My last blog gave some background to my own personal journey over the course of 20 years with long term back pain from accidents and injuries, as someone with a passion for riding motorbikes, bicycles, surfboards and skateboards.
Thankfully, I’ve learnt much along that journey and the point of the blog was to share a video of my stretching routine, which has been an ongoing project to keep myself fit and flexible to do the things that I love to do.
I absolutely believe in the benefits of a flexible body – but stretching is just one of the 5 Key Steps to Healing I have developed as part of an overall program to keep my clients in the ‘healing zone’.
Over the next few updates, I’ll be covering each of the steps in detail – but for now, let’s have a look at the 5 steps together.
Step 1 – Switch the nervous system “back on”
When the body is injured from stress (physical, chemical, mental/emotional), the nervous system is often affected – leaving it weakened, inhibited and dysfunctional.
My approach is to use a brilliant high tech kinesiology-based neurological rehabilitation technique called Quantum Neurology. In my opinion, it’s like a 22nd century version of chiropractic!
Step 2 – Free up the stuck joints – without the ‘crack’!
Joints in the spine, pelvis and limbs quickly become stuck for the same reasons the nervous system switches off – including:
- poor posture
- accidents and falls
- bad bio-mechanics at work and play
- biochemical reasons such as food intolerances or a poor quality diet
- the effects of mental and emotional stress
In my practice I use a joint mobilising device called an Arthrostim – which is like a tiny electric jack hammer – to address any joint issue without forceful manipulating, or using techniques that create the ‘crack’.
I know that the ‘crack’ is commonly associated with chiropractic, but I believe my solution can be more effective and can alleviate any ‘fear factor’ of spinal manipulation.
Step 3 – Strengthen weak parts of the body
Body parts can weaken after becoming deconditioned due to an affected nervous system, or were never developed enough from the outset. You can use your body to its full potential only when it is strong enough to safely perform your desired activity.
My solution is a wide variety of tailored exercises, but for the spine and pelvis I recommend and teach basic Foundation Training which was designed specifically for this goal.
Step 4 – Regular and whole body flexibility
My flexibility program is like maintenance for the physical body. The benefits include increasing recovery capacity, feeling healthier and younger, and reducing injury.
By paying attention to where tension is being accumulated, it can also be used as feedback on how the body is coping with daily life.
Step 5 – Injury avoidance
This may sound obvious, but it’s not always as easy as you may think. This step involves identifying and avoiding activities (physical, biochemical and mental) that cause injury for you.
Examples of physical activities are our habitual postures, how we sit/stand/move at work and how we play. Biochemical examples refer to how hard we push our body’s capacity to tolerate food that it doesn’t want or need. I recommend food intolerance testing for more specific knowledge.
The mind also plays a critical role in how well our body performs. I believe our minds need ‘gardening’ to grow the right kind of ‘fruit’ (a healthy and happy body). The ‘weeds’ of life and lack of nutritious growth can break a mind and body down, which limits healing capacity. The gardening tools I use in my practice include Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) and many others.
If you’d like to learn more, drop me an email or give me a call. I look forward to sharing more details of each step with you over coming months.