Trust the Healing Process
Your body knows the way: step by step, it rebuilds
One Year Ago, in April 2024, I broke my wrist while trail running. One misstep, a fall, and suddenly I was in a cast for six weeks. I remember the frustration of not being able to run anymore, the tiredness as I couldn’t sleep well, the uncertainty about how fully I’d heal, teaching yoga with a cast…
When the cast finally came off, my wrist had healed, but not perfectly. The bones had fused misaligned. Still, my body had repaired itself. Last week, that is a full year later, I found myself in Urdhva Dhanurasana, the wheel pose.
Ok, it is not the prettiest wheel, and I sense that there is still lots of room for improvement but it felt really really good. It actually felt better than any other Wheel Pose I have done in the past.
When I told my husband afterwards, he was amazed that I managed this pose only one year after the break - we both thought that it was one of the things I would never be able to do again - but what surprised him most is that I wasn’t afraid to do it. But the truth is, I wasn’t afraid. I really trusted my body, and its strength.
We always hear about how bones get fragile with time, how the body gets rusty, how pain starts creeping in and motion becomes more limited. What we don’t always talk about is just how brilliant the body is at repairing itself, especially bone. It’s constantly rebuilding, reshaping, and adapting, often without us even noticing. It’s not just decline: it’s an ongoing process of renewal. Depending on the type of fracture and other factors, the healing process can take several months, sometimes even up to a year. But it's truly remarkable; only Nature has the power to mend itself in such a way.
Even though my wrist is now a bit quirky and misaligned, my body kept adapting. I am working hard on strengthening my arm muscles which got really weak after 6 months of near inactivity. I strengthened what needed strengthening, loosened what needed to soften, and I supported my body as much as I could with movement, rest, food, breath, and care.
Getting into wheel pose again felt like freedom. It felt like a celebration not just of what I can do, but of what the body knows how to do, if we trust it, support it, and give it time. Bones break. But they also heal. And that’s something I’ll never take for granted again.
I’ll keep the magic of the body in mind as I start the London Marathon this Sunday. Please think of me and send all the good vibes my way, I’ll take every bit of them!
Much love
Véronique