Where do you go when you’re in pain?

When you get into an accident, the first thing to do is go to the ER or see the doctor. It is the most logical thing to do especially when you have trauma-related injuries.

What not to do is not look for content online to do quick fixes. For example, you do not search on YouTube on how to put a bone back in place. It is always a good idea to leave it to the professionals.

But I think where we start to get things wrong is when we bring movement issues and posture and imbalance problems to trauma specialists and expect them to be able to fix them. These specialists would try to "fix" you through the knowledge and mechanism that they know. Oftentimes they would advise you to go under the knife.

This approach is also similar to pain when you deal with specialists. When you're in pain, they would advise you to take pills. How long should you be taking pills to relieve the pain?

We don't know.

When you've got movement-related issues, it should mean fixing the problem on the root level that created the chronic pain in the first place. I saw an ad the other day for a guy who specializes in kneecap pains. He devoted his time to understanding the possible issues around the kneecap, why it can be prone to injuries, and more. That's great but again, the problem arises if the kneecap injury has been caused by movement problems and not necessarily about the kneecap itself.

If the issue is about the way you move and you keep bringing it to a specialist who specializes in a very specific thing, you're not going to get the answers and help you need.

I believe pain-related issues are mostly caused by movement. Start looking at what your body is doing and how movement is from your arms, limbs, legs, back, neck, and hips. Look at the mirror or take a picture of yourself standing and see if the left side of your body looks proportionate with the right side.

Most of the clients I've worked with had a poor stance. And I've had a fair share of poor stance as well. I think we weren't taught how to move. I was taught how to kick a ball in elementary school, and skipped gym class in middle school, and that's basically my fitness story. No one really taught me the importance of learning how to move.

Now that I'm teaching kids, too, every one of them I teach proper movement of the body like slow squats, lateral hip movement, strengthening the upper and lower body so movement can be easier and avoid injuries.

I know adults want to be able to move freely as kids do. But I think the problem is we overthink and overanalyze everything. Kids just do it because they want it. Regardless of how challenging it is, they keep pushing because they add fun to it.

We expect that surgery is the endgame for people. It's frustrating for me because that's not usually how things work. Heck, it doesn't work. Same with exercising. People go into high-intensity training without proper form, movement, and strength and these things are actually important to avoid injury. Yet we keep doing the same thing over and over but expect different or immediate results.

I would advise my clients to see a trauma expert when they have trauma. That needs to be dealt with but the rest is up to you such as how your body is doing. But I understand the conundrum because there's no clear and universal path to this. No cheat sheet, online guru, or fitness influencers can help you.

A lot of what you need is to learn, willingness to learn, and a little courage to experiment. You must be interested enough to understand how your body is doing since each body is different. Explore and try to discover what you need and what works best for you.

Only you can do that! Start trusting yourself and your body since you're the expert on it and no one else. My goal for this course is to help people understand the importance of loving and understanding pain. At the same time, educate. Whatever knowledge and experience I have, I want to share that with you.

This is a safe space to become who you want to be.

Welcome!