I am not a princess

At St. Anne's Spa, I clearly failed the true princess test. I was given a pretty room with a four poster bed to sleep in. Like a princess bed, it was really high off the ground and there was a step ladder to get on and off of it.

After two days of yoga and massage and meditating and steams and hot tubs and  meal after lovely meal of vegetarian dishes, I was starting to feel very zen and healthy.

On the third morning, I was excited to go on our 7:00 silent, meditative walk and then to yoga class. I had set the alarm clock, all the way on the other side of the room, for 6:30. I had also set my phone for 6:30 in case I hadn't set the clock correctly. At 6:30, both alarms went off. I tried to hop out of bed to turn off the alarm clock and, in my disorientated state and the darkness of the room, I miscalculated the distance from the bed to the floor. With a thud, I fell to the floor on my back.  

This, as you can imagine, is not good for someone with osteoporosis. I felt slightly nauseous, like the time when I broke my wrist. I could barely get myself off the floor. I wanted to crawl back into bed, except I didn't want to climb back up on to that really high bed. So I did the only other option available to me. I got ready for the walk.

It may not have been the best idea but I wanted to test whether I could walk or if my back or hip had broken. I sobbed out my pitiful tale to my yoga teacher and fellow yogis. The other ladies, who were mostly all 10-15 years older than me and had been mothering me all cooed their sympathies and mothered me even more. My yoga teacher gave us a very gentle "So you fell out of your high princess bed and landed on your back" yoga class, saying that she had had a teacher who would say that "motion is lotion".

The yoga class had helped a little bit.  The rest of the day, I stayed in the eucalyptus steam room and soaked in the outdoor hot tub.  I even got brave enough to go into the cold water plunge tub.  This all helped.

Back in Ottawa, sitting at work all day and then walking home in the pouring cold rain did not help very much.  So here I am, back from my yoga retreat, needing a massage.