09/18/2025
The day I stopped chasing symptoms and started creating safety was the day my patients stopped coming back with the same problems.
I used to be proud of my manual therapy skills and exercise prescriptions, but I was basically playing whack-a-mole with symptoms. When I shifted to helping people understand why their body felt the need to protect itself, everything changed—for them and for me.
Here's what I learned the hard way.
A woman came to see me for the third time this year with the same back pain. Same area, same intensity. The exercises I'd given her worked temporarily, but here she was again.
That's when it hit me.
Her body didn't trust that it was safe to change. Her nervous system was doing exactly what it's designed to do: protect her from perceived threat.
Think about it. When your brain senses danger—physical, emotional, even just chronic stress—it locks everything down. Muscles tighten, breathing gets shallow, posture compensates.
You can stretch and strengthen all you want, but if the nervous system doesn't feel safe, it'll pull you right back into those protective patterns.
So I started having different conversations with my patients. Instead of just analyzing their movement, I began asking what made their body feel unsafe in the first place.
The results?
Night and day difference. When someone's body genuinely feels safe to let go of old protective patterns... that's when posture naturally resets. Movement becomes fluid again. And the pain actually stays away because we're not fighting against their body's wisdom anymore.
At 56, dealing with my own health challenges, I've learned this firsthand: your body needs to trust the process before it'll allow real change.
Have you ever noticed how your physical symptoms get worse when you're stressed or feeling unsafe? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
