The other day I was at a networking session. Not your typical networking session where we all swap business cards and hope for a client. In fact, it’s probably more of a entrepreneurs / business owners development session really. Anyhow, the facilitator as me: What’s my passion? Why do I do what I do?
I answered without thinking too much
“My passion is helping women discover that a healthy lifestyle can be fun and sustainable.”
But later I realised that this was not the right answer. Or rather not a full answer.
My passion is taking someone on a journey. A journey that typically starts with “I can’t do that” or “I can’t lift that”… But over time the journey leads to: “Yup I’ll give it a go”. Or “I can’t do that yet, but I’ll work at it.” and “Yes, I can lift that.”
The journey often starts with weakness, pain or limited movements. We’re all of a certain age – and knees, backs, necks have been through a lot. This leads to restricted movements and fear. Fear of breaking, fear of pain and I can’t dos.
My passion is to break down all this fear.
Rewind 20 years or so
And I wanna do this because once upon a time, when I was a youngish twenty something year old, I woke up one day and couldn’t move. I had had on ongoing back issues and overnight I’d seized up. I remember the fear as I struggled to get out of bed. Many scans and referrals later, a consultant decreed that I should stop jumping and weight training and I should consider getting my back fused.
Because I didn’t know any better at the time: I stopped jumping and weight-training. (Luckily, I listened to my guts and didn’t get my back fused!)
Because 5 years later when I started to educate myself, I realised the bloke was wrong. Stopping training and stopping lifting stuff was THE WORST thing I could’ve done.
And fast forward 12 years I’m the strongest I’ve ever been and back competing in athletics.
So that’s my purpose:. That’s why I do what I do. I want everyone to know that being strong is what we’re supposed to be. Having full movement is what we should strive for. Not comprised, restricted movement. Not a fear of breaking. Not a fear of weak cores and dodgey knees. Our body is bloody remarkable. It can do great things. If we help it.
And in case you’re wondering, why this, why now? It’s because I have spent the last year struggling with a neck problem. And although it’s not completely over, I can see how restricted I have been… How every aspect of my life has been affected: my mood, my sleep, my eating habits, my appetite for work, my creativity.
But the point is this: with patience, the right expertise, ALOT of rehab, the body is a remarkable vehicle that can adapt and heal.
I’ll say that again, because even I never remember this: with patience. A lot of patience. And the right expertise. I want to help others realise that strong and unrestricted movements is an attainable goal that we should be striving for.
