two major issues to my attention:
Cautious movement: Over time, I became aware of how slowly and cautiously I had been moving all this time and how I was subconsciously guarding and protecting my left leg. I began to notice built-in strategies I had developed for myself. If I had to pick something off the ground I would single-leg squat on my right leg so as to ‘protect’ the left leg. When doing even the most menial of tasks (sitting down for example) I would grunt, groan or grimace, holding my breath as if I was attempting to move a boulder! Every little activity I did was laborious, carried out in a tense, rigid and unrelaxed manner.
The importance of stress and systemic health and its effect on pain: Kieran helped educate me as to how important things like stress, lack of sleep, frustration and anxiety can play on our overall system. He explained that pain is a stressor and emphasised the importance of bringing the levels of things like cortisol (often called the ‘stress hormone’) and adrenaline to more normal levels throughout the day.
