Mind over matter

Three days to go time. I packed my backpack for real today and it came out weighing 20 pounds, which is about as much weight as I would want to have to carry to the airport, let alone on an 800km trek for 5 weeks. Soooo...now for the fine-tuning! Already I have lost my conditioner (a small yet remarkably heavy bottle), some extra Band-Aids and batteries, a book for my flight, and a few other personal toiletries that I imagine I will find along the way should I really need them. I'm on the fence about carrying the foot powder that was so highly recommended (the smallest bottle I could find was still 283g, which sounds light but becomes very heavy very quickly), but I figure a small Ziploc baggie with white powder might look suspicious at the airport! I imagine I will have to put some of it into said plastic baggie and just carry a half-empty bottle around instead. Other than this, I'm not actually sure what else I might leave behind! I'd like to leave my sore ankle, but unfortunately I still need that.

*Not actually my foot.

Yes, it is still sore. Not sure what else to do about it other than continue to use it carefully. I admit that since I sprained it, I have still been using it regularly and not treating it with more than a little special care. I was supposed to ice it, but I'm naturally cold-blooded, I think, even in the summer, so I stopped that quickly.  Besides, it never actually swelled, so do I really need to ice it? But the move did not treat it kindly. It was a lot of extra weight and awkward leaning, trying to fit things in the U-Haul or the elevator or into my new living space. I had it tensored up, but there is only so much support those things can offer. And then there are my wonderful niece and nephew who absolutely need me to chase them while playing tag. I tried to play freeze tag, but they don't seem to know how to play by the rules, so I was always It anyway. How on earth do you say no to a four-year-old's cotton-candy giggle? All I can say is, my ankle was not so supportive of my decision.

A close friend of mine gave me something interesting to think about, though. See, she is a practitioner of something called Body Talk. According to their website, www.bodytalksystem.com, "BodyTalk is a consciousness-based, nondiagnostic therapy that works with the body in its healing process...based on the principle that the body is capable of healing itself at all levels." The idea that our bodies hold on to the memories of all past physical and emotional events in our lives is one I can certainly wrap my head around. And after having a session with her for some excess anxiety before my last trip to Spain - a session where I didn't say a word, but my friend, by listening to yes/no answers from the muscles in my arm, actually got to the heart of my anxiety and helped me to express it (nonverbally - my body processed the stress and I left feeling completely relaxed!) - I fully believe the power our minds hold over us without our ever being conscious of our own issues around illness. So anyway, according to Body Talk, the ankle is connected with decision making and being connected to the earth. Go figure. Recently I've made a big decision in my life, and I'm heading to Spain to see if I can find a new path to walk, physically and metaphorically...so I guess my ankle is sore because my body is reacting to the emotional stress of it all. Very interesting.

So, I have continued my walks, trying to balance the need to rest my ankle and the need to keep my body in shape for this crazy trek I'm about to do. I plan to take it easy and not walk the suggested 20 to 30km a day, but I'm still a little worried. I took my pack out, fully packed, today and did a 2km trial...and it was heavy (big surprise!). The flat surfaces were fine for my ankle, but the short stretches of uneven ground I walked on gave me a little soreness *sigh*. From the tales I've heard of the Camino, my sore ankle will be the least of my worries about my feet, but even so, starting off this way is a little disheartening. I'm hoping that it turns into my saving grace, though, because by coddling my ankle, I might be saving my feet from the notorious blisters and hotspots that happen when walking too far in a day. And who knows? Maybe reconnecting with the earth in such a physical way is just what the doctor ordered to calm my mind and my sore ankle while I transition into the next phase of my life. Lemonade anyone?