What does resilience mean to you?!
There are a few critical things we want all clients to learn about their own healing journeys and taking control of their own health for long term vibrancy adn thriving in their lifelong endeavors!
1. Healing is always a lifelong journey – we can get rid of symptoms but staying feeling good takes near daily effort
2. How we feel is often largely governed by our nervous system state and our ability to shift, change and heal those states.
If you’ve been a client and heard me go over the healing path for your plan of care, I will often say that resilience is knowing what works to avoid your symptoms returning and be able to enjoy your life. I often reference wanting people to be able to travel which usually involves sleeping in a different bed and long plane or car rides.
Well, that exact scenario happened to me last week when I took my son to his national volleyball tournament. We had a long plane ride in which I was leaning forward working on my computer for a majority of the flight. I was obviously sleeping in a hotel with a different bed and pillows, which were quite comfortable, but still different than my body was used to. We had lots of walking and I was wearing a backpack most days and even though I was trying to pay attention to my alignment, I often slung it over one shoulder rather than wearing it properly. We also had an extended time of pulling the suitcase, which, of course I do primarily with my right arm and creates all that drag behind me. Long story short, many many factors contributed to a buildup of tension throughout my neck and rib cage despite a workout in the hotel gym Sunday and my attempts at stretching. We came home Monday. I did some gentle flow and Yin yoga Tuesday morning, thinking that I was helping to mobilize my tissues and ease back into workouts and yet somehow Tuesday night in the middle of the night, my neck locked up.
Trev and I had a blast and happened to stumble upon the very first Buca di Beppo restaurant ever in the united states so had to throw in some pics for your enjoyment! That said, my neck was so tight and painful the night after we got home.
Now I’ve presented a lot of the structural factors that led into this and hoe the tension could have accumulated, but the other critical piece was that because of my neck, injury and symptoms last year this experience was additionally triggering of fear about a return of symptoms. Which means my nervous system decided to take over – and not in a helpful way.
- What might be going on with my disc?
- Was I going to experience any numbness or muscle atrophy again?
- Would I miss work or have to stop workouts again?
This is already getting long so let me wrap up. The point is that when he have injuries, weak or recently injured places, new tension tends to go there first. So the inversion table, foam roll, massage gun, stretching and my myofascial ball became my best friends for the next week and now I’m back to working out fully and more of a maintenance regimen. This means:
- Still doing daily mobilization and stretching (just not as much as when injured)
- Being mindful of alignment with workouts but not avoiding things
- Ensuring I’m using techniques to keep my nervous system calm and mobile
- Mindful of time typing or on my phone rounded forward and making sure to work on spinal mobility – especially rotation and sidebending!
These are just a few tips on how I stay out of pain and work on being resilient! This is what we truly want for all of you and why it’s specifically spelled out in every treatment plan!
What are your magic go-to things when you’re body hurts?
We’d love to hear from you!
Blessings,
Amy and the Moment of Truth team
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