Best Injury Prevention

This is such a great question. Not only have many people asked me about it but I've had to ask myself about it also. At the moment that I write this, I am getting over an ankle sprain that has left me training-less for the last 2 weeks.

There are thousands of vitamins, supplements, ointments, and other treatments that you can take to brace your body against potential injuries. Obviously I don't know all of them so I can't recommend a particular brand, a gel, a pill, a patch, or a cream that will make it all go away, or at least stay away in the first place.

As an acrobat for the last 15 years, I've had the time to see when injuries occur, how they occur, and most important WHAT THEY MEAN. There is no definition for injuries but each person has his own way of interpreting an injury. What am I saying?

I am saying that injuries are - you guessed it - a result of a mindset. This is not to say that you cause ALL your own injuries, or that you should feel guilty if you did get injured. What this is saying is that injuries serve a purpose, and it is essential to dive into the meaning of that injury - what it means TO YOU.

Some injuries are your body's way of saying slow down. That is an obvious "meaning". You might approach this whole concept on injuries by seeing them not as nuisances, or troublesome events, but as nature's way of sending you a message to become more aware of something in your life.

But aren't injuries some random occurance? In my years of training, I've noticed how un-random they are. There are many times I've taken a hard fall, jumped too high, or tripped, and I should have been injured. But I wasn't. And then there were times when I was stepping off a mat, running on a trail, or falling off a 3 foot high table, and I ended up injuring myself the most.

The most important thing about preventing an injury is to ask your body EVERY DAY what it needs. When you ignore its needs (not enough sleep, not enough food), you force it to communicate to you in harsher and harsher ways, until you finally experience an injury.

There is so much more to written and said about this topic so we'll continue in the next blog. For this week however, keep your awareness open to your body and ask: what does it need?

Health and Peace,
Alvin.

PS: By the way, the ENERGY Accelerator book is now over half done! Coming very soon...