The Yoga of Car Accidents

The ‘attack’ of the shopping bag occurred while driving on the highway with open windows. The wind carried a bag that flew into my face, blocked my vision and lead me to swerve off the road. I crashed into the median and flipped the car over taking (what I think was) a couple of rolls.

Once the car went from spinning to flipping there was nothing I could do to control it. I closed my eyes, stayed clam and waited for the movement to come to an end. I felt the body release its tension as it took its last few tumbles. Once coming to a halt, I unbuckled my seat belt and crawled out through the window of my upside down vehicle.

As the airbag had never inflated, (thanks Toyota) I had hit my head badly on the steering wheel and was bleeding heavily. The medics had covered my nose and eyes with bandages and I was taken to the ER.

For the next 4 hours of care my eyes remained shut from swelling and bandages. Without the stimulation of sight, I stayed fully focused on my internal experience of thoughts, emotions and patterns of breath. Each time a thought would bring a sense of panic, I’d return to my deep rhythm of breathing and the anxiety would subside.

As I was being stitched up, I could hear a woman in the other room screaming, more from fear than pain. It is so easy for us all to get trapped in the fear if we don’t access the tools to bring us back to center.

I am so grateful for my yoga training that had enabled to release my muscles at a time of extreme tension, minimizing the impact of the crash, and has taught me ‘breath awareness’ to transform my experience to a lesson in healing rather than pain.