Just because you are a badass warrior, you don't have to suck it up and suffer. Also just because you are 'yogic' it does not mean that life is not affecting you and you are not under high stress!
This was me 9 weeks ago being a badass warrior managing my pain with my yogic tools.
I wrote on my Instagram..
Being healthy in body and mind requires an ongoing practice. I'm healing a sinus infection. My glitter scarf gave me comfort. I practiced getting the breath open up stagnation in the sinus and neck caused by the infection and heightened stress (because I am pre-launching countdown with my business and I stash stress tension in my neck).
Going through a variety of trauma in life, I was good at taking the punches and I already had somatic tools to self heal. But when a tooth broke it was clear to me I needed help.
I had an ongoing discomfort chewing on the left side. When flossing became uncomfortable I stopped flossing on that side to avoid that very unpleasant nerve pain sensation. I was avoiding the area. Altogether. And I was in the habit of pain management when flair ups happened. I challenged myself to do what I already practiced so well with other body parts and my mind. And that is SITTING WITH MYSELF and listen to the area under stress. On October 20th I had a moment of bravery to finally listen to what my left bottom tooth had to say. I remember I was having lunch. I slowed down chewing my food, took a breath directed to the left side of my jaw and said ok body I am listening. Please reveal me why I am having this issue. That moment my body spoke. I felt a piece of hard material in my mouth that was not my food, it was a piece of the tooth. I looked in the mirror and under the broken piece a cavity revealed itself.
Next day I got a pricey single x-ray of the area and a very doomy diagnostic by a dentist I used to see LONG time ago. I received two, multi thousand dollar treatment options. I requested my x-ray copy and said thank you, goodbye. Next, I looked at tickets to Mexico and at the same time I reached out to my friend, the amazing Dr. Maryam saying "Hey I am not sure I can do our TMJ webinar (a free webinar which we were supposed to co-lead and was supposed to happen just a few days later) because I am going through this tooth issue and may have to travel to Mexico to get it fixed". She rushed to my help and gave me an emergency treatment.
I got that cavity nicely cleaned up (no root canal was needed YAY) and it was nicely HEALING but I still felt that something was off. I called Dr Maryam and told her there was "something off". I felt my bite was off. And I told her "you know maybe I should take those antibiotics because I still can feel infection" but now that the bottom tooth is fixed, I could tell the pain was not caused by the bottom tooth.
Back at Dr. Maryam's office I received a full set of panoramic X-rays of my whole head. We ruled out cavities being culprits and discovered TMJ on both sides! Left side is worse, even with bone loss. And now I got a device to wear 24/7 to teach my jaw to move into the right position and decompress the TMJ. You know what is even cooler than getting the help I needed from one of the top TMJ specialists out there ??? That I HAVE TOOLS to support MY healing and well being. I got my breath and movement training, and the BLAFit device to teach myself a new habit. This experience turned into a work field trip. I show up and do my work in partnership with my doctor. Now I get to apply what I know towards jaw/neck and head! Inspired by this journey Functional Face Yoga was born. Some of the things I learnt...
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT that I was already also practicing/teaching and now applying to TMJ healing:
