Mental Gymnastics
Lying in bed on the night before my very first ever gymnastics competition, I was anticipating the pleasure of participating in my favourite event, the uneven bars. I was 16, restless and my pre-event nerves were driving me to go over the uneven bars routine in my mind. The rehearsal went on again, and again, and again.
There was one sequence in the routine that I was finding challenging. The 360 degrees hip rotation. This involved balancing my hips on the low bar, swinging my legs forward, making a 90-degree angle between my back and legs, then raising my legs backwards and thrusting them forward so the weight of my legs swung my whole body 360 degrees around the bar. I had to keep my hips close to the bar at all times.
Finally, I could imagine myself doing the sequence successfully and fell asleep.
The mental gymnastics was all it took, it seems. The next day I completed the routine without any problems at all! Little did I realise however, there was a reason I had previously not been able to complete the move. My hamstrings were much tighter than the average person. I could never sit on the floor with a straight back, i.e. my legs stretched out in front of me with my back at a 90-degree upright angle.
Whilst ‘mind over matter’ had enabled me to complete the uneven bars routine at the interschool gymnastics competition, the inevitable happened. I injured my back. The injury wasn’t apparent immediately. However, not long after the competition I found I was unable to sit in class without experiencing severe pain.
What followed was a lot of money spent on chiropractors and physios. This went on for years. Whenever the chronic lower back pain recurred, it would make my life difficult and uncomfortable for several days, or weeks, at a time. When I felt like this, I usually avoided going to events where I had to sit for long periods of time. The sitting position made my back very stiff and straightening my back to stand up was particularly painful.
20 years later.
Some 20 years later, I was still experiencing back pain. During one relapse with my back, I decided to attend a Bible Study/Prayer Night. I thought I would simply put up with the pain. I possibly made this choice because I was eager for some social interaction or simply following God’s prompting without realising it. The Bible study was based on a video teaching series about ‘Living Free from Offence’.
At the end of the meeting I didn’t ask for prayer. I was not even consciously thinking about my back. But when the session ended, instead of stretching up into a standing position in agony, I rose from my chair pain free! I believe that while we were praying and listening the word of God, Jesus ministered to my body. My muscles had relaxed allowing the pain to completely dissipate. It was a great confirmation that I was in the right place at the right time and that God takes care of our needs even when we don’t ask for help!
Irene's story