Holistic View of Health

I’m trying to live my best life possible! Like most people, I face challenges daily that can affect my stress levels and my general wellbeing. As I strive to move forward, grow and develop, and maintain a sense of balance and calm, I’m reminded of some things that help me. Writing is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, especially about my personal experiences. I not only find it therapeutic, but also love sharing. It gives me the opportunity to connect and hopefully inspire, motivate and encourage others. I believe we all deserve to have the life we want for ourselves.

In the first post of this series, I mentioned having two chronic injuries that led to me Taking Time Out from work recently. The focus was on the positive side of needing to do this. What I didn’t touch on was the journey I’ve been on, whilst trying to deal with these injuries. My road to recovery hasn’t been as simple as dealing with the physical side. In fact, I’ve come to appreciate just how inextricably linked the mind and body are.

The first injury to appear was plantar fasciitis, which is inflammation in the feet. It’s been a slow burner, gradually creeping up on me ever since the pandemic began. Many people suffer from it if they’re on their feet for long periods of time, which is why it’s commonly known as Policeman’s Heel syndrome. However, it can be attributed to extended periods of inactivity too, resulting in tight calf muscles, and it’s also been cited as a symptom of the menopause. I suspect in my case it’s a combination of these two factors. To start with the pain was slight, brief and only occasional, so I didn’t consider it a major problem. But, after another bout of inactivity last Christmas, when my stepfather passed away, the foot pain was more noticeable and frequent, after walking and dancing.

Around the same time, I managed to hurt my right elbow/arm when I had a slight fall. It was still on the mend when I suffered an acute injury a few months later. I’d instinctively put my bad arm up to protect myself from getting hurt. The irony is, it caused me more pain and a worse injury. As if that wasn’t bad enough, 24 hours later, in the middle of teaching a dance class, I suddenly couldn’t take a single step without feeling pain in my right foot.

As a dance teacher, the implications for me were significant, so without delay I made appointments to see my physiotherapist and a podiatrist. They helped assess what was going on, gave me some treatment and/or exercises and I started my recovery. At first things were improving with both, but then I noticed the tension in my shoulder was getting worse. That was when I discovered I’d developed a frozen shoulder. Whilst this alone wouldn’t stop me teaching, I knew it wasn’t good news because it can last up to a few years without intervention. Both my mother and sister have had it before, twice. Having a steroid injection might possibly be an option, but I really wasn’t keen to go down that route. I preferred the idea of letting my body heal naturally.

When you think you’re doing all the right things to get better, it’s very disappointing to find the opposite happening. By then, the worry of the impact these injuries would have on my business was starting to prey on my mind. That wasn’t the only thing troubling me. What I’ve not yet mentioned is that the incident with my shoulder happened when I was going through a really tough spell. Aside from coping with my stepfather passing away, that week had been a difficult emotional one. My concentration was shot to pieces, work was really stressful, I had a minor incident with my car and a lot of little things were going wrong. Even small things felt too much to deal with. So, when I injured my arm and then my foot became unbearable, I quite literally felt like my body was shouting at me, ‘Stop!’

Early on, my reflexologist told me the pain I was experiencing on the right side of my foot was related to my right shoulder. This made a lot of sense to me considering the timing and how quickly the foot pain had escalated. It felt as if everything was connected, the physical and emotional issues. Treating each injury individually no longer seemed like the right approach. It was time to look at the bigger picture with a fresh new perspective.

I went online and found a local osteopath and applied kinesiologist, Josh Bourne. I had no idea what that really meant or involved, but I liked the sound of him because he was undertaking a nutrition course and had an “holistic outlook to healthcare”. By this time, I’d started reading an excellent book called The Food Doctor: Healing foods for mind and body, by Ian Marber and Vicki Edgson. There was a very illuminating section on understanding nutrition and inflammation. I had no idea some foods were considered inflammatory and should be avoided. I started to appreciate, at a deeper level, just how important good nutrition is for the body, especially when healing. Josh was able to identify which nutrients I was deficient in and recommended some supplements to help. I even discovered that not all supplements are created equal and there’s a good reason why some cost more money!

What really blew me away was how quickly Josh discovered how my emotional stress was blocking my recovery. My adrenal glands, responsible for the release of cortisol (the stress hormone) were very tender, especially the right side, indicating it was hard at work. He also showed me, through some simple exercises, how the body can’t function normally when it’s dealing with stress. It literally can’t do two things at once. It was such an eye opener! For the first time, I realised just how much the emotional issues were affecting me, why my body was struggling to cope with the two chronic injuries and why my healing process was so slow.

Now a light was shining on my emotional issues, it was time to work through them and that wasn’t something Josh could help me with. As a writer, the prospect of doing this wasn’t difficult because I’ve been keeping a journal for years. I know how cathartic and helpful it is. So, over the course of the following week I focused my attention on each issue, tuning in to how and why I felt the way I did, trying to accept and rationalise it all before letting go of the negative feelings and hurt. From this I developed some positive affirmations, which I read daily to help me stay mentally strong. To an extent it worked, but not fully.

My sister recommended I try an approach she’d learned from author and international speaker Nicholas Haines (founder of the Five Institute). Instead of reading my list of positive affirmations the idea was to ask myself questions. It’s more powerful because you’re allowing your subconscious to think about the answers and more deeply believe them. For instance, rather than telling myself not to worry about my business if I take a break, I asked myself, ‘Why should I not worry about my business?” So, systematically, I went through all the issues and concerns I’d recently experienced and turned everything into a question. Impatiently, I didn’t wait for my subconscious to start doing the work, I proceeded to answer each of the questions. I’m sure it worked just as well because it was amazing how positive I felt afterwards. Not only did I sleep really well that night for the first time in ages, but the next day Josh saw an improvement when I tried a few stress tests again.

Timing is everything! The same day I started to feel more positive, I received an email from one of my dancers, who recommended I see Caroline Kremer. She offers a natural alternative to physiotherapy incorporating the Bowen Technique and other therapies. My instincts were telling me I needed to find someone who would look at my whole body and not just the injuries and I had a feeling she was the answer. I wasn’t wrong!

It’s because Caroline incorporates various different therapies into her method that she can tailor each session to the individual and it’s why her holistic approach worked so well for me. Bowen Therapy involves gentle moves that are deeply relaxing to release tension in the fascia and help restore the body to normal function. Fascia is important for our overall physical and mental health. Many people haven’t heard of it and yet it holds together the entire body. It’s because it connects everything, that a small niggle in one place can affect other areas too. You only need to imagine twisting your fingers in a t-shirt to see how the material is pulled in different directions, and that gives you an idea of what is going on inside your body! So, if you ignore a niggle, then another develops, and another, you might suddenly find yourself dealing with some much bigger issues that are more challenging for your body to heal. It might be wise not to ignore those small niggles at the start!

All the various treatments, exercises and relaxation techniques I went through during my sessions with Caroline have resulted in noticeable change, both physically and emotionally. But it’s also been quite revealing and highlighted other issues concerning my posture and the amount of tension I’m holding in my neck, shoulders and back – not just because of my shoulder injury. I’ve discovered there are deeper issues I need to let go of in order to move forward positively, and in many ways this journey is only just beginning, as I start to peel back the emotional layers. Caroline has helped me stay positive and gain clarity, and also has guided me in the right direction. She recommended a great book, The Mind Body Bible by Dr Mark Atkinson, which is all about how connected the two elements are. Plus, it includes a really useful toolkit of exercises to help you address your own issues.

On my last visit, Caroline reminded me of a Tony Robbins quote, ‘Where focus goes, energy flows.’ Later, it really dawned on me, all the time I’d been worrying about my injuries it had actually made the situation worse. I’d been so impatient at the start, trying to fix everything. I was battling to be fit again. I realised it was time to let go of all the negativity and be positive! I’m so grateful to all those who’ve helped me on this journey, but especially Caroline. Now, I’m much happier, eating more healthily and feeling better for it, and keeping up with my exercises. But, most importantly, I’m feeling mentally strong. I’ve learned first-hand how intertwined the mind and body are and how important a more holistic approach to health is when trying to heal. I’m ready to listen to my body and find out what it’s telling me!

See next post in this series...