First, let us talk about what I am committing to during October:

• Completing the 21-in-31 day yoga challenge at Hot Yoga Revolution
  

• Completing the 30-day Peloton Fall Launch challenge
  

• 10-20 minutes of meditation daily
  

• Daily written journaling
  

• Blogging updates at least once per week on this website
  

• Consistent Instagram updates, so make sure you are following along
  

• Honesty – about my headspace, my yoga practice, and the lessons I am learning

Now, let’s go back to the beginning. 

In December 2010, I was in a car accident – another driver hit the gas and slammed into my car while I was at a red light.  Long story short, there was significant damage to my lumbar spine that continued to worsen over the years.  I had good years and bad years until 2018 when it just became worse.

The 21-in-31 day yoga challenge has always intrigued me.  Due to my back, I have never had the most consistent practice because I would do a couple of days and then be unable to move.  If I was less stubborn, I probably should have found a surgeon much sooner than I did.  In 2018, I completed the challenge, but it set off a cascade of doctor visits, MRIs, and spinal injections to provide me very little relief. 

My last day of yoga was October 25, 2019.  I was trying to complete the challenge yet again, and I think I was on day 16 or something. Why do I remember the date?  Besides the fact that I left the studio crying and afraid, it was also my seventh wedding anniversary, and we took the class together.  What followed this misery?  Another MRI that showed my bones were rubbing against each other, and my L5/S1 disc herniation was pressing against the nerve roots causing excruciating pain down my legs.  Surgery was no longer something down the road; it was how soon and who. 

I believe most of you know that I had my spinal fusion surgery at the end of January after fighting with my insurance company for months.  I will not bore you with the details and the story of healing from that – you can find plenty of that on the business Instagram, or you can ask! 

It has been eight months, officially, since my life changed.  If you ever need a spine surgeon, Dr. Mitchell Reiter at Overlook Hospital is your man.   

So, Katie, why would you do another one of these challenges since the last two have tried to ruin you? 

Because it is time to change the narrative. 

I do not want to be afraid anymore.  I haven’t even done 21 days of yoga since my surgeon cleared me in May.  My exercise has mainly been walking since two days post-op.  Picture a penguin waddling, and that was me for the first six weeks.  Now, I can get up to a 3.2 on my peloton, and I’m super proud of this.  I can walk for hours and feel good.  Progress has been slow, the muscle spasms are intense, but every day I see how I am stronger.

When I first signed up for this year’s challenge, I thought it would be a way to reconnect to my body. October will help me discover what my spine and body can do when I am not always bracing for pain.  It will help me grow and let go of old thought and pain patterns ingrained in my brain. 

How am I going to get through this personal challenge?  I will be brutally honest with myself and you.  I will share the journey, and I hope that you follow along. 

I will be seeing my physical therapist, getting regular acupuncture treatments, stretching, taking muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories as I need them, drinking my Chinese herbs, and listening to my body.  My surgeon questioned how I got through so many years of pain, and it’s because I didn’t listen to my body.  I kept pushing through and ignoring it.  That has been the hardest lesson to learn this year.  I have another four to ten months of recovery ahead of me, and every day is about honoring what my body is telling me. 

Now, is there something you want to commit to for the next month? Join me and let’s keep each other accountable.
Drop a comment below to let me know what you’re doing!

So, let’s fucking do this. 

PS: Vote.