I am an integrative/ holistic physiotherapist – but what is that exactly? What do I do? The answer is not easy for me to answer, for I no longer see physical injuries as just physical injuries – at least not very often, these days. Some acute injuries are clearly purely physical but anything that is past the acute phase rarely is ‘just’ physical. These days I jokingly tell my patients that I am a ‘plumber & drainer of the body’ – I help you to remove your blocks that are preventing you from healing yourself – we all are able to heal ourselves – remember that last time you cut yourself or you caught a cold – but sometimes our self healing mechanisms get blocked or overwhelmed for a number of reasons.
The longer we have symptoms the harder it is to overcome them – one reason for this is explained by this analogy – the more you practice something i.e. a movement, a thought, a reaction, a belief; the deeper the path is ground into your brain’s and body’s neural pathways, much like if a water droplet that is repeated over and over in the same spot eventually becomes a trickle of water, then a stream, then eventually a river and if continues long enough, a flood. This is great if you are practicing something that is positive or health enhancing but if it is negative/toxic then not so pleasant issues may develop as an outcome. You may have heard the expression, “Neurones that fire together, wire together’. This means whenever we repeat a thought, movement, belief etc we set off a chain of activity in our nervous system that creates a pattern and if repeated enough will become our ‘go to’ pattern whenever we have a similar thought/movement/belief pattern triggered. In science terms we call it neuroplasticity/bioplasticity.
The biggest problem is the longer we have practiced something we forget how it all started, i.e. where the original source was/ or where the original water droplet came from. It is then easy to forget that it is just a pattern and not ‘the truth’/permanent. But in the very term neuroplasticity/bioplasticity, is both the cause and the solution – these terms mean the brain or the body can change. That is very powerful! The body/we can change! We have to put in the effort though, to determine if we are creating a positive or more advantageous change, or a more negative/detrimental change to ourselves. We have to become aware of own patterns to change them.
The longer a symptom persists the more chance it has of having an associated mental/emotional block (emotions are just energy/neuropeptides, that are moving through our body, but if they do not get processed & move through, they can start to change what is happening in our cells and beyond) attached to it.
Most of the time, we are unconscious of what is associated with our physical blocks or why. Sometimes, this can lead to our creating/attaching ourselves to a ‘story’ around it and thus identifying this as who we are – not very helpful. (An example of how we create a story/belief around a physical dysfunction can be ‘ I have knee pain because my mother had bad knees, or I cannot run because I hurt myself when I ran when I was 7y.o when I got knocked over by a car or; I was told by a doctor that this will never get better etc etc etc)
So if we do not need to focus on what the story is behind these physical/emotional/mental blocks how do we treat them? Good question – as everything in the body is connected, as long as you start somewhere there is a chance to heal the whole. How do I do this? Most solutions are in the subtext of the story – not in the story itself. What is the subtext of a story? It is the underlying theme of feelings & sensations that the story brings up in you. Most people come to me with a physical condition – so I start by addressing the physical; by assessing the whole body and addressing the physical blocks that I find and bringing mindfulness awareness to these areas using a variety of techniques but generally I find Fascial Manipulation by Stecco, mindful awareness and breathing to be the most effective.
The resolution of the physical condition may or may not, lead to insights within the patient, about what other emotional/mental issues may have been associated with the condition. But often times these other factors get released when the physical releases and a patient just feels ‘lighter’ and better.
Sometimes we get attached to the ‘story’ of what happened to us and if we are attached to our story for too long we confuse it for who we are. Like in a good film or story book the story usually has a subtext and it is in the subtext where we discover what is really contributing to the symptoms. But we have to be ready to let go of the story and access the deeper sub-text. .We are not always ready to let the story go and that is quite ok…we can only change/heal when we are ready…if you are ready then maybe I can be of service to assist you to release the blocks?
Will this work for you if you have a complex physical issue that is not resolving as quickly as you would like? Maybe, maybe not. There is no one technique that works for everything or everyone. I have found that if you are willing to look at your condition from a fresh perspective and are open to the possibility of your physical issue being influenced by other factors i.e. emotional/mental/environmental/nutritional and you are willing to look at the subtext beneath your story and willing to ‘let go’ of what is no longer serving you, then perhaps I can assist you in releasing these blocks, so you can complete your healing yourself and then move on with your life.