Those of you who have been to clinic recently will know that I have made the big step in resigning from my teaching post at Simon Balle. For me, this change is a significant move to focus my work entirely on my chiropractic career, but has also been a very big emotional change as I reflect on spending over half my life at the school. I spent seven years there as a pupil and then returned to take up a mathematics teaching post in 2003 when my eldest child was just one year old. Throughout the following years my roles within the school changed as I took on teaching Dance, Drama and more recently Health and Social Care, and I was very thankful when they accomodated my teaching hours to work around my chiropractic study. The time feels right and I am excited to be able to expand my service hours at Walk Tall Chiropractic. I am not leaving the world of education entirely as I have been appointed lead lecturer of the Human Function Module for the Year One MChiro students. This will see me returning to The McTimoney College in Abingdon one day a week and also heading up to the Manchester College one weekend a month.
Change can bring about a number of emotional response - with excitement comes fear. What if I'm not good enough? What if it doesn't work? For some this can become delibilitating and manifest as Imposter Syndrome, but it can also be the best way to build confidence..change the thought to What if I AM good enough? What if this ACTUALLY works? Stepping out of your comfort zone, your habit, your 'normal' is the first step to change, but it is also the hardest one.
In clinic I recognise my role as a chiropractor is to work in partnership with my patients. I can use my adjusting technique to initiate physical changes in your body, but it is often the work that is done outside of the clinic room that has the biggest impact. Building strength in your glutes (see 'squats it all about' blog edition) or other weak areas of your body, changing negative posture habits, making dietary changes or finding an alternative way to meet the demands of your life are all going to create the change that will have a positive impact on the way your body functions.
The hardest part of change is finding the motivation and determination to keep going because we also know that it rarely happens without time and patience. My journey to get to this point in my career started with that first chiropractic appointment in 2008 and then moved with purpose in 2014 when I started my study. I know that the action of change, the decision to make the commitment, has happened after a much longer process of thought, consideration, deliberation, doubt and fear. I also know I could not have made these changes without the support and encouragement of my family and friends. Who we choose to surround ourselves with is so important if we are going to succeed in making that change.
So if you are thinking about making some changes, big or small, you are already on the right path because "every positive change in your life begins with a clear, unequivocal decision that you are going to either do something or stop doing something" (Brian Tracy) And ifit is a health change, I am here to support you to succeed.