Active Rest???

Pain..it hurts me deep within… (the opening line to a little ditty I wrote)

But, do you let that pain overtake you, overcome who you are and what you do, impeed you from doing anything…OR do you still manage to have a little fight left in you and you want to manage some sense of normalcy?

Then if you have not heard it before, let me introduce the concept of ACTIVE REST. Like you, I have relatively okay days and relatively worse days. On my good days, I may push a little more and try to be a little more active…on my not so good days I STILL push to do what I can and stay active, it’s just by using the parts of me that are not in pain or having issue. This is the jist of the concept of active rest.

So the hip hurts, it grinds to walk, or whatever the issue happens to be for you specifically…but, can you sit upright in a chair pain free? Then perhaps you might want to do some light weights and work those biceps and triceps to keep up some activity, keep up your bone mass, and keep up your muscle tone…all of those which can impact us a great extent and even contribute to a how well we recover if we do need to have surgery (and if you are will need to use crutches, you will need your upper body STRONG!).

Perhaps you can even still do some stretching…both on the upper and lower bodies. Remember though, only do what you speak with your doctor about first, and don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right or causes pain or other issues.

Even post-op, laid up in bed, you can probably still flex your feet (foot pumps!) to keep your blood flowing…which also gives the calf a good stretch. Certainly at this period of time you do not want to do too much though, so again, check with your doctor first.

The entire concept of active rest means more to me than just resting but still remaining somewhat active, as our bodies will allow. The concept also means that we are recognizing our limitations, but not letting them overtake us…physically or emotionally. It means that we are not letting our selves fall prey to the victimization process, and we are separating ourselves from our disability…meaning that our whole is NOT equal to the whole of our disability…WE ARE SO MUCH MORE!

You may find that by engaging in active rest, other people may fall into one of three categories:

1) Those who think because you are able to do ANYTHING, you don’t have an issue;

2) Those who think you are hurting your hip MORE, even if you are working on your arms; and

3) Those who will fully support you.

Active rest doesn’t mean you fall apart, it doesn’t mean you overdue it, it doesn’t mean you turn into “the blob”…it means you remain active, while resting, for the benefit of body, mind, and spirit.