Not a One Walk Dog

Last week I attended my Level III Positional Therapy training. It's interesting how we hear different things at different times.

In the fall when I attended the first two levels, I left feeling awed and wow-ed by the immediate effects of this bodywork. I was amazed by the fact that someone could come in with a chronic knee or back issue and leave their session feeling like new. Then I came home and got to work. And while I did find some amazing, instantly gratifying results in many cases, I also found an equal number of cases in which my client's condition didn't miraculously and completely go away!

Fast forward to this Level III training and I heard something new. I heard that while some discomfort will go away immediately, consistent daily practice is essential to permanently correct the muscular imbalances that are contributing to our pain and discomfort. No longer were we fixating on the instantaneous relief, although powerful, but instead acknowledging that our discomforts arise out of a lifetime of poor posture, tension patterns and habits that ultimately can resolve themselves but only with consistent, repeated practice that helps us develop new patterns.

On the one hand this could feel discouraging. Ugh, you mean I might have to be patient and work at this for a while to see lasting results?! But "daddy, I want my golden goose now!!"

On the flip side there is that feeling of empowerment, the feeling that comes when we make a commitment to consistent practice and the shift that happens overtime as a result of our repeated practice.

I was reminded of this saying from one of my teachers, "life is not a one walk dog". Although sometimes we wish we could take the "dog" out once and be done, that's not how it works. That "dog" (or body, or mind, or heart), needs to be taken out multiple times a day. Every day!

We, and by we I mean I, have gotten lazy over this lifetime, taking so many things, especially related to my health and body for granted that it was actually an empowering and hopeful message for me and one I'm excited to share with my clients. That if we work at correcting our poor body habits, bit by bit, with daily practice, we can get where we want to be, living balanced and pain-free.

Let me know if you're in pain and if you're interested in the relief positional therapy can provide, as well as the targeted daily practices I can share with you to help unwind your imbalances over the long run!