My first introduction to Be Activated was almost 2 years ago when I was treated for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on my right shoulder. I had been bothered with tightness and aches and pains down my right arm for a couple of months but as all good therapists do I ignored my own problems. On Boxing Day 2018 the pain got so unbearable I could barely speak and hadn’t slept for a couple of days. I ended up in “out of hours” that night and got an anti-inflammatory/pain killing injection which worked almost immediately. Happy days.
A few days into the new year I went to see the same physio I have used for many years. Only this time she used a different technique. One that intrigued and annoyed me in equal measure as I failed test after test on my left hip flexor until I tensed up my right arm. Ok……..so my right arm is actually my hip flexor?!? With a background in Sports Therapy and Sports and Exercise Science this was not anything I’d heard of. I must have missed the lecture that explains this. However there was no denying what I was seeing and feeling. Then came the activations and the difference was incredible! I was hooked.
Two months and lots of you tube videos later I was on my first Level 1 course. During the introductions I mentioned I had 2 young sons that I said were a cross between the Kray Twins and the Chuckle Brothers. This was the centre of a brief conversation between myself and Doug in front everyone but I thought nothing of it. I later learned that this was what landed me on the table for the Diaphragm activation. The one I hated the most. I still remember the pain Doug’s thumb (then pinky) caused me. All of a sudden though tension I wasn’t even aware I had was gone. My left foot was connected to the floor in way I hadn’t felt before. Again, I missed the lecture that connect the sternum to the left foot! The two days were minding blowing and opening in ways I could never have imagined and have changed both my personal and professional life.
Professionally, my business was busy before……..or so I thought. Using the activations almost exclusively now I rarely have a free appointment each week. I also have much more fun at work and feel I can make a much more profound difference to people.
Personally is where the big change has been happening. It’s not a nice thought that 2 of the most amazing people in my life and the ones I love the most, are the biggest source of stress to me and are what seem to collapse my system. Causing my right shoulder to tighten up. They are amazing but 2 boys, 18 months apart, full of life and energy definitely bring challenges as any parent knows. Doug always says the person’s story is the most important bit. They are my story. Over the last 18 months I have been trying to breathe and activate and not get caught up in the madness and it has been working slowly. This is originally where my story was going to end. Until I watched the video of Nuno and Doug chatting the other day. They talked about having the different pieces of the puzzle and you just have to put it together. And it happened there and then for me. I realised that somewhere along the line I had handed control to my boys. This was my fault and not their’s. As I thought about this the right side of my chest and my right arm got incredibly warm and as the heat subsisided, all the tension disappeared.
I can’t explain what happened but I don’t even feel the need to try. Which for the scientific part of me is huge! X