"Today I stubbed my toe..." Guest Post by Angela Sutcliffe

Last fall, I was fortunate enough to meet Angela Sutcliffe when she registered for the fall session of Essentrics classes. After one month of classes, she posted the following status update on Facebook:
"Today I stubbed my toe ... and it hurt, oh how it hurt ... and after I finished hopping around the house screaming words they didn't teach me at the convent I paused and realized OMG, IT HURT.

What you don't know about me (although you may now) is that I can be the Queen of Denial, so for the past three years or so I hadn't wanted to admit to myself or anyone else (especially NOT a medical professional) was that I couldn't actually feel my feet ... they were sort of numb-ish with a bit of tingling. Oh my GP had sent me for all the typical tests ... for diabetes etc. and they had always come out negative ... but still I had a nagging little question about why don't my feet feel right ... why do they feel like they're in a very tight plastic bag?

So today, when I felt pain in my foot, it confirmed what I had thought was happening, that feeling was coming back to my feet ...I noticed they were no longer freezing but they were actually warm to the touch. And when I went to my Essentrics with Amanda - Ottawa class and we were doing our stretching I finally understood... the problem with my feet wasn't "organic" in the sense of diabetes, it was tight beyond belief muscles right down to the tips of my toes, and thanks to stretching, moving, lengthening my muscles, my tendons, my fascia ... everything is coming alive again and, for today anyhow, that pain was my body saying "I'm waking up". 

The reason I'm telling you this is that for a long time I thought health was about diet alone ... about "when I get to a certain weight" ... if I eat right ... but now I have incontrovertible evidence that health is about eating but it is also about moving because no matter how much - or how little - you weigh, tight muscles will slowly take away your quality of life. 

Whoohoo. Sometimes pain is a good thing! Feelings ... (I'm on the right track!)" 

Thanks Angela! I'm so glad you've discovered the power of Essentrics. 

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