Reflections on Strength

It was a challenge for me to get out of the pool using my arms and hoisting myself up. I would either use the steps on the side of the pool with the handrails or the steps or ramp leading into the pool. Several weeks ago I amazed myself with being able to coordinate and organize neurologically to lift myself out of the pool. It took a lot of effort and it took a lot of effort to organize once out of the pool to get myself to a standing position.

Yesterday all the lanes were filled at the pool. Rather than climbing over or under each of the lane dividers I decided to get out of the pool using my arms. I was amazed at how much ease and grace I experienced in my body. I've been meditating and visualizing ease and grace in my body, especially after meeting Margaret at the pool last week.

As I am writing my next book, 'The Adventures of Runnergirl1953', I am reflecting on my strength. As I recall my early years recovering from paralytic polio, I realized how much I embraced the challenge of overcoming polio. One of the exercises my beloved physiatrist, Dr. Eugene Moskowitz gave me was to pick up marbles with my toes. I remember feeling both the frustration of the challenge, the fire in my soul to be able to accomplish the challenge and then an amazing sense of triumph at being able to succeed.

I could have easily gone under the lane dividers to get to the ramp to get out of the pool yesterday but just as I couldn't leave those marbles on the floor at the age of 8 years old, I had to test my ability at the age of 64 years old.

I felt that same sense of triumph I felt when I was 8 years old with an added boost of exhilaration to experience the manifestation of what I visualize in my meditations.

People often ask me how I have stayed so positive and strong through the years through all of my challenges. Perhaps it was the challenges that helped me get stronger:


By experiencing a vision of a spiritual Being and the touch of grace when I was paralyzed from the neck down shortly after contracting paralytic polio, I had my roots firmly planted in something greater than myself to get me through life's tough times.



Paralytic polio, trauma, family suicides and many many hardships have strengthened me through the years. I continue to challenge myself and push beyond my limits. I am blessed and grateful to have a powerful connection to the Divine within and around me that sustains me and strengthens me as I continue to move forward in my health and wellness journey. It's a joy to go the distance and leave the effects of paralytic polio and trauma in the rear view mirror with strength, courage, grace and ease.

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Proud to be a part of Friends of Blue Diamond Athletic Displays, Inc. Be sure to visit us at Booth 758 during Boston Marathon Weekend.

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):

Going the Distance: One Enchanted Evening in January 2015

The New England Patriots were playing in the playoffs in January of 2015. The weather was cold with slush, snow and ice everywhere. Yet the plan was already made for the book release party of my book "Journey Well" and we were not going to postpone it. {Bloggers note:I decided to unpublish Journey Well and incorporated much of the running content and my healing journey into "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance."}

The small crowd thinned out and I found myself standing in front of Ryan Joseph Means, DC - a doctor of chiropractic medicine.



In December of 2014 I sustained a very serious knee injury. The you never should have started running in the first place; you certainly shouldn't run now and if you do no more than a 5 miler and probably prepare to have a total knee replacement in a few years and by the way why don't you come back to see us at the Post Polio Clinic for a reevaluation and see if we can help you...I'll give you a script to see a physical therapist ... who turned out to be the physical therapist from hell....

The Universe was orchestrating everything that would lead up to that moment when I would meet a healer who would change my life.

His passion for healing and the power of chiropractic care shined through his sparkling blue eyes. He was enthralled with what I was able to do thus far on my healing journey healing the effects of paralytic polio and trauma. He reached out to me on Facebook and asked if we could have coffee. I decided to interview him for my blog.

Spirit urged me to set up an appointment with him right then and there.

There was an incredible chemistry between us.

In addition to all of the tools in his chiropractic toolbox, Dr. Ryan was reading "You Are the Placebo" by Dr. Joe Dispenza. He told me I HAD to get it. In the meantime, he sent me this photo via email from Dr. Joe's book:


I printed it out and as you can tell, it's well worn from keeping it up on my refrigerator as a reminder that whatever I may be experiencing in my body, I AM the placebo.

As he worked on my feet using Graston technique and as he taped my knee and gastroc muscle (to stimulate the growth of a new gastroc muscle that had atrophied as a result of the polio virus I contracted at the age of 5), he asked me a critical question for my life, "Why set limits?"

Even though Dr. Ryan moved to China in August of 2015, we stay in close touch on Facebook and figure out a way to meet up when he comes to the States from China where he is practicing chiropractic as part of an integrative medicine team.

He is with me on every training run and every cross training and strength training workout. His words echo in my ears and his touch and Being have left footprints on my heart.



Whenever I have fears or doubts about what my body is capable of doing, I think back to our work together.

We continue to talk about Dr. Joe's work and share in the excitement of the release of his upcoming book, "Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon."

I follow Dr. Joe on Facebook and every evening meditate with his Rest and Renew Meditation. His work continues to inspire me on my healing odyssey.

This Thursday he is offering a 3 hour live stream event that will end with a global meditation. I look forward to continuing to create the change I want to experience in my life, mind, body and soul with the energy from the Divine that flows whenever we gather together with the intention for healing and transformation.

I am so blessed and deeply grateful for the portal to healing that opened that one enchanted evening in January of 2015 especially as I train for Bermuda Half Marathon III and continue to heal the effects of paralytic polio and trauma.

Whenever we ask for Divine Guidance and set a powerful intention for our lives, which I had done through writing inspirational poetry and continue to set through my writing and meditation, the Universe reminds me to believe in something more and experience the power and love of grace.

To going the distance with strength and courage
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Be sure to listen to my interview with Keith Cartwright, "From Polio Survivor to Boston Marathon Finisher" by following this link.

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):

Feel the Heal: A is for Amazing

Since I am a wordsmith, during one of my recent morning meditations, I began playing with the alphabet expressing Love, gratitude and joy. It took a couple of weeks to craft this poem in which every line begins with a letter of the alphabet and it was a delightful process of feeling close to the Divine within me:

A is for Amazing

A is for amazing awake aware alive
B is for God’s bounty unbounded for us to thrive.
C is for contagious spreading love in all we do
D is for delicious decadent Divine uniquely you.
Everything is perfect in God’s mysterious wondrous way
Finding faith and trusting beckon friends to come and play.
Growing in God’s likeness in gloriousness we shine
Happiness and harmony life is blissful fancy fine.
I AM all that I’m meant to be your blessed beloved child
Jackpot won in lottery of life on Your family You’ve always smiled.
Knocking on your kingdom’s door of my life You’re always a part
Laughter, loving, lusciousness treasure in my heart.
Meditation in the stillness moving ever closer to You
Needing nothing when You’re near always sees me through.
Observing without judging allowing everything to Be
Patience practice persistence with You I’m running free.
Questioning and querying no need for asking why
Rest assured there is a purpose dry my tears no need to cry.
Synchronicity serendipity surrender is a must
Thankful for this life we live based in faith and trust.
Universal Love unconditional showers upon us all
Vowing to let you be my Guide to catch me if I fall.
Welcome grace’s blessings cup our hands let it rain
X-ray vision You see through us easing all our pain.
Yoda’s wisdom now resounding trust the Force wield saber’s light
Zealous in our purpose Spirit soaring now takes flight!

I am delighted to be able to share my healing odyssey and my gift of poetry with you in this latest anthology of my poems.



You can purchase your copies along with "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility," and "Journey Well" on Amazon. I have already started writing poems for "Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life Volume II", and "Going the Distance" which chronicles these latest miles on my marathon of healing from my knee injury last December to when I cross the finish lines of the Bermuda Half Marathon in January 2016 and the Newport Marathon in October.

Cheers! To Life! Feel the heal and let us all love ourselves well!

And there's always the grace...

As I wrote about in Instead of Sweating It Out - Sweat It Out, I had a less than optimal experience with a physical therapist to rehab my left knee. I embraced the lessons that came out of the experience and worked out my own training program. Aquatics Therapy at Spaulding Rehab is an integral part of my program.

Because of yesterday's snowstorm and sub-zero temperatures with the wind chill, I was the only person who showed up for today's Joint Integrity class. I'm sure that Abbey, who coordinates the Aquatics Therapy program and Kate, the aide, would have much preferred staying home or at least getting a later start to their day but Kate was there to greet me at 8 am cranking the tunes to accompany the class and making sure towels were available to dry off after the class, and Abbey was getting ready to get in the pool. Kate asked me how I was doing; I told her about the experience last week and she told me that if I wanted or needed she would "hook me up" with a therapist on the Charlestown campus. It's great to know I have options and that there are so many wonderful, caring people to support me on my health and wellness journey.

Since I was the only participant, Abbey said that she wanted to mix it up for me and offer me exercises that are best done one on one. We used the entire length of the pool using a buoyancy belt. It challenged me physically and neurologically. Abbey is warm and supportive, encouraging me while I worked with the challenge, and sharing in the joy and freedom I experience when I am in the pool. We did upper body strength training working all the different upper body muscles using dumbbells. Rather than give a specific number of repetitions, she watched me for fatigue and then gave me 3 or 4 more reps to do.

After different exercises going from the shallow to the deep end, and upper body strength training, Abbey had me swim to the deep end. She brought out a StrechCordz Short Resistance Training Belt and had me attach it to my buoyancy belt.



Instead of swimming, she had me run upright pointing out that it is perfectly safe for my knee because we were in the deep end. I felt such joy and happiness and overwhelming gratitude to Abbey for creating wonderful, healing, challenging moments for me in the pool. I sweat and I felt a runner's high and I know in every fiber of my being that I WILL be back on the roads. I once again felt like a compelling athlete, a phrase that Ross Lilley, founder and Executive Director of AccesSportAmerica uses when describing the athletes of all abilities he works with. I had absolutely no knee pain! She said that during the last 30 seconds to really give it all I had. I imagined myself approaching a finish line of a race. As she counted down from 10 she encouraged me to really pour it on and when I was done I threw my arms up in victory. She had me swim back to the shallow end for a series of great upper body and lower body stretches.

I felt incredibly blessed and grateful that I have a wonderful support crew to get me back doing what I love and need to do for my physical, mental and spiritual well being. Everyone knows how important it is for me to return to the roads.



At times, we can feel frustrated and disappointed when it seems that what we had planned and hoped for didn't pan out as we thought. But it doesn't matter in the long run because there is always the grace.

Journey well!


"Journey Well" and all of my inspirational books are available on Amazon.

"Journey Well" is a book about resilience, strength, courage and how we are able to journey well no matter what conditions life hands to us. I profile the people who are Boston Stronger and share how 4/15/13 was a wake up call to me to return to my healing path from contracting paralytic polio at age 5 and 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent.



50% of all book proceeds are donated to AccesSportAmerica where people of all ages and abilities achieve higher function and fitness through high challenge sports and training.