Zhiyan Shen
I started suffering from arthritis at the age of 3 or 4. I vaguely remember that my mother told me that I had a fall in the rain when I was little. Or maybe it was because my mother was lacking in nutrients when she was pregnant with me. Anyway, I had arthritis at a very young age, and was constantly ill. I don’t even know how many times I caught a cold every year. My family had to take extra care of me because I got sick so easily.
Then, I got married and raised my own family. Everything went smoothly. However, after childbirth, the problems with my knees became serious. Maybe during my pregnancy, along with the growing of the fetus, my weight increased. This put more stress on my knees. I am also not an active person to start with, but at the third trimester, for a smooth delivery, I did some walking for exercise. Very soon after childbirth, my knees started acting up.
After being examined, the results indicated that my cartilage was badly damaged. Small pieces had broken off. By the time my son turned two, both of my knees had surgery within six months of each other. After the doctor saw the condition of my knees during the operation, he told me, being an authoritative specialist in his field, he had examined knees of numerous people. He said that in people of my age, only a little over 30 at the time, he had never seen a condition like mine. This condition is more common for people in their 50s and 60s.
My son was two years old at the time. Many kids of the same age were learning scootering together. However, I spent most of my time with him at home because going out required a lot of running and walking, which would cause pain in my knees. Looking out the window, I could see other mothers running after their kids under the blue sky, on the green grass; the kids scootering ahead, mothers chasing them from behind. I envied them so much!
To reduce the pain in my knees, since even a little walking could cause pain and swelling, the doctor prescribed a pair of knee braces for me. Each knee had a big brace. Whenever I traveled, or if some walking was required, I had to wear them. But I didn’t want to wear both all the time. It was too much! So I rotated the brace on each knee.
The doctor also used a very long needle to inject lubricant into my knees to reduce the pain. Nevertheless, it didn’t work. The pain was still there. My left knee started hurting earlier than my right. Therefore, the left leg is much thinner than the right due to muscle loss, similar to muscle atrophy. After the surgery, the doctor suggested that I go for physiotherapy. I made it a point to go weekly. However, after a few months, I saw no results.
In the spring of 2012, I came to Bodhi Meditation. I signed up for the 8.5-Day Health and Happiness Retreat. Since the meditation hall was on the second floor, the first few days, I had to hold on to the rail while moving myself up step by step. But by the 4th or 5th day, without realizing it, I ran up the stairs. It was just amazing! For a long time, you could see it, it was very obvious, that my left leg was much smaller than the other. I had no strength in them, even after long-term physiotherapy. A few days of meditation helped to revive my legs. I was able to go up and down stairs without effort. I am so, so grateful! It was just amazing. If I didn’t experience this myself, I wouldn’t believe it. Ever since then, I haven’t needed the braces anymore.
After the Health and Happiness Retreat, as I found the meditation to be beneficial, I persevered with daily practice of the Meditation of Greater Illumination. A few months later, I was pregnant with my second child. My daughter was born the year after. During the pregnancy, I started to worry because it was after the first childbirth that my knees gave me big problems. I was afraid that the weight gain during pregnancy would cause issues to my knees again. However, there was no problem during the whole nine months.
My daughter was lovely and lively! After her birth, I was able to carry her myself. In the past, not only was I unable to run after my son, I also hardly carried him. Whenever we went out, my husband was the one to carry our son. I could hardly walk myself. But with my daughter, I could take care of her by myself. I could carry her. I was able to run after her when she went scootering. I could run with her, play with her. I had no problems at all! This made up for all that I couldn’t do with my first child. They seemed like ordinary things, but they were so precious for me.
Nowadays, I can not only run and play with them, I can ride bicycles, hike on trails, I can do pretty much everything. My knees have become much better than before, I can say they are back to normal, but that’s not just it. I got sick easily since I was little. I would catch a cold several times a year, especially in winter. If I caught a cold and started coughing, it could last several months. But now as I recall, I haven’t had any colds in the past few years; no more coughing either. All these disappeared without me noticing. Before, my hands and feet were always icy cold, and not only during winter time. They were cold in summer, too. Now, my hands and feet are warm at any time of year.
Through meditation, I regained my health. With better health, I became happier. I learned to be grateful. I learned to have empathy, to be considerate. I want to help others. Since I went through pain myself, I was able to understand other people’s pain. I will continue with my meditation practice, and I hope that more people will know this great method, and also benefit from it. When we regain health, we become happy, and we bring happiness to our family too!
The intent of the testimonial is to offer wellness information of a general nature. Individual results of practice may vary.