What Osteopathy can do, and what you can do for yourself, in overcoming the stresses, strains and ill health that life throws at you
“The best and most efficient pharmacy is within your own system.” ~Robert C. Peale
Looking for a cure to disease is like looking for a shiny new car to solve your life’s problems. It may provide a short term boost, but the cause of the problem is still there. A cure is defined as “a complete or permanent solution or remedy”. However, the only constant in the natural world is change. We move towards the end of our lives every single minute. If this is case, how can anything be permanent? How can there truly be a cure? Change is bound to happen to us, but when it does, how do we respond?
What osteopathy can do, is it can put you in a better position to respond to these challenges. It respects the changes that naturally occur and tries to work with them to overcome health problems. We can build a house of wood, insulation, plumbing and electrical wire, and some metal for a roof. However if these materials aren’t put together correctly, in the right order and with a strong foundation, we would have a structure but it may not function so well as a house when placed in the middle of a Canadian winter. The idea behind osteopathy is to get your structure in order, so that when stress hits the body, it is able to respond appropriately. We should be able to respond well to changes in diet, changes in physical activity, changes to our emotional or psychological well being. However if our body is not in the right place, a lot of our energy is spent managing and repairing this structure. We are then less able to respond to the physical, emotional and psychological challenges of day to day life. This stress builds and we pay off the debt by using up our health bank account. Eventually, when our cash runs low, we find disease.
Disease is defined as “a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms”. The condition, as explained here, can be structural (“one of its parts”), which impairs normal function. We can look at the effects (“signs and symptoms”), or we can look at the structure. By establishing a better structure, we can work away from the dis-eased state. Osteopathy is about our constitution. It’s about building health for you to better respond to challenges. It’s like establishing a good sleep schedule, a strong diet low in sugar and processed foods, or a good exercise routine. It acts to strengthen what you already have within, which is the ability to heal from your stress and overcome states of dis-ease.
Osteopathy does the work of healing the structural side of the body. But introducing positive health habits into the structure of your life is something you are also in control of. The effects and outcome of osteopathic treatment are only multiplied by the number of good things you are doing for yourself. Never put yourself in a corner where you are not in control and where you are is because of someone or something else. You always have a choice. Life is short. In order to get the most out of it we need to spend time on building our own structure up, and in turn, life will open up for us. Be strong, brave, find the waves of change and let them carry you to something and somewhere better than where you are now, whatever your situation.
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” ~Spanish Proverb