The Fear of Falling

In graduate school, my thesis research paper was on falling with the elderly.  The number one contributing factor in people who fall is the fear of falling.  Not lower body weakness, not hip replacements, not dementia but FEAR. 

My husband just finished an extensive training to get his motorcycle license.  In the training, they discussed how to avoid accidents and told him if there is an object in the road that you might hit (a rock or a log or road kill etc), do not look at the object.  Look where you are going, beyond the obstacle toward your destination.  If you look at the obstacle, you will more than likely hit it and ultimately crash.

I do not spend much if any time reviewing other diastasis programs.  I realize there are many options out there and I know people doing this work have passion and believe in what they do.  I spend most of my "free" time further my understanding of how the body functions and heals and how to improve or add to what we do at The Tummy Team.  I have no desire to critique other programs and I do not feel the need to be competitive or compare them with us.  Sadly, there are more than enough hurting people to go around and there are many different approaches to healing.  Instead, I focus on helping people better understand what we do at The Tummy Team and even more importantly why we do it this way.

That being said, the number one common factor in clients we work with who have worked in other programs before The Tummy Team is that they are living (at some level) in fear.  Some of these clients are completely controlled by this fear and others are simply living a life less than God's best due to fear.  The fear of moving wrong, the fear of having another baby, the fear of damaging themselves further, the fear of exercising, the fear of having sex with their husbands, the fear of sleeping wrong, the fear of picking up their child wrong, the fear of doing one wrong move and ruining all their hard work.  The list can go on and on but you get the point.  Ironically this fear is often the most common factor that keeps clients from completely healing.

To quote The Hunger Games, "the one thing more powerful than fear is hope".  But what do we do when we are afraid to hope?  We take a step of faith and choose to hope anyway.  Hope does not mean you know all the answers before hand.  Hope does not mean there is an absolutely clear path ahead of you.  Hope is risky. Hope always take a step of faith.  And "faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Heb 11:1. Yes, I just quoted The Hunger Games and the Bible in the same paragraph.  I believe there are many ways we are exposed to Truth :). 

Hope can come in knowing our bodies were perfectly designed.  Do you know how was your body designed?  Your body was designed for balance, strength, mobility and for a long life.  You were designed to move in many ways. You have completely unbelievable capabilities.  Your bodies were designed for constant movement and activity.  Your bodies are efficient and trainable and have the ability to heal.  But more than anything our bodies function on demand.  That "use it or lose it" theory we talk about so much.  Ultimately, your bodies do what we ask them to do.  

So if you ask them to sit collapsed and inactive all day, that is what they will do. If you ask your body to hike one hip and arch your back to rest your baby on your hip for hours at a time, that is what it will try to do. Do not expect a body which is inactive and physically collapsed all day be able to effectively do an extreme workout for 30 min 3 times a week. What we do the most wins, so if you are consistently using your muscles to hold you up and be an active participant in your daily movements, they will be less likely to fail you when you ask for a little more. 

The first stage of our Core Rehabilitation programs at The Tummy Team is awareness.  Awareness helps you make better choices. Awareness keeps you from unintentionally continuing to hurt yourself. Awareness is power.  Awareness should not create an atmosphere of fear but rather an atmosphere of hope. When you realize your body has become injured, you want to understand what contributed to your injury AND how to fix it.  If you know how to fix it but not how to stop creating the injury, you will not heal completely. If you know how you injured yourself but not how to fix it, you will live in despair and frustration.  Understanding what your body needs to do to heal is intended to give you power and understanding of your bodies current limitations, not give you fear and anger at those limitations.

Against what our culture encourages, there is freedom in boundaries.  There is power in limitations.  Understanding your particular limitations at certain time will keep you from making choices that will ultimately further limit you.  For example, if you love to run but your body is telling you now that when you run your hips and knees hurt, ignoring that boundary and continuing to run through the pain can ultimately cause damage that will forever keep you from running.  The boundary is a gift.  We hardly see this as true but it is. Boundaries are an act of love, a way to protect us and help us flourish.  Not stifle us and restrain us.  Think of the boundaries you give your children, it is in love that you give them limitations.  You body is designed in love and the limitations and optimal function of our body protects us and allows us to flourish. It allows us to  have the longevity, mobility, strength, and endurance that it was designed for.   

Awareness is not the same as obsession.  Think of the motorcycle example.  If we become obsessed about one thing, that will ultimately consume us and distort our perception.  As when driving the motorcycle, you are aware that the obstacle is there but your focus is on your destination not the obstacle.

Fear of movement will keep you from using your body to its full capacity.  But carelessly ignoring what your body is telling you is not the answer.  Awareness and balance.  Understanding where you are and what you need to do to get where you want to be. Educate yourself. Understand the why. Then take that risky step of faith to hope and continue to take one step at a time.

The Tummy Team is very intentional about everything we do.  We guide you step by step to progress your body to be strong, stable and capable of what you need it to do.  It is much more about what your body is consistently capable of more than what it looks like (even though when it works better, you feel better and look better). The function is the goal.

But fear has no part in the journey.  

I wish I could just magically wipe away those fears and help you trust but that is part of your journey.  I have learned there is much more going on in this journey of healing than just pulling two sides of the abdominal wall together.  Nothing is wasted. 

I encourage you to trust, knowing you are not alone and not the first person on this journey.  So many have gone before you and found healing and strength and the elimination of pain and fear.  You can do it to.  Do not be afraid.  Trust the perfect design of your body and let us help you get back to that design.