Bridget Lincoln from Bodyzone Health and Lifestyle in Elstead shares her thoughts about Pilates and chiropractic care:
I feel very lucky to be able to honestly say that I have always loved my job. Having flunked my Maths A-level, I decided sport was a much more sociable base for a career path anyway! With no idea what I wanted to actually do in sport, I did a sports science degree and then got a job as a fitness instructor.
The joke at the time seemed to be that sports science graduates either end up working in McDonalds or in a gym so I was quite chuffed at this point! Eight years on with various aerobics, step, aqua, circuits, Pilates, management and massage qualifications under my belt, I felt I had become a bit too much a Jack of all trades and decided to specialize in Pilates and massage.
I had already been introduced to some chiropractors in Godalming and was impressed with how much they seemed to care about their clients. Several of my gym members went to one particular clinic and their chiro’s wanted to speak to us about what we could do to complement their work. What exercises would help their recovery, what might set them back…that sort of thing. I felt then, and I still feel now, fourteen years on, that there is nowhere near enough communication between the therapists/experts/consultants that an injured person might see on their treatment journey.
What a boost to my confidence it was too! Professionals, who I held in very high regard, were interested in the part I was playing in a client’s recovery. We were not just putting people through a series of exercises to make them fitter but working with a team of experts to help educate people to strengthen, stretch, align breath, move and make psychological changes to get themselves out of pain.
So, here I am, 22 years into my career and loving my job more than ever. We are extremely lucky in Godalming to have a wide choice of experts to choose from when we need some help to get us back on track, physically, mentally or spiritually. In my experience, it is unlikely that one person alone will hold all the answers and expertise to help us get better.
I have not come across a client yet, who has not been delighted when they find out that people in their treatment chain want to communicate so they can work together in order to help them. The physical benefits are easy to see. For e.g. if one person is working to relax an overactive muscle group, it helps if the next in the line isn’t working to strengthen and tighten that same set of muscles. If a certain working position aggravates an injury we can modify and change exercises to accommodate that.
The psychological side of pain is so complex it’s harder to quantify how clients might benefit. But, in my mind, there is no doubt that if we all communicate the client will feel better looked after and cared for and this can only help recovery, maybe significantly.
If you would like to contact Bridget at Body zone Health and Lifestyle click on the links below:
