We’re well into the six month Postural Patterning course now and I’m so impressed with the group. There are 13 people doing the course, 2 by skype but the other 11 turn up ready to go every Sunday. They’re a diverse bunch, Some have backgrounds in health sciences like therapeutic massage, psychology, physiotherapy and personal training and others bring life skills and training such as yoga, leadership development and parkour.

Some people have no ‘body’ training at all but they all have a keen desire to understand more about their own physical wellness.

That’s what marks these people as special in my eyes.

Whether their ultimate goal is to improve their professional practice in helping others or to achieve a better understanding of their own physical wellness they all recognise that the improvement has to start with themselves.

I make the distinction between treatment and education. One is often pointless without the other.  One is also easier to provide from a business point of view than the other.

There is definitely a need for treatment in many situations but if there is no accompanying education then the best you can hope for is to return to square one. Where you started. This can leave you with all the problems that caused the last injury still present . Education ensures that you can do better than that.

Having someone else ‘fix’ your problems is a lovely concept. It’s how we’re brought up to think.

When we’re injured or have a physical problem we go to see a doctor or a therapist to get it fixed. It even gets paid for by someone else in many cases.

But what did you learn? How did you become more able to care for your own wellbeing if someone else did all the work? Are you still powerless to understand and resolve your own physical problems and prevent them from getting worse?

We’re taught to think that the problems are solved when the pain stops!

But the world is changing.

The health dollar is going less distance in covering peoples health needs. As the gap grows more and more people get left behind. If these people aren’t taught how to look after their own wellness then they remain powerless beyond waiting for someone to ‘fix’ them.

And that is becoming and increasingly long or even hopeless wait.

Many people are looking for more.

The people on the Postural Patterning course are all actively engaged in improving their understanding of how their bodies work and how to improve their physical wellness. They’re bomb proofing themselves, their children, family and friends and clients against arthritis, joint replacements, chronic pain and dysfunction, physical limitations and, what some describe as……. the inevitable affects of aging.

There is no inevitability to this process other than an increasing tally of years.

The trick is to learn how to care for your most important physical asset.

Yourself.