Take a step back

So off I went to the dentist to get a filling fixed. The dentist is a talkative fellow. I guess he has to be so he can distract his patients from the torture, er discomfort of what he is doing. All of a sudden he stops talking and goes, “Mmmmm.” I have learned that when a medical professional goes, “Mmmmm,” it is never a good thing. The dentist says, “There’s seems to be a small problem with your tooth and it needs to come out. What do you think about that?”

What do I think about that? I can’t really voice my opinion since my mouth is full of dental implements, between the loud suction thingie and all the dental tools, there’s not much room for me to vocalize. I can’t suddenly “remember” an important appointment and leap out the chair now can I?

One hour later, I leave the dentist’s office minus one tooth and armed with multiple prescriptions to deal with the aftermath of the extraction. I have been going to this dentist for 25 years so he knows me pretty well. He knows of my obsession with, er love of exercise. Basically he told me my jaw would explode if I even attempted to exercise before my gums were healed. Well actually he didn’t say my jaw would explode, but he did give me some dire warnings.

The first day or so I was fine with not exercising, I was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t think of much else. Bit by bit I started to feel better and was anxious to get back to my activities. Dear Mr. Ken, who knows me so well, knew that just telling me to be still wouldn’t work. He tried bribery; he promised to buy me some ice cream if I kept following the dentist’s orders. Now I love ice cream almost as much as I love Peeps, so that worked.

I ended up doing some gentle flowing yoga, tai chi and meditation. I felt great! I felt energized, yet relaxed. It wasn’t quite the feeling of an endorphin rush that comes with a killer exercise session, but it was equally pleasant. That’s when it hit me. We all need to stop, take a step back and slow down!

Usually for me, it takes a medical event to make me do that. But I’ll take what I can can get.

The long, lazy days of summer are a perfect time to slow down. What will you do to take things easier this summer?