I'm a bilingual yoga teacher who helps people who sit a lot gain mobility, move without pain and reduce their stress.
I don't get angry often but...
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If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the little rant I had after one of my clients came back from their physiotherapist. Long story short, my client talked to their physio about their pain, and the physio was very dramatic and alarming about it. My client came out of this session panicked, wondering if they could even get better. Disclaimer: I would never question a medical professional's diagnosis, that's not what this is about. My issue is with the way this physio talked to my client about their body, and how they made my client feel. Raise your hand if you've ever left a medical office feeling worse than before ✋Disempowered, with a hint of hopelessness. That happened to me many times when I had persistent pain. I started to view my body as fragile. I was afraid of doing something that would break my body even more. I didn't dare to move anymore, which I know now, is the best way to never get better. Our belief that we can heal is a huge part of our recoveryMore and more studies show now the power of our brain, of our expectations on our health. Of course it doesn't replace medical treatment (please run away from anyone telling you you can manifest healing), but it is our best ally. If we see ourselves as strong and resilient, our chances of recovery are much, much greater than if we see ourselves as frail. And it makes sense: if we stress about our pain and see every challenge as a threat to our integrity... this stress is going to cause inflammation in our body and a whole lot of other health issues. This is why I work so hard on building my clients' confidence in their bodies and abilities. When you know your body is resilient and that you have the ability to take on challenges... your anxiety melts and your health improves. In this week's episode of the podcast, I have shared some mind blowing studies that illustrate my point. Including one that showed that people who have a positive perception of aging tend to live on average 7.5 years longer! (and in better health too) (It can even offset our risks of getting Alzheimer's 🤯) Give it a listen when you have a moment, and let's start building up your confidence together ✊
Om, peace 🧡 Clem PS: If you have any questions or would like to discuss if I could help you, you can reply to this email or write to me on WhatsApp. Tell me about your situation, I'll tell you if I can help and how :) |
Clémence Dieryck
I'm a bilingual yoga teacher who helps people who sit a lot gain mobility, move without pain and reduce their stress.
Do you know the famous psychological bias called "the sunk cost fallacy"? It's when you've already invested so much time or energy in a project that you can't bring yourself to abandon it, even when you know it's going nowhere. Once we know it exists, we start seeing it everywhere: our friend who's staying in a relationship that emotionally ended years ago, the degree we're no longer interested in but we're "too far in" to quit... We keep pouring energy into something because we can't bear to...
Where does it hurt when your back aches? In the last few months, I've had a few new clients who all pointed to the same spot: on their lower back, just above the hips. They all told me they had a back problem, which is the logical thing to think. But most of the time, the issue doesn't come from the back... but a bit lower. I know, you know, we all know that we sit too much. And when we do, our hips become tight and weak. They gradually lose their ability to both move and stabilise our lower...
6.5 hours a day. It's the average amount of screen time for a woman my age. I've seen it in myself and in my clients: when we start wanting to take better care of ourselves, there always comes a moment when we realise we're going to have to reduce our screen time. And it's hard. It's hard because it's become automatic, and everything is designed to bring us back often, and especially to keep us there as long as possible. But this screen time also translates into neck tension, fatigue, rising...