You know what's wild to me?

Having to book “special appointments" (that ironically cost more money) if you're experiencing symptoms that spread or your injury affects a couple areas of your body.

For real…that's a thing I'm seeing popping up in clinics all over. 

These therapists go around calling you complex, but it’s really the chronic pain rehab/management approaches that are getting over-complicated.

If I wanted to stop the cycle of pain and injury and nervousness and flare-ups from happening (like past-Meg was often experiencing) here's what I'd do (personally, and professionally…):

1. Stop over-complicating things. 
   There's no need to be on a treatment table 2-3x a week, in the clinic for over an hour each time, wrapped up in exercise bands, doing a million activation drills, or jumping around between the next-best technique or exercise that was learned at that weekend course that just happened.

2. Take a look at life, instead of just the injured or painful body part. 
   It's no secret that the busier and more stressed or sleep-deprived you are, the more intense your symptoms get, and the longer they last.

3. Seek help and support, sooner. 
   The more you wait and avoid it, the bigger the chance of more injury, a breakdown, worsening pain, or crashing and burning. (And I promise, it'll happen at the least convenient time)

4. Take responsibility.
   It's less about genetics, the way you've been in the past, not having enough time, your age, or what the rules in the textbooks say should be happening.
   It's more about the words you use, the thoughts you create, the beliefs you develop, and the (in)action that result from that belief system, that's causing you to be stuck.
   If you believe you're broken, need someone to fix you, that you're doomed to progressively worsening symptoms, or that everything else matters more than you and the one body you get in this physical world, then you're going to be waiting a long time to be fully living your life.
    

The key to breaking free from constant pain, anxiety, and re-injury, was deciding that I wanted to experience something different,  realizing where I was self-sabotaging or holding myself back, and then making choices that better served me (daily walks, going to the gym, attending therapy, hiring a coach, prioritizing sleep and nutrition, committing to my yoga and spiritual practices, and spending time with relationships that allowed me to grow in those areas).

What are you choosing?