Have you ever felt, well, old?  What can you do about it?

Dr. Jan Corwin is a Portland, Oregon chiropractor known for her work to speed recovery of pain and injuries. 
 
She's one of the most vital people I know.
She bikes, hikes, does daily yoga at home and takes vigorous yoga classes several times a week. 
She also lives in the country where taking the dogs for a walk can be a wilderness adventure. 
She enjoys time with close friends. And I often hear her laugh with patients clear on the other side of the building!

When I asked her to recall a physical challenge, she replied, "I had to have complete bed-rest for 5 weeks before the birth of my 2nd child to keep from going into premature labor. When we got home, every move hurt me. Standing hurt, sitting hurt, walking hurt. I thought, "This is what it's like to get old.  I'm old." 
One day I'd had enough and decided to walk up the steep hill behind my house; and then to do it every day. In about 2 weeks I felt fine. I wasn't in pain! I felt good! I just needed to move to get reconditioned."

Once again I'm reminded of the incredible power of the Aston-Patterning way of addressing a problem.

In October, 2011, I was rear-ended. I immediately saw my Chiropractor and Acupuncturist.  Both were helpful.
However, complications from this accident resulted in a tenacious, debilitating and quite literal pain in the "nether-parts."  I ended up on crutches and missed 2 weeks of work.
Being as I am a much more pro-active practitioner than I am a patient, it took me that whole  excruciating two  weeks to  remember that Aston-Patterning sessions will help me out..

I was reminded that there are several remarkable things about the Aston-Patterning approach:

1. We see and feel and internally conceptualize the force-vectors that influence one's current situation. Speaking as a client, I have a sense that my whole self is being taken into account.
My first session, with Beth McKee, focused on the "disorganized" tissue in my pelvic floor that kept pulling my sacrum out of position. This was done with me fully clothed and in a non-invasive manner, with one hand on my sacrum and the other on my belly. Then Beth was able to follow and "iron out" the "disorganization" right down my leg to my foot.
What a relief! (See happy emoticons here).
Finally I could put my full weight on my left leg.

2. We help the client use the changes that feel so good. Beth easily and precisely helped me move from foot to foot, educating my body and mind to avoid the compensating movement pattern I'd developed.
My second session, with Elizabeth Ceniceros, "blended"  upward through my spine the change work my Chiro and Beth had initiated and addressed the connection of my left hip with the right hand and arm that had taken the brunt of the impact. Again, she coached me to stay out of the movement patterns that would send me back into pain.
The results of the combined sessions: More freedom of movement and pain down from a steady 8/10 to varying 2-5/10--all in just 3 days.

I then got what was probably an excellent session from a different practitioner, but the next morning my body went into a huge spasm. And here's the next remarkable thing and maybe the most important difference from other modalities....

3. We use bodywork to INTEGRATE the changes so that the whole body works well together again.

The other practitioner changed the parts that needed changing, but didn't re-introduce these changes to the rest of the body.  My fragile body couldn't get there on its own. Several days later, after an A-P session, was I able to move again without serious pain and walk without a cane.  And I didn't flare up.  I just got steadily better.

By golly, this stuff WORKS. And better yet, the results STAY!

Photo credit: https://goo.gl/QUxCC5