dealing with injury

Last week I injured myself...again. I have a feeling it's not uncommon, but I've injured the same area several times over the past three years.
Unfortunately, since I'm usually focusing on the breath or deeply into my practice, I hardly notice anything is wrong until the next day when I can barely walk. However, I must say it is always a learning experience, and the great thing about injuries is that they slow you down and bring you to a place of deeper awareness and appreciation about your body.
A few of my tips:
- Don't fight it. The urge to push through an injury, or not take rest, may be strong, but it will only hurt your chances of recovery. Give your body the attention and care it needs and it will heal much faster.
- Seek out experts. I had to misalign my hip a few times before my chiropractor diagnosed it correctly. (Others had said a strained tendon, overuse of the hip, etc.) But using the care and expertise of chiropractic, acupuncture and other healing modalities, the injury has healed faster and my body is also able to better deal with the stress of injury.
- Learn from the injury. There is always a hidden message. I've had to slow my life down, pay more attention to the present, discover other types of yoga practice, become more compassionate and patient, and have developed increased awareness and appreciation for my body all because of injuries. I believe the more receptive we are to receiving this hidden message, the easier the time of recovery will be.

going down to metro(politan)

Although I've lived in Forest Hills for several years, not having a car has placed me into the I-only-go-where-I-can-walk-in-10-minutes-or-take-a-subway category. Which means I hardly ever venture off Queens Boulevard or off the subway lines which seamlessly take me into Manhattan or along Queens without having to walk much in the north-south direction.

However, recently I have been hearing more and more about the fantastic restaurants along Metropolitan Avenue, including Wafa's (with great vegan I hear), Dee's, and Nick's (the Bistro, not to be confused with Nick's Pizza).

So my fiance and I decided to set out on Mother's Day, at 7pm, to search out the best of Metropolitan Avenue. Special day that it was, Wafas was closed, and Dees was booked all night. (I guess that's what we get for procrastinating.) We were fortunate, however, to find our way into Nick's Bistro and pick a few items off the menu.

It was quite clean inside, appearing recently renovated, and our server quickly pointed out the vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. Some pita chips and hummus were brought out first, and they caught our attention with the fresh flavor that was so tasty that the plate was clean before we knew it. We ordered a pasta and also a vegetable platter, accompanied by "veggie chips". All were, again, fresh and full of flavor, to a degree that not all restaurants can boast of. Although we arrived hungry, we were full midway through the meal so we had no room for dessert. When it became evident that all the desserts were not vegan, the server surprised us with a small fruit plate to finish the meal.

As we were dining, I saw a glimpse of other salads, which also looked delicious. In the end, we left Nick's with happy stomachs and a new appreciation for the southern side of Forest Hills. It will be no great effort for us to venture back to Metropolitan to have another meal at Nick's Bistro.