The Athlete In You
I have a question for you. Do you feel like there’s something inside of you that wants more out of life, but chronic pain or stress is constantly pulling you back to a lower standard, and bad habits? If the answer is yes, I’m going to share with you a distinction that I’ve made in clinical practice that has given power back to my patients.
When I began clinical practice in the mid 90s, I had a really interesting experience that molded the way I treat patients, and ultimately the way we help patients at our center. It originates from my background as a competitive athlete. I have competed in national, international, and world competitions in full contact fighting. I was actively competing, training, and fighting in the ring in the U.S. and throughout the world. In fact, in 1996, I was on the U.S. team and we fought in the World Championships. So I was fully immersed!
At the same time, I began to study Chinese medicine and immediately realized that I was in this really unique position of being on both sides of the medical system. On one side I was studying injuries, sprains, strains, fractures, and traumas. I was studying the impact of stress on your physiology and your psychology when you have these conditions. And on the other side while I was fighting, I was getting sprains and strains, injuries, fractures, and traumas. I was experiencing tremendous amounts of stress in my physiology and my psychology from these conditions, and not to mention the amount of stress you have when you step into the ring against an opponent that wants to hurt you! That alone added significant stress. It was stressful – there is no lie. Every fighter experiences a tremendous amount stress. We just have a good game face.
I soon realized that the athlete and the patient were the same! And when I began to see them the same, I began to treat them the same. When I did that, my ability to help patients dramatically improved. Why is this important to you? Well if you can extract just one gem that could trigger the athlete in you, it may be all you need to break through to the next level in your health. So, how is every patient the same as the top athletes I treat?
Just like an athlete, all patients want to squeeze the most out of life. They want to live life to the fullest. They want to be a high performer. No patient has ever come to our center just because they want to get out of pain and stress. You may be thinking, “No, that is exactly why I would want to receive care at your center.“ However, being in clinical practice for close to 20 years and treating thousands of patients, I’m going to disagree and say that is not why you would want us to help you. You would want our help because pain or stress is interfering with your ability to live life to the fullest.
I have asked this same question to my patients over the years and every single one agreed that getting out of pain or stress was not their final goal. Instead, getting back to living their life fully was really what they wanted. Pain and stress was only an obstacle in their way. So ask yourself, “Why do I want to get out of pain or stress?” Or, “If I didn’t experience this pain or chronic stress any longer, what would I do?” These are key questions to ask yourself because they will begin to show you the bigger picture of your health and life!
Most people forget what their true potential is. They forget what their outcome is, because when you are in pain and when you have stress, your focus is directed on what? That’s right – pain and stress. Now, when you start focusing only on getting out of pain or stress, you get stuck in a pressure cooker. You know the pressure cooker. You have pain, you have pain, you have pain. So you take a medication, you eat, you drink, you do something to reduce the pain, and the pain goes away. But then you forget about your bigger goal, you’re bigger vision. You stop doing the thing that you really wanted in life, that outcome that you wanted so badly… It’s the same issue that yo-yo diets have. You gain weight, gain weight, gain weight, so what do you do? You get on a diet! You lose the weight, and then what do you do? You stop dieting, and then what happens? You gain weight!
This is the pressure cooker. It causes you to lose sight of what’s most important in your life: Your initial goal of optimal health!
Our goal at the center is to break you free from this trance. When you break out of this hypnosis, you become re-inspired of what’s possible, reminding you of your true potential. Have you ever gotten in your car early in the morning, turned the ignition on, and hit the gas and the car barely moves? You immediately realize that you left on the emergency brake. It was interfering with the car’s ability to move. What happens when you release the emergency brakes? You move!
Pain and stress in your physiology is like having that emergency brake on. We live in a culture that believes that we have to add more because we lack it in our own bodies. It’s like putting in a bigger engine, bigger tires, and using jet fuel to make the car faster, but meanwhile all you had to do is release the brakes.
When it comes to your healthcare, it’s essential to integrate medical modalities that reduce the interference of pain and stress, and more importantly to help optimize body function. The science and evidence now shows that biomedical acupuncture, one of the modalities we utilize at our center, does exactly that. Because of this, it is now being utilized in the medical system as a drug-free specialty for patients.
So, what do you think? Are you at the point in your life that you’re ready to take your health to an entirely new level? If you are, we’re here to support you with the use of science-based natural medical modalities such as biomedical acupuncture, neurofeedback brain training, as well as dietary, herbal, and nutritional strategies.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can support you with your specific health concerns and goals in a safe and effective way, contact our office at (619) 287-4005 to schedule a free consultation where we can answer any questions you have to find out if and how we can help you with your healthcare needs.