How to get the most out of your body and your life, Change something!
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result” —Albert Einstein—
Whether the therapist is working on the physical, mental, emotional or spiritual levels, what we are aiming to achieve with any therapy is CHANGE! What you want when you come for a massage is an upgrade. You’re not happy with the current state. It’s too restrictive, too uncomfortable, too painful etc. You want something different. Something better! If you want to get better, then it means you want to change. And the only way you can change your health, is by changing your life.
The first step is awareness. Before you go around changing things, you need to know what the problem actually is. Most of our physical ‘issues’ didn’t just happen overnight. Even the acute injuries from things like collisions, damage us in our weak points which have been made more susceptible over time. So ask yourself ‘what am I doing in my life that’s causing this?’ Sometimes this is not an easy question to answer. Our lives are very dynamic. We are always doing different things and chopping and changing our activities, so it might not be the easiest thing to track. But the more we get in touch with our bodies, the more we will notice and understand the signs. The slight strains, the stiffness, tightness, restrictions, pains etc. All of these things are our bodies trying to communicate with us. Respect and love your body! Your body is good! Your body is you. Your physical body is always just ‘managing’ the situation given all the input and stimulus you give it. It is in a constant balancing act, trying to set itself up to be best at what it thinks it will be expected to do in the future. Usually it only takes a short amount of time and care for your body to recalibrate to a state of good health, if given the right conditions. The natural state of your body is health. Your body is just managing the situation. It’s not the enemy. If you have any discomfort, or issues, it’s just your body telling you what’s going on. So listen!! Take responsibility for your health Massage in the short term cleans you out and puts everything back where it should be. But long term, if you continue the same habits, it is likely that you will get the same issues coming back. Unless you CHANGE! This is the reason we want to help you to change your posture and movement patterns long term through functional exercise! But beyond that, we want to empower you to take responsibility for your own health, so that you can fix yourself. Massage is fantastic. And the deep work is hard to replicate. So if you’re in need, then get a few massages to fast track the healing process. Get a tune up when you need, but don’t be afraid to try things! You are powerful, you are intuitive. You know your body better than anyone else. You can fix yourself. Foam rollers, stretching, spikey balls, postural corrections, resistance training, different routines etc. are just tools. So try them and see which ones work for you, and integrate them into your better life. Don’t outsource your health! Nobody cares about your health more than you do. And nobody knows your body better than you! So if you outsource your health, then your health will suffer. Your life will suffer. Don’t beat yourself up So if you are taking responsibility for your health, and you have any health issue come up, does that mean that IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT and you should be ashamed for not being perfect? Of course not! Everybody has their own special blend of dysfunction! Things are always going to come up at different stages. We all have a life. We all need to work. We all have different demands and pressures that are sometimes hard to predict and manage. We need to do certain things, and these things may not be a perfect balance of activities for our body. We have to be mature and realistic and self-forgiving. Life is hard sometimes. But at the same time, we should be honest about where we could be making simple and effective changes. So strive for optimization, not perfection. It’s about knowing your own habits and tendencies, and understanding how to leverage your strengths, and be aware of your challenge points, so that you can find the best balance.
You are what you do…
”We are what we repeatedly do” —Aristotle—
How do you come out in the world? How do you treat yourself, your body, and other people? What sort of energy do you carry into the world? What sort of thoughts do you have? How do you sleep? What do you eat? What is your posture like? What activity have you done today? Everything has an effect, and all parts of your life are interrelated. Changing your health requires changing your life in some way. So what way would you like change to happen in your life?
