09/11/2026
Yesterday during yoga at the office I had a wild experience.
Backstory: I have been battling right knee and leg pain since April/May of this year. When it initially happened I could barely bend my knee, walk, stand, drive etc. I had to stop going to the gym and I was right in the middle of my YTT 200 hr course, so poses and my activity ability had to be amended. As time went on it improved, but up until the last 2-3 weeks, my knee wasn't the same and would still swell and become very painful. I still worked to regain flexion and remain active with yoga. Finally I had a breakthrough and my knee has been feeling much better and more flexible after I self-adjusted my kneecap. I still had a decent amount of pain along the side of my leg, especially along the outside of my calf up until yesterday..
In Alexa Novak's class, we were doing a pigeon pose and it was very uncomfortable on my right side, 8/10 pain. I decided to lean into it, breathe, and not let the pain consume me. I dove into the sensation and felt feelings of overwhelm, overexertion and hypercritical thinking. I had to use grounding techniques so I wouldn't become lost in the feelings, and I breathed and allowed my body to feel into it but also remembered that I was safe. My mind flashed back to injuries I had in high school and never rehabbed. Finally, I felt the pain travel from my leg, up into my chest and out of my mouth/crown of head with my breath. I felt a lot of anxiety as this was occurring and at one point I thought I was going to vomit. Then I experienced amazement at what happened next.
The pain is gone. My leg feels more normal than it has in almost 6 months.
To sit with our pain without judgement is so powerful. To be willing to purge, to witness, to let it move is what is necessary to heal. That is the power of presence and trust in the body to know what to do. And I couldn't be at this place feeling more safe in my body without Alexa, my yoga cohort, my yoga community, and the work I've tirelessly done to reclaim presence in my body through training, therapy, and pursuing healing.
"You aren't in the past. You are safe. You are here." ✨🩷