Move to Move Chiro, Physio and Massage didn’t start as a business; it was born from an idea. I was on a climbing trip in Kentucky with my husband, Bonar, when I blew my knee apart. Although painful, the injury was the start of a life-changing transformation.
One of my biggest challenges in climbing is that I’m scared of heights. As soon as I get 20 feet off the ground, my breathing changes, and I start to sweat. My brain starts to catastrophize, and I tell myself, “I’m not gonna die. I’m attached to a rope.”
To become a better climber, I began to practice the mindfulness techniques I learned in the popular mental training book, “The Rock Warrior’s Way.” Warrior’s Way is about confronting the unknown by managing phantom fears. By concentrating my attention — through preparation, transition and attention — overcoming adversity becomes a mental posture.
The sun was on its way down, and I was climbing a route called Tacit (5.12a). I had nearly made it to the anchor earlier that day when I slipped on the final hold. My body coursed with adrenaline because I knew I could do it.
In the fading light, with enough strength for one last climb, I tied into the rope.
Looking up at faint chalk stains marking each hold, I spent some time visualizing myself climbing. I rehearsed my rest positions to focus on breathing and shaking the pump out of my forearms. Lastly, I repeated verbal cues under my breath: “go,” “feet,” and finally “rotate.” I use verbal cues to help myself focus during stressful situations by staying in the present.
I was ready to send it; at least, I thought I was ready.
I wasn’t prepared for the two loud popping sounds and a tearing sensation on the outside of my left knee while trying to climb through Tacit’s crux section.
Sheer panic ran through my body, and I screamed, “Take! Take! Take! Lower me now!” The tears started streaming down my cheeks as Bonar lowered me to the ground. Deep down, I knew it, and as our eyes met, he confirmed exactly what I feared when he said, “I heard it too.”
At this point, I had mentally worked from move to move through the project, only to tear my posterolateral corner ligament (PLC). I was devastated because the injury felt like a step backward.
I think my mother-in-law said it best in an email when she wrote, “I hope that you can make lemonade out of this lemon you’ve been delivered.”
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