Hello you beautiful beings! I wanna talk about the "issues in the tissues". Although this is a catchy phase it has a lot more meaning than just those words. Every experience you have in life gets held in the body. Think of it this way, when you get bad/sad news, you tend to sink back into a chair. Or, when you get exciting news you may extend your hands up and get a big smile on your face. Each of these expressions has a reaction in the body.
Consequently when you have an injury it can get held in the body long after the traditional recovery period. The severity of the injury is not as important as the impact the injury had in your life. A simple ankle sprain may not have as much impact unless it kept you from competing in a major sporting event you had been working toward. Of course there are physiological responses that impact the body such as damage or scar tissue, but if you do not address the emotional component then recovery can be that much longer and more difficult. Sometimes we do not even know there is an emotional component until we get bodywork on that area. You sometimes need to become aware of these holdings to learn to let go and move forward. Working on the body and the mind is the best way to move forward and shake the past.
Here is an example from my past. When I was in high school, I was a very competitive soccer player, having played for 14 years and 4 of those years on our varsity soccer team. In my last year of high school I tore my ACL, which is not uncommon. However, it happened during the first 15 minutes of the state semifinals, the day before my 18th birthday and while I was a captain of the team. We won that game and went on to the state finals game, where we ended up loosing by 1 goal after 2 overtimes and 2 shoot outs. This injury had more impact than just the original ACL tear. It took me years and 3 additional surgeries to recover. After receiving bodywork, I was finally able to move past that trauma, not just the physical component but the emotional one too.
(this is a newspaper clipping of when I played high school soccer)
My hope is that you will see how our body is influenced by our emotions, and our emotions are influenced by our bodies. Becoming aware of this connection is the first step toward living a more pain free life. Sometimes, the past experiences may not be the primary pain, but rather set up the chain of events that have caused your pain. This is when it becomes the root cause, or the origin of your condition.
Believe me, and my story, that your painful experiences in life are temporary and that you can move forward. No matter what, you can live the life that you want. It may take another shape, but you can do whatever you set your mind to. The mind is your most powerful muscle and strengthening the connection between your mind and your body can give you a new outlook on life.
As my favorite quote from Judith Aston (founder of Aston-Kinetics®) says "Let me teach you about holding, so you can learn to let go".