I had an MRI of my back today. I'm in the process of ruling out all the things that could be causing a loss of feeling in my foot and lower leg; something that scares me a whole lot if I think about it too much. Considering the amount of energy I devoted to being anxious about the MRI, things actually went pretty well.
I liked that they had me fill out a sheet that included the question "do you suffer from claustrophobia?" I answered "no." Had they given me the same questionnaire after the MRI, I probably would have written "only when shoved headfirst into a tube slightly larger than my body and forced to hold still for 25 minutes while someone operates a jackhammer very nearby." I quickly decided to keep my eyes closed, because the ceiling of the tube? Pretty much touching the tip of my nose.
As I lay there, pondering the many horrible diseases I probably have, some of which have probably yet to be discovered by science, I decided that this could be a good time to put my nascent meditation and chanting practice to work. I figured the technician couldn't hear me over the jackhammering and the background music (I love that he immediately asked me if I wanted him to switch the radio station to NPR before we started. How did he know? Is it my glasses?). I think I chanted the om saha navavatu about 100 times, first out loud and then to myself. Whenever I started to freak out I would re-focus on my breath and pick up the chant from the beginning. I'm not going to say my time in the tube turned into a fun-filled experience or anything, but chanting certainly made those long 25 minutes more bearable.
ॐ स॒ह ना॑ववतु । स॒ह नौ॑ भुनक्तु ।
स॒ह वी॒र्यं॑ करवावहै ।
ते॒ज॒स्वि ना॒वधी॑तमस्तु॒ मा वि॑द्विषा॒वहै॑ ॥
ॐ शान्ति॒ः शान्ति॒ः शान्ति॑ः
More crafty stuff soon,
Very Sage
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