Balance in life – a little bit of my story. Part I

Everyone seems to talk about balance these days.

Balanced diet/nutrition, balanced lifestyle, balanced exercise program, balance between HDL and LDL (balance between “good” and “bad” cholesterol),
work-life balance,
emotional balance to name a few ideas in this department.
It all may be actually quite important to a human being, I figured.

What is your idea about balance in life?
What do you think may be out of balance in your life?

Obviously I’m not in the capacity to answer these questions for you but can tell you my own experience and I hope this helps a bit.

It all started with a judo throw.
Ouchi gari?
I can no longer remember what throw that was but it accidentally brought balance into my life…
Along with couple of other factors made that throw made me change my old ways that were not serving me anymore.

The same judo throw, that put me down on the dojo mats with a pain so great that literally took my breath away for a moment, actually turned out to be “a blessing in disguise” after all.

The very first step on the path to betterment of myself through torn cruciate ligament and lateral meniscus in my knee.

At that time I trained pretty hard (as I usually do anyway). I spent most of my days at the dojo training all the martial arts available and most importantly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ).
I had fallen in love with this martial art and soon made myself break my own weaknesses and barriers and –
3 months from starting to train BJJ I was already competing in Pan Pacific Championships.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Training, teaching, competing, working in several jobs, always in a rush- no time to eat, not much time to sleep, not much money to eat quality food. Fresh products count: close to zero.
I lived on supermarket home brand pasta, sweet chilli sauce, cheap eggs and bread- gluten in its purest wheat nature.

How far can your body go this way?

Not far at all…

So here I am, desperate to continue training and compete in the next Oceania BJJ comp with my knee giving me hell lot of a pain and restricting movement.
Screw this.
I’m winning silver in my weight category with my leg in a big brace made of a strapping tape.
A month later I can barely walk.
Surprise (!!).

So I’m desperate again.
I want to avoid a “death sentence” – that’s what I thought about the knee surgery and being away from trainings for months of rehab.

I start looking for alternative ideas and anyone who can make my knee working well again without surgery.
My coach introduces me to a CHEK practitioner who turns my whole world I used to know upside down.

He tells  me about diet, gives some hair-raising information about organic foods, dairy, gluten, processed foods, coffee, sugar, alcohol, relationships etc. …

He gets me to do all the impossible and absolutely bizarre exercises (well, at least they seemed to be back then…).
I do it all.
I try hard although still can’t believe or understand some of the things he tries to teach me.
I still do them.

I go organic, I change my eating habits, I change my sleeping patterns…
I change…

I start  to cook and forget about the coffee.
Coffee was a tough one- I can still hear myself arguing:

“What do you mean stop drinking coffee???
Ok, so now you’re saying I can actually have ONE a day if I really can’t go without.  (I sigh…what a relief…)
Whaaaat??
Before 9am only and with no milk?!
Really??
Whaaaat??
Artificial sweetener is a killer??”

So silly I was back then…

I try HARD to be in bed before 10am and do deep breathing beforehand
And I stretch. Oh my goodness gracious me!!

I DO STRETCH!!!

This awful and disregarded activity that I just couldn’t stand for years becomes a vital part of my life.

I chew my food thoroughly,
I concentrate on eating – no more movies, books, newspapers etc. just me, food and the process of eating.

I cook bone broth; the whole house stinks like a cowshed or worse…

I eat grass fed cows’ liver, forget about my beloved bread and most of the fruit.
I soak and dehydrate nuts before eating.
activated nutsLuckily I had already abandoned soft drinks (I call them “shitty drinks” and dare to say, as a former heavy user of the shitty drinks, I have the full right to call them this way)
and given up any idea about “low fat food”.

This all is super strange to me, quite difficult or even horrible!
But I don’t want my knee to get cut open and I want to train so much.
I need to heal and get stronger.
So I do it all.

Well, completely torn ligament does not grow back together just like that and I finally decide to have it surgically fixed.

I’m in the hospital, pale and about to faint before even seeing the anaesthetist, thirsty as hell (mandatory fasting before the procedure ain’t fun) but it should be good.

All those changes had already started bringing balance back to my life and my body grew stronger.

I should recover in no time.

I’m pretty much naked, wearing only that funny sort of a gown they give you at the hospital and trying to joke about it with my mum.

I’m really scared.
Now it’s just me and the anaesthetist.
He gives me some stuff, disappears and comes back with more.
Now I’m truly horrified.
Next thing I see myself on a bed in a big room, half conscious.
I can’t remember the pain then.
I was still drugged, with morphine and other stuff in my blood and I just wanted to sleep.

Then all the rest happens…

Morphine is gone and here I am with my aching leg and the whole new story in front of us.

New life is about to begin.

please bring me my bone broth