Using The Skills You Already Have

Where do you start, when knowing how your nervous system works hasn't changed what it does?

You start with something you already have.

A client of mine said something while we were working on his back that stopped me in my tracks. He said, this is just like business. When something goes wrong, you don't stare at the one thing that's not working. You strengthen everything around it, so the weak point isn't carrying the whole load on its own. Exactly. When he told me he was waiting for surgery and felt like his life was hanging in the balance, we started talking about how in preparation, this is the work we would be doing anyway. And in fact post op too. Because its never just one quick fix. The surgical route also takes work and effort. So we work on all the other areas that help stabilise and support instead of compensating. That's when he said it- this is just like business and this is the concept that matters so much when approaching an area you may not know what to do with. But so often you already have skills that can help you more than you think.

Think of the thing you're good at. Your work, your garden, fishing, a skill you already have that you find easy or just know how to do. Notice how you behave there. You don't second-guess yourself every few minutes. You read what's in front of you, you make a decision, and you adjust as you go.

If you fish, you know that when something bites, you don't pull the line. Snap it and the fish comes off. You let it run a little, you feel for it, you bring it in. If you garden, you know when to water, when to cut the grass and when to leave something alone because it isn't ready yet. Nobody forces an animal either. Pushing a frightened animal only gets you a bigger fight.

Now look at how you approach your pain.

Most people go at it the opposite way. Harder, faster, more. No pain, no gain. Think about that for a moment, even in theory. If something is already inflamed and tightening, and you push harder into it, why would you expect it to settle? You wouldn't treat anything else you care about like that. And yet so many of us trust that harder must be better, because it's what we've always been told.

It's the same reason a scan can't tell you everything. It's a black and white picture, very helpful of course, but it can't show you what it feels like to move, or what your system has learned to expect every time you do. That part only changes through experience, felt in the body, again and again.

That's where your skills come in. The patience you use in the garden, the feel you use on the line, the way you look at the whole picture at work: that's exactly what your body needs from you. You create the conditions, and your pain and discomfort can move in a different direction.

You already know how to do this. You just haven't done it here yet.

Listen to the full episode on the Shift the Field podcast. And if you want the method itself, step by step, as your home companion to show you what to do, how to do it and when - it's all in Shift the Field™: amdtherapie.com/shift-the-field