By Betsy Gonwa, 
I have been waking up with carpal tunnel pain sometimes even when I remember to wear the brace that keeps me from contorting my wrist in the night. Pain that deters me from writing (which I like to do in the morning), playing the piano, and other things I enjoy. It has been getting worse and recently in addition to wearing the brace at night, I have begun to incorporate some carpal tunnel exercises into my morning yoga routine.
Then, one morning last week, when I was working on my computer, I recalled a conversation with a friend. She had been telling me about her ergonomic mouse that allows her to hold her hand in a more natural position. It was awhile ago because we were walking together, unmasked, but apparently my brain tucked it away for future reference and there it was, available to me all these months later. I called her up, and we talked about our wrists. “Just changing the mouse is not enough,” she said. “Notice what you are doing, and for how long, and take breaks,” she advised.
Still, I ordered one and it arrived in the mail yesterday. Less than 24 hours later, I wonder why I didn’t make the change sooner.
Apparently I wasn’t ready to make a change at that time. Perhaps I wasn’t in enough pain. Or perhaps I hadn’t yet accepted that there was anything that I was doing that contributed to the pain, and therefore nothing I could do to prevent it. I am aware now of other ways I use my wrist – holding the phone, chopping vegetables, even holding a book I’m reading. I have been paying attention and noticing. Pain is motivating me now. I am open. I am willing now to do what is in my power to do in order to avoid this pain when before I wasn’t.
Pondering my choice to delay, I consider that my thought patterns – even more than my behavior – contributed to me getting to where I am now. I am also aware that, while adding carpal tunnel exercises to my routine and purchasing an ergonomic mouse are behaviors, they are the fruit of new thought patterns. What is changing underneath my behavior, unseen, is my way of thinking.
I am aware that it was someone else’s way of thinking that developed the traditional mouse and yet another person’s way of thinking that invented this one. And, yes, I am completely owning this, it was my own way of thinking that kept me locked in the pattern of using the traditional mouse in spite of what I heard from my friend.
In these months of “safer at home,” social distancing and isolation, some obstacles have become gateways to creativity. Through creativity and inventiveness, we are discovering new ways of functioning to get at least some of our needs met. Like me choosing to use a standing desk and an ergonomic mouse.
Standing desks and ergonomic mice are the result of creativity, an innate gift we all have, a gift that often lies dormant because habits become so comfortable. This kind of creativity and inventiveness is an open door. I can keep doing things the same old way and lament the consequences or I can let go of what doesn’t work any more and embrace reality with a new vision. Just like the physical therapists and engineers who recommend and develop new ways for us to work at our desks, I am capable of change. I have changed the way I eat. I have changed the way I communicate. And I can be creative and inventive in the way I care for my wrist. I’m on my way!
Is your way of thinking keeping you holding on to a way of doing or a way of being that causes you pain?
