I had a painful week last week. Literally..

I did something to my neck that worsened as the days past and left me completely stiff by the end of the week, finding it difficult to move my neck and back at all. Turns out you use those muscles a lot.

You know when you have a cold and suddenly can’t believe you ever breathed deeply and effortlessly and how could you not have realized how ridiculously lucky you were all those times?! It was like that, but I was a deeply pained version of the Tin man.

By Friday I was in so much pain, I was sent home from work. I immediately collapsed into my roommate Amy’s arms about how much pain I was in and how I didn’t know what to do. A trip to urgent care, some medication, and a new pillow later, I was feeling closer to human. Sore but no longer Tin man in tears. On Sunday morning, Amy and I were having coffee in the garden and she asked if I wanted to do a 30 minute gentle yoga class with her. I felt hesitant but figured I could always sit and listen.

As she asked us to scan our bodies, I noticed how many parts of me felt well. My legs felt strong, my chest felt open, my breath felt powerful.

I got to thinking about how many parts of my life were good the past few days: the co-workers that stepped in at work to pick up the slack and banned together to send me home early; the friend that held me in my deepest pain and wiped my tears; the friend that showed up to remind me to breathe and drove me to buy a new pillow; the mama that drove me to urgent care and made me soup; the friends and neighbors who checked in to see if it was getting better.

Even when you’re deep down in the muck of it and all you can see is loud pain, I promise there is good surrounding you, guiding you to the other side.

Open yourself to the angels of support surrounding you at all times. You’re still here because of them.