Get balanced
PAID CONTENT
Do you ever feel out of balance? Do you ever wonder why so much pain and suffering happens to those we love and care for and ourselves? The body-self craves balance. It will go to great lengths to signal us when it is out of balance. We will show up with migraine headaches, back pain, knee and shoulder aches and often the inability to get a good night sleep. There may be numbness and tingling in your arm or even swelling in your legs. These physical symptoms are real and it is a warning that the system lacks homeostasis. The body-self is saying to you in a very loud voice, “Something needs to change, soon.” I don't mean for you to quit your job or your commitments to your life, but you may need a serious overhaul and rethinking of your value system and your body-self.
Homeostasis is a big word for balance. In the world of medicine, where I live and work as a physical therapist, homeostasis means the tendency towards a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially maintained by physiological processes. This is a lot of detail over a basic need our body-self has everyday. In the physical realm it means that our daily bodily systems will talk to us if they are out of whack. Maybe you have chronic indigestion, constipation, a leaky bladder or runny nose. Maybe you have dry, itchy skin and your hair is falling out. All of these are real physical issues and they are the body's way of telling you that you need to regroup, take inventory and change it up. But will we listen? Will we stop and make our health a priority, or will we keep running from the homeostasis that wants to occur?
Often to get to homeostasis there must be change and I believe that is what we are all running from. We just don't know how to change or how to do it different. We get caught in chronic ways of doing, thinking and being, and we slog along in life with no balance but with a lot of physical pain.
In true homeostasis the physical body, mind and spirit must be on the same page. Our values must be a priority. It does not mean that there is no ebb and flow, with the good and the bad days. It does not mean you will avoid pain, heartache and loss. But it does mean that in order to be well one must address all the things that come with this balance and choose to live in the here and now and show up everyday and live. Sometimes it will require us to just be still, breathe deeply and wait. Often, however, we have work to do to reset our body and mind and make a new commitment.
As I get to know so many of my patients I find that we humans are really all the same. We have heartaches, body aches and pains and sometimes looming darkness from our broken hearts. But I also see this amazing other thing that rises out of the depths of despair when we are at our lowest, and it is the beauty of people who have survived and lived to tell their story. And my patients, well they have stories to tell. Stories of loss, and then the incredible victory of wellness, surfaces. I don't mean perfection will happen, as some of my patients have weathered the storm with great losses and may still limp or have scarring or pain that prevents them from certain things in their life. But what I see is in the place of that pain, they found their way to their new life. They laid down their pride and humbled themselves in order to heal. They grieved their old life and let it go and they emerged stronger, more resilient and compassionate for others. They were able to see that real life has all the this hard stuff, but it's what we do with the hard stuff that makes us whole.
I challenge you as you move forward in your life, to decide to do the work of being well- body, mind and spirit. You can do it, never give up on your health!
• • •
Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy and she and her amazing staff believe in the power of the body, mind and spirit to heal. Call to schedule an appointment so you can have the life you desire. Hayden, 208-762-2100; Coeur d'Alene, 208-667-1988; or in Spokane Valley at 509-891-2623. Follow us on Facebook. Lakecitypt.com