Healing

HEALING 🤕 (Mental and Physical)

This year I have spent $795 on Therapy and Physiotherapy.

That is $795 of my own money too since I run my own business and don’t have benefits.

So why am I telling you this?

Well for a few reasons:
💡Sometimes we need help to heal
💡Sometimes we need to spend the money- spending money forces us to do the work and stop avoiding things
💡If you have benefits you should make the time for therapy, and see body specialists regularly even before you get fully injured- ie. REAL check-ups
💡I really want you to differentiate between spending on yourself and investing in yourself (or your health), a trip to Cabo sounds nice, but if your head is a mess unfortunately a change in geography won’t fix that

Time does not heal all. It takes time, talking, and taking action to heal.

Healing anything requires focusing on both your body and mind.

Because just when we think the journey is over sometimes we fall flat on our face once again.

Yesterday my foot was in pain again and I could barely walk on it. Despite being told by Physio in January that I would be back playing basketball in 2 weeks. I am obviously not playing basketball…

But here is what I am doing:
✅ Prioritizing My Body- I am still moving in the ways I can ie. doing other workouts, and activities while making sure I commit to the physio exercises
✅ Practicing Patience- I realize that healing is not a linear progression, so I keep asking questions and working with the physio to find new directions, options
✅ Maintaining Consistency- eating, sleeping and keeping my life structure so that I can keep recovering and keep my mind right as I heal
⚡Progress comes in many forms, and I only have the opportunity to heal if I commit to trying and following a plan (plans will change, and that is progress too)

A few weeks ago I had one of my worst breakdowns and the awful part was I didn’t see it coming and couldn’t fully understand why it happened. I was already back in therapy and it still snuck up on me.

So how I’m approaching mental work is:
✅ Prioritizing My Mind- I have come a long way, and it is frustrating that I am not perfect, but I know that I am supposed to learn something here and I’m getting help to figure that out
✅ Practicing Patience- Writing notes of the cyclical thoughts that cause me grief and bringing them to my sessions, learning to sit in the discomfort and accepting that I will get an opportunity to talk this through, but I also need time to process it
✅ Maintaining Consistency- I have sessions booked monthly now until I understand myself better and from then on I will probably maintain a twice-a-year check in at least
⚡Be open to the process, accept new information, and realize that breaking down, being uncomfortable, and feeling stuck are all part of figuring it out.

Am I happy I still feel physically and mentally broken sometimes?

No, I’m angry, even sad sometimes, and definitely anxious/ worried other times. But we are all a work in progress and like you, I can choose to do the work, or I can keep creating more dread for myself. Life will go on with or without me either way.

Also, I leave physio and therapy each time just a bit lighter and a bit more hopeful.

When we avoid little bits of discomfort, whether it be physical or mental and we put them to the side, they slowly start piling up. One day that pile gets too big and falls on top of us- in the form of injury, or breakdown.

So if you are under a pile of your own shit right now, create space for yourself to crawl out and get the help you need. Then in the future recognize the moments of discomfort that lead up to these SHITSCRAPERS and don’t avoid them. Ask for help sooner, be honest with yourself sooner, and take action sooner.

This is what I am working on once again!

On a positive note, I promise that crawling out gets easier every time you have to do it, no matter how big the tower of problems.

Stay determined, stay hopeful, and realize this is all part of being human.

Your coach,

Connor

Also!

I would like to shout out the Modern Wisdom podcast Episode #750 with special Guest Rhonda Patrick.

My big takeaways were:
💡Supplementing Omega 3s is a simple way to aid muscle recovery, improve brain function, and also improve heart health
💡Sauna can improve depression and mood potentially better than antidepressants, AND can also aid in muscle recovery and help prevent muscle loss
💡The importance of muscle/ strengthening your full body, getting good sleep, and proper diet/ protein pre and post-surgery to improve physical outcomes and function of repaired areas
💡How interval training can improve VO2 max and reverse negative health effects even from years of bad habits ex. smoking
💡The value of strength training at any age to offset age-related muscle loss- references 50-plus-year-olds changing their health trajectory

Click the photo below to check it out!