My personal health experiences have influenced and shaped the physio I have become over the years.
Yes, I know my stuff as a Neuro Physio and Seating specialist.
Yes, I'm good at what I do.
Yes, I care deeply about the people I work with
Yes, I want to make a meaningful impact in the lives of as many clients as possible
Yes, I always see the silver lining, the bigger picture and Yes, I'm the glass full girl.
Accepting Help and Support: I do think that my mindset has helped me navigate those bumps in the road I call my life both in a personal and a professional capacity. I'll always see what is possible for clients and I enjoy walking with you side by side with my clients in their rehabilitation journeys as they each take the steps to reach their goals. I know and believe from my own experiences that it's easier to get there with support, with someone encouraging you to keep going when you are so close to achieving your goal and you want to give up. Because you haven't achieved what you wanted to yet, even though you were almost there, literally at the finish line!
We all need people in our lives like this, that champion us to keep going!! To believe, to hope and to dream, to keep the vision against all odds. Never let someone tell you that you can't do anything. With enough drive, motivation, focussed attention and action you will get there. What I've learnt on my own journeys over the years especially the last few is that things haven't always turned out the way I thought they would.
Actually, they turned out way better than I could have imagined. I surround myself with incredible people to support me with the big vision I hold for my own life and the life of all my amazing clients ...... Rehabilitation is no different! it is important for clients to be surrounded by therapists, friends, family members who believe in them and what is possible.
Fear and worry: Wow, fear and worry were my best friends for so many years. I think I have a degree in these two!! Ever since I was a little kid, I used to have this stress and worry energy and yes... I admit it. But here's the thing... It's about understanding what is the root course of the fear and worry was covering up....
Is it the fear of the unknown?
Is it the fear of moving forward?
Is it the fear of disappointment?
Is it the fear of what if I can't do it!
Is it the fear of change?
And it took years for me to work through all the layers as an adult...
For so many clients, fear and worry are 2 big elements that also show up and navigating this and supporting my clients through this journey of change is important. I find that it is so important to talk about the fear, where is it coming from, what is it about? And this helps so much to just talk about it before doing new talks? Because let's face it, fear is real. We can feel it in our bodies and by not acknowledging this is just crazy because it's the elephant in the room.
Shifting the Not Enough Monster into Enough: Even though I am a Clinical Specialist neuro Physio and I work on my mindset daily, there are moments when the not enough monster creeps in. I have backup support where I can remind myself and I have amazing people in my life also working on this which allows us to show up and support each other with this to allow us to shift things more quickly. This takes time and practice. Remember the brain is wired and set up to find things wrong instead of right! Making to it easy to find areas where things are not going well. I see this time and time again with my clients.
They say, "I am not making improvements. I have not reached my goal." However, when we are in the not enough mindset, we can't see the small incremental changes that we have achieved along the way. I have found in a personal and professional capacity with my clients that the more we focus on seeing what is going well in their rehabilitation and their daily living, the more positive changes and progress we can train our minds to see.
Courage Up and do it anyway! Even though I'm a specialist physio with so much experience, part of me sometimes thinks "I'm not a good enough at public speaking to share my story!" There will always be excuses or reasons we make up in our heads that hold ourselves back. The best way to overcome these is to face them head-on! Take a deep breath. Acknowledge that you are scared. Courage up...Ask for support if you need it! And do it anyway! This has been my recipe and I have done this with the help and support of my mentor and my amazing friends and family. I also this with my clients in rehabilitation. It also takes practice to know when this not enough monster shows up in your thinking, your actions, your words. It takes practice and conscious awareness to change this mindset pattern. I've found this to be true for myself. And once I did the things that I worried about it, always felt anticlimactic. "Like wow; was it really that easy! What was the story I made up in my head?"
Being flexible and being open to change: I continue to challenge myself to keep growing and to keep stretching my boundaries to see which are fixed and which are flexible. In growing, and expanding and working on myself physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally I get to show up more fully as my clients. For so long, I knew I was not a typical physio, I thought about things differently, I tried and applied things differently in Neurophysio because of how my brain works. My constant thinking: "I know there is a way I can modify and adapt things for the benefit of my clients", has helped me to grow and evolve as a neurophysio to the degree that I have at least 4 specialities.
I believe that change is important to continue to progress and move forward. If I am not moving forward and embracing change, I am stagnant. I believe change is inevitable. I believe we have the choice how we want change to show up in our lives: Do we want to change and forge our own new paths actively or do we want to be passive bystanders to inevitable change? For me; I prefer the first option. Rehabilitation is no different. The sooner we start to work on preventative exercise and rehabilitation the easier the journey becomes. The choice is always ours to make. Start Now or Wait and Start Later?
Ps: If you have not signed up for my free 5-day arm or leg mobility challenge or 3 -day wheelchair shoulder mobility challenge and would like to do so now, click on the link below and sign up to do it at a time of your choosing.
