Issues...

In the book group I belong to, we are reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.  The premise is that Harold gets a letter from a former coworker, Queenie, who is dying in hospice, roughly 500 miles away in Scotland.  He writes back, but on his way to the mailbox, he decides he needs to deliver the letter in person and he just starts walking, right then.  He’s wearing boating shoes.  He doesn’t have his cell phone.  He doesn’t tell his wife.  I’m not done reading the book yet (although it is really hard not to read ahead!), but so far it is lovely.

 

(I’m not suggesting that any of us start out on a 500-mile trek with no preparation and bad shoes.)

 

In the portion I read for last week, Harold struggles.  He gets blisters and shin splints.  He gets tired and discouraged.  And, as he continues to walk, he finds himself remembering hard times in his life, difficulties with his wife and his son, failures.

 

I mention this because the phenomenon is familiar to personal trainers, Pilates folks, yoga teachers, and body workers.  Harold has “issues in his tissues.”  In other words, sometimes when we work our bodies, it releases emotions and memories and past traumas.  This can make the hard work we do with our bodies harder.

 

Knowing that this is a real phenomenon can help us cope.  Continuing to move our bodies (with kindness!) and to breathe can help, too.  Working out is no substitute for therapy or medical care, but it is a useful adjunct.

 

Keep breathing.