When I was young, I was a little firecracker.
The energy I had seemed endless
Exercise kept me balanced
….and out of trouble.
Both home and school seemed to wind me up
And the longer I went without my run
The more fidgety and moody I’d get
Until anxiety or apathy took over.
Then I hurt myself.
For a year & a half I couldn’t run,
or do much of anything.
I had overtrained, then severely inflamed
both achilles tendons.
But did I learn my lesson? No
Life got manageable when I could run again.
But I overtrained again.
Then I went to naturopathic school and burned out my adrenals.
This wasn’t the most stressful time in my life
Actually it was an awesome time
But it was demanding…..
Adrenal fatigue and overtraining syndrome are similar,
but also different.
And after all these years I’m still recovering.
My stomach’s highly sensitive
I get episodes of don’t-leave-the-house pain
And I have an autoimmune disease that affects my thyroid function.
But what’s the root of my problems?
That’s what ND’s do after all,
Uncover the root of the problems.
My nervous system is the root of the problems
I had been in a fluctuating state of Fight-or-Flight for as long as I can remember. It simply expressed itself in different ways as I developed and grew.
To correct the root of my problems
I needed to learn how to manage
my own nervous system.
Instead of operating between 3rd gear
(sleep mode) and 6th gear (the work day)
I needed to operate
between Neutral and 4th gear.
It’s been a long journey, and it’s not over yet.
It’s involved many things,
Including how to distribute energy through
my body effectively.
It’s hard to explain
Which is probably why I do so much in-office
Nervous system training with my patients.
I’m not perfect…
Far from it….
But I’m grateful.
…I mean I sure don’t feel grateful
when I’m in pain
But I’ve had good teachers
People I look up to, who made many mistakes,
so that I didn’t have to.
Pain’s a funny thing.
It tries to turn us into a victim
Yet whispers
“Come on, show me what you’re made of”.