You are lying in bed. Nothing is wrong. Nobody is chasing you. The room is dark. The temperature is fine. You are safe by every objective measure. And your shoulders are up near your ears. Your jaw is clenched. Your breath is shallow. Your lower back is braced against a threat that does not exist.
You went to the therapist for the anxiety. You went to the physio for the posture. Nobody told you they were the same thing. Two appointments. Two billing codes. Two professionals working on what appears to be two separate problems. One gave you breathing exercises for the anxiety. The other gave you strengthening exercises for
The pain runs down the back of your leg. You have been told it is your disc. It might not be. Sciatica is one of the most over-attributed diagnoses in musculoskeletal medicine. The nerve is real. The compression is sometimes real. But in many cases, the pain pattern is a nervous system prediction that outlived
“My massage therapist is basically my most important relationship at this point.” She said it as a joke. Half a joke. The kind of joke you make when you have been paying someone $120 every three weeks for four years because it is the only thing that gives you two days without your neck screaming
It is 2am and your hip is locked. You cannot extend your right leg fully. You have been stretching this hip for five years. You have tried pigeon pose. You have tried couch stretch. You have foam rolled your TFL until your eyes watered. You have paid a massage therapist to release your psoas manually
Some experts say posture causes pain. Others say it doesn’t matter. Both camps are missing the point.
