Let’s Not Be Hard on Ourselves

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve really spent time reflecting on my views on health and how this has been an ever-evolving journey over the years. If you had met me 8 years ago, I was working in a very physical role which involved working shifts and wearing heavy protective equipment. At the time I was exercising daily and ate pretty well (or that’s what I thought), and I classed myself as ‘healthy’. But what I didn’t realise was that the daily back and neck pain, my broken sleep pattern, and discomfort whilst I exercised wasn’t ‘normal’. At the time I did not think anything of it, because most people I worked with or associated with were struggling with the same thing. I assumed that it was just something we all have, and my way of managing it was often to take pain killers, and in some cases I had to take time off work.

When I met Tom 8 years ago, who at that point had been practicing as a chiropractor for a couple of years, I certainly didn’t get a ‘light bulb’ moment when we chatted about what he did and different aspects of health. I had actually never heard of a chiropractor and had no idea what they did! I assumed they did something similar to physiotherapy as that was all I knew. I’m guessing some of you may be able to relate to this confusion?! It took me some time to start to understand what chiropractors did, but the more I learnt, the more things started to make sense and I started to get these ‘ah ha’ moments!….

”Our body is controlled by our brain and spinal cord, which forms our nervous system, and this controls everything that goes on in our body?!“

“Our spine protects our spinal cord and if it is not moving correctly it can impact the signals from the brain to the body and visa versa?!“

“If our spine is not functioning as well as it could, it can cause other areas of our body such as joints and muscles to work harder, which may be why I am experiencing the discomfort?”


“Not just physical aspects can impact my health; how I think, move, eat and drink can impact it also?!”


The list could go on and on….and yes some of my ‘ah ha’s’ were quite basic stuff!

Have you ever had a similar moment, whether it be with your own health journey or a different aspect of your life where you thought, “ah, that just makes sense, how did I not know about this before?!”

So you may be wondering why am I sharing this? Well this week we are focusing on the health of our spines, and possibly like many of you, I too had no idea about the importance of it. One of the comments I often hear following the initial visits at Epoch Lincoln is, “that just makes sense”, or “I wish I had known about this sooner”, and I know at times it can cause feelings of frustration and regret that we didn’t know this information, or hadn’t been taking care of our spine health sooner.

We all know about going to the dentist to take care of our teeth and having regular checkups, but it is not common knowledge about the importance of taking care of our spine which is what we are trying to change at Epoch. What I like to emphasise at this point is that it is OK, you are not alone, and it is never too late.

Whether it be taking care of your spine, incorporating more fresh vegetables into your diet, moving more….whatever it is, it really is never too late to make a change. If you didn’t know, you didn’t know. I certainly had no idea about the intelligence of our body, and that the discomfort I was experiencing was actually a warning signal that something was not right. I just classed it as an irritation and something I would have to live with.

As time has passed and the more I have learnt, my whole view on health has changed. I now feel in control of my body, and when I start to get a symptom whether it be an ache or pain, or I start to feel run down, I now ask myself why is this here? Have I been sitting too long which is why my neck is sore? Have I been fueling my body with nutritious foods and sleeping enough so that it can heal and recover as it needs to? Am I taking a moment to breathe and rest to allow my stress hormones to reduce? Have I been checked and adjusted lately to ensure my spine and body is moving as well as it can?

Our bodies really are amazing. And I know I am a little bias; now being married to Tom, running a chiropractic practice and about to graduate as a chiropractor myself, it is not surprising that I am talking about the importance of our spine. But moving towards better health is a combination of multiple things, which I never realised before and I certainly did not know that I was in control of it.

So how about taking a moment to reflect on your health journey? What are your views on health? Are you in control of it, or do you rely on someone or something else? We all have differing opinions, and what I have discussed here may be the opposite to what you think. That is OK, and that is the beauty of our uniqueness! I am not expecting you all to have the same view as me, but I think it is important to be conscious and mindful about our choices. My biggest learning over this time is simply to ask ‘why’, and this can open up a much clearer picture.

I hope this has provided some food for thought and I would love to hear your views on health and whether it has evolved over time.

With love,
Sarah