So you have been diagnosed with a painful condition and your doctor prescribes physical therapy (PT), what’s your next step? To come to PT of course!
Now you are coming to PT, but then you get to your appointment and start treatment revealing your fear of the reason you are in PT and all of the sudden freeze-up thinking about all of the “what if’s?”
Have you ever wondered, or been asked, if you were a coper or an averter? We don’t want our patients to make things worse for themselves by making bad coping choices such as isolation, too much or too little sleep, unhealthy eating, and we don’t want you to avert coming to therapy out of fear or unknowns.
The American Mindfulness Research Association describes mindfulness as “the state, process, and practice of remembering to observe moment-to-moment experience with openness and without automatic patterns of previously conditioned thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.”
At Carousel we want to investigate the missing piece of your PT treatment; your worry, why it worries you, and what is the worst thing that can happen (this is especially true for those of you that have had a fall and are afraid of falling again). Because once we help you confront the worst thing that could possibly happen—and help you realize the unlikeliness that it will happen again, or educate you on how to take care of yourself if it happens again—you can return to your daily activities worry-free.
By using mindfulness in PT (and we’re not talking about your body in tune with the universe or in harmony with the planets), it helps to let go of preconceived ideas and concepts about your body and listening to what it is telling you; as if for the first time. Some benefits of mindfulness are:
- It helps you slow down.
- It helps you to know yourself better.
- It helps you to focus or concentrate.
- It helps you to ruminate/stress less.
- It helps you change bad habits.
- It helps us be more resilient.
- It leads to a more enjoyable life.
We want to eliminate any of the stressors and stigmas of your condition, or about PT in general. We want you to be able to ask yourself are you coping or averting after applying the wisdom you relearned about your body; at Carousel of course!
