“All is connected… no one thing can change by itself.”—Paul Hawken
When we embarked on recovery, we set sail with trusted companions in a large sturdy boat. We’d paddled our canoe solo against the flow for way too long. We were tired of slipping back—of frantic stroking, with just some churned foam to show for it. In fact, we finally ended up with the paddle ripped from our bleeding hands—the boom of the approaching rapids growing louder by the minute…
Really, we have been the fortunate ones, somehow rescued into recovery by the love of others. And we can congratulate ourselves on having taken advantage of that good fortune by accepting the rescue, making the connections and joining the crew.
Now we can plunge forward together through the waves of change. We can navigate the inevitable storms, the riptides, the reefs and—yes, also—the doldrums with the courage that comes from companionship. We realized we don’t have to be alone to face our addiction and our tribulations anymore. We can do this thing together—and are stronger for it.
Let’s take a moment today to reflect on all those who cared enough for us in our darkest days—and who helped us toward the salvation of recovery. We know that without our fellow “crew members” we would have continued to chart a destructive—if not terminal—passage through those troubled waters… We can best thank them, can we not, by staying connected, staying part of the team.
Now, let’s give some juice to that overworked fellow who connects our head to our body—the neck. There’s a ton of joints in our neck area that are often starved of healing synovial fluids, because of our tension and rigidity. Bring on those fluids!
The magic juice-stimulator—and it happens in a jiffy—is joint rotation. We agreed to be a crew member, so nodding our heads up and down in agreement seems appropriate: without moving your shoulders, incline your head up and back as far as it will go without discomfort. Now bring your chin to your chest as best you can. Repeat for a total of ten repetitions.
It can be disconcerting to discover how little range of motion we might have in our neck movements—particularly when we turn our head from side to side. Do ten repetitions of that movement also. See what we mean? That’s from too much tension. Frankly, we really can’t move our neck too much. It wouldn’t hurt at all to include neck rotations in your hygiene practice on a daily basis. But for now, we’ll stick with these two movements…
I appreciate those who connected with me and who invited me to join them in the journey of recovery.