Health - James Gillard Osteopath

How to Build Healthy Habits

Ros Uncategorized 10/05/2020COVID-19, Habit, Health, mindfulness, Pandemic, Self Help, Sleep 1 Comment

With more than half of the world currently in some form of lockdown, many of us now have more free time. It is tough to not be able to live our lives how we usually do. I especially miss being able to see family and friends and play sport with others.

Seeing that change is inevitable right now, maybe we can use this time as an opportunity to establish healthy habits. What if we could get started on something we have always wanted to do, or stop doing something that we know is bad for us.

The author James Clear nicely summarises how to build healthy habits in his excellent book ‘Atomic Habits’:

The First Law: Make it Obvious.

Fill out a habits scorecard. Write down your current practices to become aware of them.
Use implementation intentions: “I will (BEHAVIOUR) at (TIME) in (LOCATION).”
Use habit stacking: “After (CURRENT HABIT), I will (NEW HABIT).”
Design your environment. Make the cues of good habits evident and visible.

If your plan is not apparent enough, write down what you will do at what time on what days in what specific location and how long you will do it for each time. You can build this practice on top of an already established habit. It might be after you brush your teeth, or as soon as you get out of bed, or before you eat breakfast or as soon as you get home from work. It just needs to be after something that you are already doing every day so that you can practice your new habit just after this every time.

Also, make sure that you have a reminder to do this task at this time each day, especially in the beginning, so that it will be evident that you need to do it. You may need to set an ongoing event in your calendar for a specific time every day. Or you could set a reminder in an app if you want to use one to help you build this habit. It will not guarantee that you will practice the behaviour, but you will not be able to say that you “just forgot” either.

The Second Law: Make it Attractive.

Use temptation bundling. Pair an action you want to do with an activity you need to do.
Join a culture where your desired behaviour is normal.
Create a motivation ritual. Do something you enjoy immediately after challenging tasks.

If your plan is not attractive enough, determine if you can do something enjoyable at the same time as the activity you want to do. It might be listening to an audiobook or podcast series, but only while you go for your daily morning run. You could also join a running group that meets every morning, and it will encourage you to begin running daily too. You could then take a warm shower or eat a tasty breakfast to increase the pay-off for successfully engaging in the new habit that you are trying to develop.

The Third Law: Make it Easy.

Reduce friction. Decrease the number of steps between you and good habits.
Prime the environment. Prepare your situation to make future actions easier.
Master the decisive moment. Optimise the small choices that deliver outsized impact.
Use the two-minute rule: Downscale your habits until you can do them in two minutes or less.
Automate your habits. Invest in technology and one-time purchases that lock in future behaviour.

If your plan is too difficult, reduce how many steps you need to take to engage in the new habit that you want to build. Let us say you want to go to the gym after work, put your gym shoes and clothes in the car, and maybe even change into them at work before you leave. Then all you have to do is go in on the way home and begin your workout. If you are choosing between the cheap gyms ten blocks away or the slightly more expensive one on your street, choose the one on your street. You are much more likely to go. Also, if you do not feel up to it, tell yourself that you will only go for ten minutes, and if you are still not feeling it, you can go home. Chances are, you will be doing well once you have started, and want to keep going. Lastly, commit to a monthly contract if you can rather than just paying each time. You will then be more motivated to go more as it becomes better value the more times you go.

The Fourth Law: Make it Satisfying.

Use reinforcement. Give yourself an immediate reward when you complete your habit.
Make “doing nothing” enjoyable. When avoiding a bad habit, design a way to see the benefits.
Use a habit tracker. Keep track of your habit streak and “don’t break the chain.”
Never miss twice. When you forget to engage in a habit, make sure you get back on track immediately.

If your plan is not satisfying enough, reward yourself as soon as you complete the habit, especially until you get into a groove with your practice. Remind yourself of the benefits of what you are doing and the negatives associated with not practising this habit. Keep track of how many times you do it, and see if you can do it every day to build up a streak. Try not to break the streak and never let yourself miss more than one day in a row, as the more days you lose, the harder it is to get back on track.

How to Break Unhealthy Habits

James Clear again provides an excellent summary in ‘Atomic Habits’ on what steps to take:

Inversion of the First Law: Make it Invisible

Reduce exposure. Remove the cues of your bad habits from your environment.

If reminders for the thing you are trying to stop doing are around everywhere, try to make them less visible. If you want to drink less alcohol, throw out any drinks that you have in your house and any alcohol-related memorabilia too. If you are going to stop eating ice cream every time you watch TV, do not have any ice cream in the house and put the remotes away in a drawer or the bedroom too.

Inversion of the Second Law: Make it Unattractive

Reframe your mindset. Highlight the benefits of avoiding your bad habits.

If the thing that you are trying to stop doing seems too attractive, make it less appealing. Write down the negatives of drinking or eating ice cream, and write down the benefits of not doing this. Then leave this written information somewhere that you will regularly see it. It may be on your desk, or near the mirror in your bedroom or bathroom.

Inversion of the Third Law: Make it Difficult

Increase friction. Increase the number of steps between you and your bad habits.
Use a commitment device. Restrict your future choices to ones that benefit you.

If the thing you want to stop doing is too easy to see, increase how many steps you need to take to engage in the behaviour. Let us say you usually buy alcohol or ice cream on the way home from work after a tough day. If you do not bring any money or credit cards to work with you, you will need to drive home first. Assuming you don’t have any alcohol or ice-cream at home, you will need to get your credit cards, then go to the bank, get out money and go to the store and buy these products. That is a lot of effort for someone who has had a tough day and wants to take it easy.

Inversion of the Fourth Law: Make it Unsatisfying

Get an accountability partner. Ask someone to watch your behaviour.
Create a habit contract. Make the costs of your bad habits public and painful.

If the thing you want to stop doing seems too satisfying, ask for help. It could be from your partner, family, or friends. Ask them to hold you accountable and help you avoid engaging in this habit. Tell people that you are not drinking or eating ice cream, and let them know of a painful consequence that you will have to do if you engage in this habit or they see you do it.

To download a printable version of the habits cheat sheet, go to www.atomichabits.com/cheatsheet.

If you do try to break a habit or build one, remember that behavioural change is hard. Don’t try to make too many changes all at once, and do try to be kind to yourself if you slip up. That’s a normal part of the change process. The key is to keep trying and get back on track after a bad day. I wish you all the best during this extremely difficult time, and I am happy to offer extra support to anyone who needs it.

About the Author

Dr Damon Ashworth Clinical Psychologist who completed his doctoral research on the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I); and is considered an expert in the field of sleep and insomnia. After 18 months volunteering as a mental health specialist in Vanuatu, he has returned to Melbourne and is now available for in person consultations and online via Telehealth . In addition to sleep problems Dr. Ashworth, also has an interest in treating depressed mood, anxiety, trauma, addiction and relationship issues.

www.damonashworthpsychology.com

www.deliberatelybettersleep.com.au

Are we utilising all our resources in fighting this pandemic?

James Uncategorized 10/04/2020COVID-19, Health, Immunesystem, osteopathy 3 Comments

Spanish flu: the killer that still stalks us, 100 years on | World ... — The Spanish Flu

There is no denying that the impacts of COVID-19 are omnipresent in all of our lives right now. At the time of writing this, the death toll has nearly reached 96,000 people and unprecedented public health measures have been initiated around the globe. In Australia, we have rapidly mobilised the healthcare system in the best way we know how to prepare for the forecasted peak to come, but is there more that we could possibly be doing?

It’s Easter weekend, a time for family, friends and celebration. In Victoria, stage 3 restrictions have recently been enforced, outlining only four reasons you can leave the house; medical appointments, food, exercise and travelling to and from work. Gatherings of more then 2 people are strictly prohibited and outdoor gyms and playgrounds have been closed. None of these restrictions are terribly compatible with traditional Australian easter celebrations.

This may seem drastic and in direct opposition to the freedoms we have become so accustomed to. However, when you consider that social distancing and voluntary self isolation are some of the most effective means we know of for helping to mitigate the spread of infection during a pandemic perhaps your perspective starts to change.

Australia are preparing for between 50,000 and 150,000 deaths. No matter how many dedicated health professionals we have fighting the virus, the Australian public has the most important role in preventing deaths. The longer this thing goes on, the more chance our medical system and its resources have of saving lives. We have 100,000 reasons to stay at home and #flattenthecurve.

Despite our public health measures we are still expecting between 5 million and 15 million cases Australia wide. Of these cases, based on what we’ve learned from China, 26% will require a bed in ICU and 17% will require mechanical ventilators.

Screen Shot 2020-03-30 at 3.41.28 PM — Source: ABC news

Our health care system is also doing what it can to make changes, as it prepares for the onslaught that is likely to ensue. We are now in the process of recommissioning purpose-built facilities (closed hospitals) and taking over suitable alternatives such as hotels. This creates extra beds for sick patients and a space for observation and quarantine as diagnosed cases begin to improve. Hospital staff are also undergoing additional training to operate equipment, triage or provide specific patient care.

Among these, are physiotherapists being deployed on the frontline. Their roles include assisting the weaning of patients from ventilation machines, ensuring proper positioning to increase oxygen intake efficiency and help to recondition patients breathing and muscle function following disuse.

This is a fantastic use of highly trained health professionals to help deal with a crisis. The question is, could we be doing more to collaborate and support a health system under strain? Are we utilising all of our available resources?

As more and more allied health clinics across the country begin to close, ensuring they aren’t vectors for the spread of infection, many highly trained health professionals are left under-utilised. Of course, many are using technology to support patients via telehealth, an important means to help reduce the load on the healthcare system. Although for practitioners who are trained to treat people with their hands, is this the best use of their skill sets?

Does osteopathy have a role to play?

Treatment of a sick child.jpg — Osteopathic treatment of a sick child

Since the late 1800’s, osteopaths have been treating patients with their hands. They treated all kinds of ailments and illnesses, as well as pain and disability. Osteopaths don’t cure, or fight disease, they use manual therapy to treat restrictions in the the musculoskeletal system to help provide an environment that supports the body’s natural tendency towards health.

In the context of a virus like COVID-19, this means treating the ribs to help patients breathe more easily, releasing tight muscles to allow for better local tissue circulation, or using techniques to help boost immune responses.

This isn’t a new concept, with osteopathy playing a role in pandemics of the past. During the Spanish flu, it was estimated that the death rate was 40 times lower with osteopathic care when compared with only conventional medical treatment. Although the figures are impressive, no doubt there would be shortcomings when evaluated by today’s rigorous standards of research. In addition, osteopaths recording these statistics were osteopathic physicians (DO). In the USA DO’s have full medical practice rights and are licensed to prescribe medications or perform surgery. The difference between traditional medical doctors and a DO is an understanding of osteopathic philosophy and manual therapy. Although in Australia osteopaths do not receive conventional medical training, they are trained extensively in osteopathic philosophy and manual therapy. So where does this leave Australian osteopaths for the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Desperate times call may call for desperate measures. However, it is no time to introduce practitioners who are unfamiliar with hospital protocols to provide hands on treatment with low level evidence of it’s efficacy in this setting. Perhaps in the aftermath of this pandemic we can reflect upon how to greater utilise all of our resources in healthcare to provide the best patient care possible and to reduce strain on the system.

Osteopaths could be used in conjunction with standard medical care in primary medical centres or rural hospitals, where resources are less robust. Osteopathic treatment of elderly populations with pneumonia has shown reduction in IV antibiotic use, length of stay in hospital and mortality. Likewise, osteopaths helped to reduce duration of hospital stay and associated costs in preterm infants and support patient’s recovery following heart surgery.

This of course would require osteopaths to undergo some training in a hospital or general practice setting. Some of which has already taken place at Victoria University and RMIT, where senior students have worked alongside orthopaedic surgeons and physiotherapists in Indian hospitals. Could this training occur outside an orthopedic realm to include other areas of speciality?

It would be a paradigm shift, but we are increasingly finding that multidisciplinary care helps to improve health related outcomes. The unprecedented nature of COVID-19 could be an opportunity to reassess how we can incorporate all our healthcare resources to work together in the future.

Osteopathy and Yoga: Looking at the body as a whole

James Uncategorized 24/08/2018Balance, Health, Nature, osteopathy, Yoga 1 Comment

Yoga and Osteopathy have a lot more in common than many people realise.

As I type up my final treatment notes, I realise I have but a few minutes before my 6:45pm yoga class begins.

I love the feeling I get after moving my body. Yet, as I settle into another child’s pose and begin to regulate my breathing, I know what keeps me coming back is the clarity of mind and connectedness with world around me, that practicing yoga brings.

As a medical and scientific community we are advancing rapidly. The shear volume of information we are uncovering requires specialisation. To understand these complex interactions, scientists must isolate and examine the specifics of what is occurring. With such a narrow focus however, there is a tendency to lose sight of the body’s interconnectedness. The whole.

The part can never be well unless the whole is well.

–

Plato

Yogic traditions date way back to ancient India in 1500 BCE and emphasise a unity of body, mind and spirit.

So why is unity important?

Everything is connected. Health is not segmented nor do body systems function in isolation. They talk to each other. Constantly feeding information back and forth in order to help the maintain balance.

How do we know this?

Examples are everywhere. People die from broken hearts, mental health effects chronic disease and having a purpose increases how long you live. Have you ever wondered why you feel so good after yoga? It’s not just only because you’ve given your muscles and connective tissue a good stretch. Studies suggest yoga also has positive effects on cognition, respiration, reduced cardiovascular risk, BMI and blood pressure. People also report it helps to support emotional health by providing an environment that that is non-competitive and encourages positive thoughts and self-acceptance. A greater sense of well being is also attributed to creating a new awareness of one’s place in the world.

The essence of health is inner balance- Andrew Weil MD

Osteopathy shares this idea of unity and was bred out of frustration with the narrow view of medicine in the late 1800’s. Dr. AT Still astutely observed the self healing mechanisms evident throughout the natural world and developed principles around a system of hands on treatment to assist natures work. Like yoga, an osteopath’s aim is not to achieve a symptom-free state but rather healing or becoming whole.

Our instructor Tara stands elegantly in a tree pose with complete stillness as the rest of us sway awkwardly in a non-existent breeze.

For an osteopath, to touch, means to listen and as they sit with gentle attention, the tissues begin to offer information. Information about their own individual history, trauma and strain. Treatment involves finding a balance within the strain pattern to allow the self correcting mechanisms of the body to work unimpeded and restore function in the whole.

Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well

–

Hippocrates

Both osteopathy and yoga have underpinning philosophies that highlight the importance of freedom of movement, to be crucial for the body to best utilise it’s own self healing mechanisms. If injuries, strain or stress occur, a mechanical disruption of fluid flow, balanced tension or normal mobility may result; creating an environment where pain, dysfunction and disease may prosper. It is here that osteopathic treatment can help to assist the body towards resolving these issues, not only helping to deepen practice, but also improving overall function.

Upon completion of the class, I negotiate the blustery outdoor conditions and my growling stomach to make my way to the car. Feeling very centred, I turn the key and begin to feel a dull ache through my right knee. Apparently it’s time I had a treatment.

Too much of a good thing hurts!

James Uncategorized 04/07/2018Health, Knee, Pain, Surgery 0 Comment

Knee pain sucks, particularly when it’s of your own volition.

You see I love movement and when fuelled by passion and a stubborn nature, the prospect of improving my deep squat was too tempting. As a result I spent significant periods of time stretching, mobilising, kneeling and squatting. Unfortunately blinded by the potential self satisfaction of completing my goal, I forgot all about my body.

Untitled design (3)

Our bodies structure and function are contributed to by our movement habits over our entire lives. Our cells will adapt to the the forces acting upon them by the way we move our body. The only problem is that adaptation takes time. If you overload the body with forces that it’s unable to cope with then tissues are likely to fail and injury is the result. So when my over enthusiastic attitude to deep squatting was introduced to the cells in my knee that had adapted to twenty odd years of chair sitting, it wasn’t surprising that it couldn’t tolerate the load.

An example of using a squat in a functional context

It’s the same with any new load we are introducing to our body. Getting back into jogging, painting the house or landscaping the garden are activities that involve loads the body isn’t used to supporting and tissues are put at greater risk of injury.

There is no secret to avoiding these situations and ending up on the treatment table. Firstly move often and in lots of diverse ways. The more your body is used to working over head, on hands and knees or with heavier resistance, the more capacity it has to deal with load then if you were to encounter it without any conditioning. Secondly break up tasks that require repetitive movements or heavy loads. If you need to clean the whole house break it up into rooms over several hours or even days!

As for my knee, well with a little deload, osteopathic treatment and some focused movements; I’m ready to tackle my squat once again. Though perhaps this time I’ll practice what I preach and give my cells a chance to adapt to the new load.

Even with the best intentions, injury happens. If you need some assistance make sure you see an osteopath to help get you moving again.

References

Back pain. Why we can’t fix it

James Uncategorized 14/02/2018Back pain, Health, Move it or lose it, osteopathy 0 Comment

Unsure doctor

Low back pain is one of the failings of modern medicine. Despite our best efforts, it is “estimated around 3.7 million Australians (16% of the population) have back problems and 70–90% of people will suffer from lower back pain in some form at some point in their lives”(1). We can attribute this pain to a disease process or structural cause for 8-15% of sufferers, however that leaves a significant portion of the population suffering from what’s known as ‘Non-specific low back pain’. Unfortunately for this demographic of patients, their pain often becomes chronic and hasn’t yielded to any modern treatment methods with any regularity.

Despite our advancements in detailed scans, other diagnostics and modern treatment methods, back pain is becoming more prevalent and it’s solution still eludes us. Why is this? Has it developed chronologically? Was it treated differently or is our modern lifestyle responsible for it’s rise?

Historically we have little information from medical writers about back pain. Unsurprisingly, it appears that a sore back would be somewhat overlooked compared to fatal illnesses of the time. Whilst we can identify evidence of degenerative processes in the earliest human remains, modern literature has shown repeatedly that there is no link between these changes and pain. Given the rise in back pain, can we draw any insight as to its development or how our predecessors might have treated and managed it?

Earliest writings of back pain occurred in 400BC where it was a commonly associated symptom of many illnesses and was hence treated symptomatically. Common treatments of the time included spas or soothing local applications, whilst the legs of sciatic patients were smoked in a fire of ferns.

By the 1800’s physicians began to look for the cause of back pain. It was thought to be a form of rheumatism caused by the cold or damp. Rheumatic phlegm was believed to build up in the muscles and consequently treatment involved every attempt at removing the congestion. The increase in understanding of disease in the later parts of the century, showed several causes of back pain related to more significant disease processes of the large blood vessels in the abdomen or gastrointestinal tract.

In the 19th Century the idea that irritation to the spine could be the cause of pain, laid the foundation for modern treatment of back pain. Repetitive activities sparked by the industrial revolution seemed a plausible causative factor for the dramatic increases in back pain aptly know as ‘railway spine’.

Fundamentally, our modern understanding of back pain hasn’t advanced much further beyond ‘irritation of the spine caused from repetitive activities’. Except now the repetitive activity we are doing isn’t lifting railway sleepers, it’s sitting in chairs.

Evolution

What has changed however, is the way we treat pain. Historically pain has been treated as one aspect of human illness. With advancements in medicine it appears that the role of the physician has changed and patients want instant relief for their symptoms, a quick fix. Pain medications do well to mask the symptoms, although they do not address the cause. We have also created an environment in which it’s inhabitants are more stressed, tired and anxious than ever before and it’s no surprise these heightened levels have also been implicated in back pain. Combine this with a population limited in movement variability and unrealistic healing expectations and it’s easy to see why the back pain puzzle has yet to be solved.

Each patient’s back pain, movement, lifestyle and belief system is unique to that individual; and until we begin to address it as such, this writer fears it’s commonality will continue to rise.

References

Flow: A lesson from nature

James Uncategorized 19/09/2017Health, Nature, osteopathy 0 Comment

Being abroad has provided many opportunities to admire examples of how the body works by observing nature. One such example is the accumulation of foam on a river. Organic decomposing materials from vegetation or animals produces certain chemicals which reduce the surface tension of the water (1). As a result, air bubbles begin to form and a foam like substance appears on the surface of the water at intervals where the flow of water is compromised or obstructed by fallen branches or at sandy embankments.

Sigulda, Latvia: Foam accumulation from obstruction river water flow

The importance of fluid movement is exemplified during the development of the embryo, where in the flow of fluid exists before the vessel itself. Its role in providing nutritious blood to hungry tissues and removing waste is essential to the maintenance of health throughout life.

Nature normally goes about its business with a minimum of fuss. Under ideal conditions, waste is removed expertly and efficiently by the venous and lymphatic system. If however, the flow were to be slowed or affected in some way it would create an environment in which waste production would be greater then waste elimination. An environment in which waste accumulation could lead to congestion, fermentation and catalyse disease. Blood flow

So what could effect the flow of fluid? Tightening of connective tissues over a vein, or the spasm of a muscle compressing an artery. Anything that puts pressure on a blood vessel or compromises the nerve supply just enough to effect how efficiently fluid moves through the system. It is an osteopaths job to find where fluid movement has stagnated, remove the unwanted branch from the river bed and alter the conditions to those less favourable for air bubble formation. Once the normality of fluid flow has been restored nature will do the rest.

References

ARRI
Still, A. T. The Philosophy And Mechanical Principles Of Osteopathy. Kirksville, Mo.: Osteopathic Enterprise, 1986. Print.

Health is a balance

James Uncategorized 27/02/201713/02/2022Balance, Health, osteopathy 5 Comments

Health is a balance. Our body has an innate drive to maintain balance. It makes constant adjustments internally, to meet demands placed on the system by external lifestyle stresses. By altering physiologic functions such as breath, heart rate and metabolism it is able to keep the internal environment within ideal parameters. Health is not a destination, we do not reach an end point of balance. It is fluid. The fulcrum on which balance has been established will constantly change, as demands placed upon us throughout life also change. We will no doubt encounter events which cause the body to deviate from its natural state as life stresses are unavoidable. While we often grow from adversity, if prolonged, the effects of stress, eating poorly or moving less, can lay the foundations for the disease process to set in.

Osteopaths have a unique way of looking at the body. Osteopathy is a tool for which to facilitate the bodies inherent desire for balance. By searching for where it has compromised from injury or strain and ensuring it’s motion and mechanics are unobstructed, the body is better able to return to health. It is no secret that a patient’s capacity to heal rests with their ability to maintain a balance of their internal environment. Those that succeed with this, look different and their body’s feel different. There is quality and fluidity in their movement and a vibrancy in how their tissues respond to treatment. They feel ‘healthy’ and the outcomes of treatment are far greater.

Health is rooted in the old english word ‘hælþ’, meaning wholeness. When science began to focus on structure and could see how disease affected normal tissue, through dissection and under a microscope, being healthy became an ‘absence of disease’. Now a person is no more healthy, in the absence of disease, then a tradesmen is without his tools. Without disease, we are simply not sick. We are declared ‘well’ when we no longer have the symptoms of being ‘unwell’, yet are often none the wiser for the cause that shifts the balance of health and provides an optimal environment for disease to begin.

“To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease” Dr. AT Still

In more recent times, research has enabled to us to establish the connection between mind and body, and so the meaning of health is once again, realigned with it’s original roots. Whole. Whole in the sum of it’s parts. Parts which are equal and parts which are balanced. Merriam-Webster defines health as ‘the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit’, which I agree with almost entirely except the or because these are not seperate entities. They are interdependent, making up different but equal parts of the whole. Say you are sound in body and spirit but the mind is lacking, perhaps you are overly stressed or anxious. Muscles become tense, blood pressure rises, adrenals become over worked and nutrient absorption and hormone levels begin to be affected. Before long, the immune system becomes compromised and through a loss of internal balance, we become susceptible to disease.

A balanced life on the outside, makes it easier to maintain balance within. We are only healthy when balance exists between these parts, so one must continually devote time each day to each aspect of health. Neglecting oneand thus upsetting the balance of the internal environment, may lead to a permeation of ill health through the others. This makes us susceptible to disease, decrease vitality and reduces our bodies capacity to heal.

References

“Definition Of HEALTH”. Merriam-webster.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 Mar. 2017.
“Online Etymology Dictionary”. Etymonline.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 Mar. 2017.
Sternberg, Esther. The Balance Within. 1st ed. New York: W.H. Freeman, 2001. Print.
Still, A. T. The Philosophy And Mechanical Principles Of Osteopathy. Kirksville, Mo.: Osteopathic Enterprise, 1986. Print

Pressed for time? Time for a break (literally).

James Uncategorized 31/01/2017Habit, Health, Reflection, Self Help 2 Comments

In our busy modern lifestyle we attempt to cram everything into each moment of the day, striving for another minute here or there, often performing two or three
tasks at at a time. Yet the ever increasing advances in technology designed to time save and make our lives easier seem to consume our attention entirely. How often are we craving weekend freedom or a refreshing vacation but dread the inevitable feeling of mondayitis on return. That feeling of buoyancy a break lends itself to dragged to the depths by the insurmountable mass of emails awaiting on return. Although the idea of taking a holiday every other week is enticing, it certainly isn’t practical or financially viable.

A couple of weeks ago I was forced into a break, literally! I broke my foot dancing at a wedding. Yes, I know what you’re thinking… How?! The subsequent days I spent hobbling on crutches and a moon boot and suddenly daily tasks became time consuming and exhausting. I couldn’t find a physical outlet for stress and tension. I felt bored! So after hearing a story about a friend becoming depressed in a similar situation, I decided to re-evaluate a few things and make a plan for getting through the coming weeks. Firstly I had to manage expectations, there were going to be some things I would be unable to do and others that would take longer. Next I asked myself what I could do to add value to my life? What passions could I cultivate? What have I always wanted to do but never had the time?

I began to set goals. What I realised was that these things I wanted to do would take time, time that I previously felt I never had. I needed to be realistic with how much I was going fit into each day. No more was I going to be able to rush around and perpetuate the stress associated with making yet another appointment in my overcrowded schedule. I started saying no. No to things that would fill the already limited gaps I had in my life, without adding a huge amount of value. Now yes it’s much easier to say no on crutches and a moon boot, but prioritising activities and being mor
e realistic with how long these activities take, has allowed me to enjoy those I do and experience them more completely. I found out I spend more time in front of a TV and perusing social media then I cared to admit. By removing those two things for a day, I could contribute that time to other far more meaningful tasks. I had so much more time than I thought.

Over the last couple of weeks I have meditated and spent twenty minutes learning French each day. The apartment balcony garden is beginning to take shape and I am endeavouring to write a new blog every month and read 20 books this year. But most of all, I feel less stressed, less tired and more present in each moment because I’m not already thinking about how I can fit a gym workout in, do the washing and cook dinner before the next commercial break finishes.

Now they say it takes 21 days to make a habit and while new year resolution intentions are common in January, seldom do these habits make it to February. In my case, it has taken a broken foot and some dedicated will power to make a positive change, but I believe the unique set of circumstances causing me to slow down and notice a difference in how I feel, will be the very reason these changes will make it long past a transient new years resolution. While I certainly wouldn’t recommend breaking your foot to make positive life changes, it has been a wonderful catalyst for me and I hope that by reading this you are able to take a moment and reflect on how you might take a break of your own.