the fact that my skin now feels like I have washed it with cheap soap and the skin feels all tight. My foot has shrunk and gone flat due to muscle loss.
16) I have a new like for a different genre of music. Trip hop / downtempo chillout that i hated in the 90's. Also if I'm honest i have taken a fancy to cheesy 70's disco too as the videos and dancing is so funny and makes me laugh
17) I've learnt to tolerate and even like Pilates - something i once hated
18) Core work is certainly easier now as I'm quite limited on everything else
19) My headstand practice is lost out of fear of landing heavy on the foot and sandal makes it awkward
20) No one really wants to hear how the foot is when it's painful, only when it's good. Same can be said for life in general really....
21) Funny looks from strangers as if I've chosen to wear the silly boot or sandal as some kind of fashion statement or mistake
22) How much upper body strength is needed to just get in and out the bath right now when you cant use your feet
23) How tiring it is to walk badly / slowly and have bad posture. This also leads to a sense of depression and frustration that can come from that stance alone - being hunched over or walking awkwardly / clumsily. Posture affects mood - so stand tall and upright!!!!
24) Increased clumsiness from wonky posture and weight bearing leaning to one side has made me walk into doorways more than usual!
25) Carrying and lifting bags feels 100x harder!
26) Was pleased to discover i could still do squats and that air drumming is actually very good cardio!!
27) 6 weeks seems so long when waiting to be fully functional again and yet time flies so quickly usually
28) The feeling of isolation as no one understands at that present moment the odd sensations, pain and awkwardness you are feeling, I feel like I have bees in my toe!!!
29) You know a broken foot is such a small thing in the larger scheme of life but boy it messes a lot of it up when movement is your work
30) The smallest gesture or act of kindness feels likes lot
31) Feeling trapped as cant go out for a walk
32) More time to focus on other things and reassess work
33) Blocked people on FB that I dont feel I need to know anymore
34) Wasted too much time on
FB caring about the people I just blocked!
35) Online retail therapy kicked in badly but resisted quite well