Perhaps you remember me mention an old childhood illness in previous posts. This illness was some sort of autoimmune response which lead to the neuron sheaths in my spine demylinating. The end result was a loss of feeling from my ribs down to my toes. It lasted for 6 days and, when the feeling had returned, I was referred to physical therapy for rehabilitation. I walked with crutches — for stabilization only – until I could regain my sense of balance and strength in my legs. Once the event was recovered, I was left with a very slight residual neuropathy that manifested in not being ticklish on my right foot and, only noticeable to myself and my gymnastics coach, slightly less control of the big toe in the same foot.
Over the years, I noted a tendency to catch that same toe on the ground when walking or running. This, I attributed after several occurrences, to the residual defect resulting from my illness. But now that I have been taking yoga classes, I am noticing that the lack of control (or awareness) encompasses more than just the big toe. For whatever reason, my right leg is far weaker than the left and clearly leaves much of the work to the often-injured left leg. I have significant difficulty holding the balance poses on my right but am able to hold them fine on my left. This is true even now, when my left calf is wreaking havoc on my training plans.
So the saying, “The victim screams while the culprit is silent.
