Reflections On Our 'Fusion Wellness Weekend' Workshop
Hello Fusioneers!
I was thrilled to once again lead and be a part of another successful TOPS Fusion Wellness Weekend! Although this year we held the workshop online, it was as interesting as always to connect with other people who have spinal fusion - to share movement and stories of our unique yet shared experiences.
Recently, I have been reflecting a lot on spinal fusion. Did you know the following fusion facts?
There are about 40,000 people per year who get scoliosis corrective surgery in the US alone.
Up to one million people had Harrington Rods implanted between the early 1960s and the late 1990s.
Harrington Rod surgeries only became widely available starting in the early 1960s, making the procedure about 60 years old.
There is a whole generation of fusioneers who have been living with their ‘corrected' spines for 45+ years, representing the first group of seniors in history to be witness to this experience… We are a living history!
These are the people we started our Fusion Wellness Weekends for, and why it is so wonderful to have the opportunity to share our experiences.
Are you one of these people? If so, please consider joining us next time! Fusion Wellness Weekend 2021 DATE TBD! Email us to be notified once dates are confirmed :)
Meantime, please enjoy a recap of the weekend by author Patricia Horvath, who led the writing portion of our Fusion Wellness Weekend workshop.
— Martha
*****
Many thanks to Martha Carter for inviting me to join her for a two-day yoga/writing workshop focused on spinal fusions - and to lead the writing section. The workshop, originally scheduled for March 28 and 29, 2020 at Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective in New York, took place instead on June 6 and 7, 2020 via Zoom, with participants attending from throughout the U.S.
Bringing the element of writing into the workshop enabled us to think about fusions metaphorically: how, for instance, do we integrate mind and body in a way that feels holistic? When writing our own stories, how do we incorporate memory in a way that fuses what we remember with what we can no longer recall? Participants wrote their own stories using workshop prompts and shared these stories with each other.
In crafting the writing component of the workshop, I drew on my own experiences as a writer and teacher as well as someone with a Harrington Rod spinal fusion. At age thirteen I was diagnosed with scoliosis. For two years I wore a Milwaukee brace before undergoing spinal surgery, which confined me to a full body cast, unable to walk for many months. My memoir, All the Difference (Etruscan Press) recounts these experiences. The book explores the relationship between disability and self-identity: what happens to one's sense of self when a physical disability ceases to be visible?
Many of the workshop attendees spoke of their initial reluctance to dwell on their experiences with spinal fusion given its attendant pain, limited mobility, visible body difference, etc. Certainly, this can be difficult turf to ‘mine’. Everyone has their own reasons for writing. For myself, I write from what I term vexation and inquiry: something is bothering me and I have to try to figure it out. This was the impulse that drove me to write All the Difference.
Some of the workshop participants had been taking yoga for spinal fusion classes for years, yet this was one of the first opportunities they'd had to write about their own experiences. I felt honoured that they shared their stories with me. By the workshop's end, we were discussing such issues as what it's like to self-quarantine once you've been in a body case or brace, the compensatory pressure to perform well academically, and the relationship between spinal fusion and reproduction. Doing the deep breathing and somatic exercises with Martha between writing sessions gave participants, myself included, time to contemplate these issues while connecting with our physical selves. It was truly a fusion of mind and body.
I hope to be able to work with Martha again, perhaps even in person when the world permits.
Meanwhile, if you're interested in learning more about me, please visit: https://patricialhorvath.com