Exploring the Complexity of having a body | A 10-Point Guide to Embracing Wellness
empower you with understanding
Explore each point to gain a deeper sense of self understanding
Embrace the Complexity of Pain - Pain is multifaceted and not solely attributed to posture.
Rewrite Your Body's Narrative - Reject negative beliefs about your body's abilities and embrace its potential.
Question Tightness - When is it a problem?
Challenge Perceptions - Be aware that our experiences and perceptions can be misleading.
Embrace the Power of Loading - Provide your body with appropriate stress to promote adaptation and improvement.
Honor the Need for Rest - Prioritize rest and recovery for optimal function and overall well-being.
Trust Your Inherent Stability - Your body has inherent stability and doesn't require constant correction.
Embrace Your Wholeness - Recognize that every aspect of you matters, from past experiences to present mindset.
Uncover Behavioral Patterns - Become aware of patterns that drive your choices and behaviors, and make positive changes.
Embrace Imperfection - Embrace your complex and imperfect nature, finding perfection in your challenges and coping mechanisms.
Pain is not caused by posture alone.
Pain is a multifactorial and complex phenomenon that cannot be entirely explained by structural or biomechanical factors alone. Pain is influenced by many factors, including psychological, social, and environmental factors, as well as individual differences in pain perception and coping strategies.
While posture and alignment may play a role in some types of pain, it is often overstated and oversimplified as the primary cause. Instead, pain should be viewed as an integrated experience that involves the interaction of many factors & systems.
Poor posture or structural misalignment does not always correlate with pain, and even in cases where there is a correlation, the relationship may not be causative. Furthermore, the postural/alignment models tends to ignore the psychological and social factors that can contribute to pain.
The reality is that postural or alignment conditions are also often normal variations in anatomy and do not necessarily indicate a problem or dysfunction
In summary, while posture and alignment may play a role in some types of pain, it is important to consider pain as a multifactorial experience that involves many factors beyond the way our parts are positioned on one another.
Don't believe the ‘hype’ aka negative stories about your body's abilities or limitations.
Highlighting the importance of reframing negative beliefs about one's body and its function or structure. The idea is that these negative narratives can create fear, anxiety, and stress, which can ultimately impact our overall health and wellbeing. The body is incredibly resilient and adaptable, and it has an innate ability to heal and repair itself.
There is benefit in letting go of the misleading terms that create a negative narrative about the body's function and structure. (collapsed arch, slipped disc, wear & tear etc.)
The body is constantly adapting to different movement patterns and environments to optimise efficiency and reduce the risk of injury.
Overall, encourages a more positive and empowering view of our bodies and their capabilities. By reframing negative beliefs and narratives, we can reduce stress and anxiety, improve our overall health and wellbeing, and potentially even enhance our physical performance.
A muscle can feel tight for many reasons other than being short.
It's important to remember that the feeling of tightness or tension in a muscle is not always an accurate measure of the muscle's physiological state. It's just a sensory experience that can be influenced by many factors, including our position, movements, and even our emotions.
Feeling tight is a normal and natural experience, especially when we reach the end of our range of motion. It's not necessarily a sign of pathology or dysfunction.
Manual therapists have many techniques and tricks to help change the experience of tension without necessarily changing the mechanical length of the muscles or connective tissue. These techniques often rely on non-specific sensory input, such as touch, movement, or vibration, to help the nervous system modulate the sensory input and create a different experience for the client.
Non-specific sensory input can have a powerful effect on pain and perceived tension, even when there is no mechanical change in the tissue. This highlights the importance of taking a integrated approach to treatment options considering the role of the nervous system in our experience of pain and tension.
Our perceptions can be misleading, so don't always trust them.
Not to discount or ignore the experience altogether. Rather, remember that our experiences are subjective and can be influenced by many factors, such as past experiences, emotions, beliefs, and expectations.
For example, pain is not always an accurate indicator of tissue damage or injury. Sometimes we may experience pain even when there is no physical damage or injury, and vice versa. Similarly, we may perceive a certain movement or posture as "good" or "bad" based on our past experiences and biases, even if it's not necessarily true for our current situation.
Therefore, it's important to approach our experiences with a curious and open mind, and not take them as absolute truths. By questioning our assumptions and biases, we can gain a more accurate and nuanced understanding of our bodies and experiences.
Your body needs appropriate stress to adapt and improve.
Emphasising the importance of loading, or applying stress to the body, in order to promote physical strength and resilience. The idea is that the body needs to be challenged in order to adapt and improve. However, it's important to find the right balance of loading - not too much, which can lead to injury or burnout, and not too little, which may not produce any positive change (and also lead to injury).
Progressive overload - gradually increasing the demands placed on the body - is an effective way to promote strength and fitness gains. However, it's important to consider individual factors such as current fitness level, injury history, and overall health when determining an appropriate loading strategy.
Rest and recovery are crucial for optimal function and health.
Rest is essential for our physical and mental health. It allows our bodies and minds to recover and recharge. In our busy modern world, rest can be seen as a luxury or a sign of weakness, but it is actually a necessity. Taking breaks, getting enough sleep, and engaging in activities that bring us joy and relaxation are all important ways to incorporate rest into our lives. It's important to listen to our bodies and give ourselves permission to rest when we need it.
Rest can improve our immune function, reduce stress levels, improve cognitive function, and even boost creativity. So, don't underestimate the power of rest!
Our structures are capable of maintaining stability and don't need constant correction.
Our body is inherently stable and capable of maintaining balance and control, even in the face of daily disturbances. Can you notice your body’s ability to re-center and maintain position even when you are displaced? In my opinion a more useful place to put your attention, Instead of constantly worrying about weakness, fragility, or instability. While activities that promote stability can be beneficial, it's important to remember that we are safe to move in our bodies and our structures are sophisticated and capable. This commandment encourages us to trust in our body's inherent stability and to appreciate its resilience. Emphasises the importance of reframing our understanding of stability to focus on the body's innate abilities rather than perceived weaknesses.
Everything about you matters, from your past experiences to your current mind state.
Make space for whatever matters in the moment.
If it doesn’t matter what we do, then it only matters what we do, because everything matters. The quality of our sleep, what's happening tomorrow, who our family is, our mind state, who we are to others, what we've eaten, the length of our limbs, our feeling of safety, our past experiences – all of these things matter. We all matter, and so does everything else.
We must embrace the complexity of the human body and honor the interdependence of all things. In doing so, we can approach healing with a sense of purpose and connection, knowing that everything we do matters.
Our choices and behaviors are often driven by patterns, but awareness can lead to positive change.
Our lives are shaped by patterns that we did not choose - our parents, birthplace, gender, and life experiences. Even our genome and brain development were beyond our control. These patterns influence our preferences and beliefs, which in turn guide our decision-making. But with awareness comes insight, which allows us to step out of default patterns and make more intentional choices. However, even intentional choices are not entirely deliberate, as various competing patterns, both voluntary and involuntary, influence each moment and each decision. Yet, aligning our intentions with our actions reveals something about who we are, who we want to be, and what we aim for. Thus, we can be awed by our ability to point our attention, even amidst the complex web of patterns that shape our lives.
We are complex and imperfect beings, but still innately perfect in our challenges and coping mechanisms.
Embracing imperfection is not a call for complacency, but rather an invitation to acknowledge and appreciate our inherent strengths and resilience. We are all perfectly imperfect, and our challenges and coping mechanisms are a testament to our capacity for growth and adaptation.
Cultivating self-compassion and positive regard for ourselves can be a lifelong journey, but it's one worth embarking on. Find a practice that offers a safe space to explore and strengthen your capacity for self-love and acceptance.
We can acknowledge our perfection and also strive for improvement. The key is to approach our challenges and shortcomings with kindness and curiosity, rather than judgment and self-criticism.
My teacher and friend Mark Gray says “you’re perfect….and….you could do with a little improvement.”
This captures it. It’s a about seeing how innately perfect you are. Then building on that positive regard to then do better.