Hot & Cold
Forty years ago, when I was a physical therapy student at the Medical College of Virginia we studied heat and cold as modalities of healing. And while each treatment had its benefits, we also learned about the potential of combining both hot and cold. This treatment was called a contrast bath, and it involved submerging, say a sprained ankle, in first warm water for a short time and then plunging the foot and ankle into a tub of icy water. This back and forth between extremes would lead to an increase in circulation and help to decrease inflammation, thereby facilitating healing.
Learning in those days, it all felt like one big experiment—days filled with awe and wonder. I moved through life vacillating between exhilaration and exhaustion. Like the contrast bath, it was experiencing those extremes that helped me to locate middle ground, my place of healing. I’ve found this to be a pattern for most of my life, this need to swing wide in one direction and then equally wide in the other direction, before coming to rest in the middle. The arc of this pendulum is often a wild and bumpy ride . . . and sometimes I struggle to find that middle place. I’ve learned to respect the gentle rocking, back and forth, that happens just before I come to rest, feeling as though I am home at last.