The body truly is an amazing machine. What’s even more amazing is how it can fix itself – when you give it time to heal!

It’s been about four weeks since my orthopedist kindly read me the riot act regarding my shoulder injury. Since then I’ve made some major adjustments to my workouts and my daily routine including:

• Cutting out all overhead exercises
• Modifying push-ups to the point of being more work for my triceps than any other muscle
• Avoiding wearing my purse on my left shoulder and reaching for items in my kitchen cabinets and vanity shelves with my right arm.
• Carefully executing all the reps and sets of the rehabilitative exercises prescribed by my doctor
• Taking my anti-inflammatories at the same time every day as prescribed

The result? On this Motivation Monday, I can happily report I have minimal discomfort when I wash my hair or if I accidentally roll over to my left side when I’m in bed. While I still feel twinges of pain doing some of my rehab work, the dumbbell scaption reps are virtually pain-free. The bottom line is I’m healing and I know if I remain patient and “baby” my shoulder for just a little longer, I’ll be back in full form!

I consider this progress report a concrete reminder for myself and anyone else who has a tendency to sometimes push a little too hard in about the importance of listening to the body when it needs time to heal. Has it been mentally challenging and downright frustrating not to be able to keep up with the rest of my Physique57 classmates during full-form push-up sprints? Absolutely. Am I itching to sign up for PILOXING classes and master the moves so I resume my plans to start teaching my own classes sometime soon? You have no idea! However, when I feel the frustration building to a boil, I tell myself getting healthy now will only open the door to bigger and better fitness gains later.

So for now and probably the rest of the summer, I will continue to stabilize and strengthen my shoulder, modify my motion during my workouts and keep a sharp focus on eating healthy. One benefit about being extra caution at the gym?  I’ve noticed my kale and quinoa intake is up and some of my cocktail consumption is down!

I close with a thank you to everyone who’s sent supportive messages here and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Unfortunately, injuries happen. The good news, at least for me, is that I seem to be getting smarter with age about how to handle them. Sometimes, a little patience is exactly what you need to get back on track with your plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous.