As the political storm that is erupting in the UK at the moment is born out of a series of events and decisions over time, so too is pain. Our body’s HISTORY has a knock-on effect, a chain reaction that affects the whole of the system continuing forward. It is the culmination of ‘events’ that have stressed our nervous system which gives rise to the compensatory patterns that the brain puts in place to cope every day and remain safe.
Our body’s history leaves an imprint on the nervous system. EVERY SINGLE DINK, DONK, BREAK, TRAUMA, KNOCK, BANG, THOUGHT, CONCUSSION, SCAR, SPRAIN, INFECTION, VIRUS, STRESS, and ACCIDENT remains in the nervous system, with the potential to create dysfunction, until it is processed, and homeostasis is restored to the system.
At My Bodyworks, we send out our health form prior to new clients coming for their first visit so that they have the time to sit and remember the ‘events’ of the body.
When it comes to pain that seemingly has come out of nowhere (i.e. pain without a tangible cause like a broken leg from falling down the stairs), the information of what has happened to your body leading up to your pain is really important as it gives a picture of different routes your body has taken in response to the events it has encountered.
Fairly insignificant dinks can have an impact on how your body carries itself. Here are some examples:
A stubbed or broken left toe – your body may shift its weight into the right side of the body, placing a lot of strain into the right hip, foot and back.
A cut or scar on the fingers – may interrupt the signaling from your brain to finger muscles every time move the fingers and pull tension through the scar tissues, causing grip problems and consequently your elbow or shoulder to overwork
A c- section, hysterectomy, appendectomy, or laparoscopy investigation scar – may compromise the muscles of the deep abdominal core beneath them, creating a weakness that is picked up by the back muscles, causing them to overwork and become painful
An upper chest breather – as an upper chest breather you will utilize the neck muscles to lift your ribcage so you can get as full a breath as possible into your lungs. This overworks the neck muscles and compromises their main job which is to stabilize your skull and shoulders, creating neck and shoulder pain.
We understand that being put on the spot on your first session can be hard to remember everything. Even with the pre-visit health form, things still get missed because sometimes the brain has made a good job of allowing you to forget certain traumas so you can continue with everyday life (ladies, think childbirth – if we remembered the pain, we may not decide to go there again!)
And that’s why healing is a process. Sometimes we move backwards before we move forwards, but in the peeling back of the layers, the brain finds its safety to bring to the surface that which is important.
Everything counts. Yes, even that tiny, seemingly insignificant scar from when you were 8. At 8, it was such a HUGE DEAL to your body that it had to find a way around it day to day.
HISTORY IS EVERYTHING. YOU CAN NEVER GIVE ME TOO MUCH INFORMATION WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR BODY’S STORY