On Patience, Partnering and Healing

True healers know that wellness is the order of the day, so they do not allow themselves, even for a moment, to see anything other than that. So, the power of the healer is in the power to influence the one who needs to be healed into a vibration that allows the healing that they are summoning. (that they could get, even without the healer, but they can get faster with a healer's influence)
--- Abraham

I felt great after my treatment with Dr. Ryan and went forth into the world to continue my running comeback. I did 2 miles with hills and felt amazing; the best I felt after a run in what seems like forever. My knee felt sore but I knew that I was doing more than I had done in awhile. By this past weekend it was a little swollen and I decided to do my strength training workout on Saturday instead of Sunday and see how I felt on Sunday. It took incredible restraint on my part to not run based on how my knee was feeling. I did a 45 minute workout on the recumbent bike on Monday and did a little over 10 miles. Fortunately I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Ryan on Monday.

He began with talking about how I'd been since my last visit. He suggested icing after each workout and doing a plank, clam exercises and cough to engage my side body and core before a run. I told him that I know I need to have incredible patience during my recovery and to trust in my body's natural ability to heal partnering with holistic healers and harnessing the power of my mind and intention to heal. I am becoming increasingly aware of patterns of tension from polio and violence and moving to shift out of those patterns. He said that initially it requires more energy to do this but once these patterns are in place, it will require less energy and I will have greater mobility and ease in my body.

Dr. Ryan said that first we would take a look at my spine and he did several adjustments. It felt amazing to have an adjustment on my cervical spine letting go of the tension and pattern from paralytic polio at the top of my spine. In my meditations, I have been focusing on creating comfort and allowing my bed to support me. As I unclench and move out of habitual patterns of holding, I often cry but I reflect on this quote from Larry Rosenberg, founder of Cambridge Insight Meditation Center:

Where is peace to be found? The same place as sorrow...how convenient.

As Dr. Ryan went to tape my knee, he noticed and I agreed that my knee was swollen. He had done a lot of work using the Graston technique on both of my feet to reduce the stress on my left knee and to diminish the pain from plantar fascitis on my right heel. He takes incredible time and care and works with intention to join with my intention to heal and get me moving better. My feet felt amazing.

He made "fingers" to help reduce the inflammation:



I had intermittent discomfort during Aquatics Therapy yesterday and I could have chosen to focus on the discomfort and feel discouraged. Instead, I focused on the healing that was happening with the tape. Last night, I felt a lot of pain release from deep in my left leg. I focused on how long held body memories were moving through to make way for energy to flow. I joyfully bounded down the stairs this morning pain free.

I was also reflecting on the possibility that maybe the recumbent bike is not a good way for me to cross train. I reviewed my training notes and it wasn't until I introduced the bike as cross training back in late November that I began to experience knee pain. Maybe it was just coincidence but now that the weather is getting warmer - we hope and pray - I am going to get out and do two easy 2 mile runs instead of one run and one session on the bike.

Dr. Ryan recommended Theraband Stability Trainers which we will order and he will recommend exercises to help with core strength, balance and finding freedom and ease of movement:


I am also going to have Dr. Ryan tape my knee this Friday before I go out on a run on Saturday and will be able to leave the tape on for a full 5 days to continue the healing process on a leg that once experienced paralytic polio and had two major surgeries and three arthroscopic surgeries. In my mind's eye I once again channel Seabiscuit and/or Forrest Gump



and with patience, tweaking my training plan as needed, partnering with Dr. Ryan and Joseph at Sollievo Massage and Bodywork and the belief in my body's tremendous capacity to heal, I will be back racing again ....

Journey well!

My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.