by Kate Greenaway-Twist, Goonellabah NSW

Following on from True Physiotherapy – Part One:

Over the last 16 years I have transformed from a person driven by the goals of how things should be, how a patient should move or feel after a treatment, to a person far more at ease in myself, with a body that is far less tense. I am lighter and more fluid in all my movements and I am able to truly support my patients in their own natural healing process.

A big part of this transformation was due to me reconnecting to my natural gentleness, a quality within me that I had been disconnected from for a long time.

Gentleness

I have also learned over the last 16 years how important it is to reconnect to the natural gentle quality in me, that is in us all. I was inspired to give gentleness a go from the constant reflection of gentleness, love and true caring for others from Serge Benhayon, of Universal Medicine.

Gradually I became more gentle in my approach to myself and with everything I do, especially in how I am with my patients – how I touch them and treat them.

I learned also how fragmented I had been living; I was stepping into a role as a physiotherapist when I went to work, like putting a uniform on, but I was losing ‘Kate’ in all of that. I wonder how many of us lose ourselves in identifying with the role of being a Dentist, Nurse, Doctor, Cleaner and Mechanic etc. Through the development of this different quality in my body and how I was with patients, I slowly realised that physiotherapy needed to include the physiotherapist being true to themselves first – not acting out a role. Also that our lives cannot be compartmentalised, for it is all one life, so for me being more gentle in everything I did needed to be in all areas of my life – it wasn’t something I could just switch on when I was treating patients. So these days I am expressing me with the skills I have in physiotherapy and in the esoteric healing modalities, which I have studied and used with great benefits to my clients over the last 17 years.

In living more connected to myself and supporting my body with self-care and self-love, I have come to appreciate that I am already all I need to be – the quality I offer patients, how I connect with them, care for and love them as human beings and not see them as “just the next patient” is the foundation to support my patients, no matter what condition they have.

I have experienced burn-out in the past, much the same as many other physios in the profession, and in my learning I have come to know that this happened because of  my ‘looking’ or ‘needing’ an outcome from a patient’s treatment. I have developed a deeper understanding to ‘work with’ the patient’s body and its natural ability to heal itself when supported in the true manner by the treatments I can provide.

I still give strength exercises and postural advice and specific connective tissue exercises but in a very different way, as it is not solely focused to achieve a fixed goal, but seen as a means to support the patient to appreciate their body and how moving gently opens their body to be more naturally balanced, flexible and strong. This approach helps them to connect to themselves and their bodies and often allows them to gain insights into their behaviours and movements that caused their problem or injury in the first place.

Thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I have learned that true physiotherapy is when a person, trained in physiotherapy is being true to themselves first and then use their physiotherapy skills in an unimposing gentle way to support a person’s natural healing process.

Read more:

1. The wonder of connective tissue – every move you make can either heal or harm. 
2. It’s not normal to live in pain.