"As many of you know I count myself firmly among the ranks of the exercise addicted. For about 10 years I was sidelined by a rotator cuff injury that didn’t heal very well and was unable to practice my favorite sports - swimming and rowing. It wasn’t time wasted, I studied 3 different styles of Tai Chi, walked a lot of miles in a circle practicing Ba Gua, and encountered acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, all of which ultimately landed me back in school. 

While I was at New England School of Acupuncture studying acupuncture and herbal medicine and taking advantage of treatment at the student clinic, one of my professors decided that she wasn’t happy with the results that we were getting with my herbal treatment and changed strategies dramatically. 

About a month into the new treatment things started to change, my shoulder stopped being a chronic source of pain!   I didn’t jump back into the water right away, something about being a full-time student in the last year of an exhausting program, but in the summer of 2005, when graduation was finally in sight, I took my first tentative steps back to rowing and signed up for a 6-week summer rowing program at North Eastern University. The great sage who said "its just like riding a bicycle" was right; my body still remembered the old skills, and it felt great to be back on the water.

That fall I reconnected with Community Rowing Inc. and joined their recreational program. For the last 2 years I rowed and raced with the General Sweeps 2 program and rowed tanks and swam during the winter slowly getting back into shape and coming to trust that my shoulder might be able to do this stuff again. This year I decided to turn things up a notch and try out for the competitive women’s team at CRI. Tryouts started April 2^nd and went for 3 weeks; it was great, I love being out on the water with all these strong, dedicated women (even when I couldn’t see who was sitting in front of me till the sun came up half way through practice and despite the strange patch on my wrist that I think might be frostbite).

I’m happy to report that I made the cut and will be rowing with the Comp. Women this year condemning myself to 4:30am wake up calls and lots of bad Lycra but hoping for many happy miles of soul soothing swing and hopefully some exciting races. I’d like to say thank you to all my patients and co-workers who have accommodated my schedule changes and supported my efforts, this is one of those lifetime goals and I am incredibly grateful to have a chance to play this out."

-- Rebekah Michaels, Lic.Ac., MAOM, Diplomate OM