Client Story: Discovering Happiness in your Health Routines

My client and I began working together in late January of this year (2025). She was referred by her physiotherapist to help with post-rehab and getting back to daily activities and health following a knee injury.

What started as "I hope to be able to play pickleball again" turned into so much more in regards to this clients deep health. Her visits are always deep in conversation, thought, laughter and more. She truly is an example of a model client:

• She asks questions

• She thinks about her own approach and actions to health and wellbeing

• She takes action on those thoughts and conversations

• She comes each visit with a list of thoughts, ideas and questions to chat about

• She openly discusses what's working for her, what she's struggling with etc... which allows us to adjust, plan and discuss to help her

Today she shared TWO BIG changes that I absolutely had to share with you! THIS is a prime example of how POWERFUL a deep health approach can be (vs the old-school mindset of "I'm going to push myself to do stuff I really don't want to do").

"I'm just happy..."

My client shared these often LOST words with me part way into her coaching session;

"I'm just happy with what I'm doing, my routine and how I feel".

Do you know how LITTLE we say that even to ourselves, let alone to someone else?? We're always pushing MORE on ourselves and/or telling ourselves "it's not good enough", "I'm not good enough", "I can't" AND/OR "I'm a failure". I've shared my thoughts on that mindset before, where we don't ALLOW ourselves to FEEL GOOD and FEEL HAPPY with where we are NOW (at any point), and therefore we ONLY make ourselves better at NOT being satisfied and happy with ourselves and our habits. We are REALLY BAD at seeing the GOOD we're doing for our wellbeing (and VERY GOOD at finding "all the things that are wrong"... And then somewhere in there we feel like we "should be able" to make sustainable change?! *insert cricket sounds here* 😳.

My client realized over the past week or two that she's simply happy with things right now. There's no rush to change anything, there's good energy most days and nothing in her health practices feels forced. I speak from experience as well that when your health practices are approached in this way, it truly is a breath of fresh air. It makes you easily want to keep doing what you're doing for your health - BECAUSE IT FEELS GOOD!

Ok, Coach - What did she say next?

Thank you for asking my fellow reader - I'm happy to share. 😄

As my client was leaving she was reminding me that over the past 3-4 years, at this time of year, she would be going to see her physiotherapist. Her knee, shoulders etc would be uncomfortable and/or injured and she would need some help to manage those nagging discomforts. However, this year - She has NOT needed to go see her physio!! AWESOME!!!

This client has TAKEN CONTROL OF HER HEALTH. Instead of pushing her body mindlessly or because "she should", she's been open to learning this year about listening to her body and approaching her health in ways that make HER feel good rather than for extrinsic reasons. This has allowed her to not only get back into pickleball without injury, but also to do so many other things that she enjoys day to day in her retirement, without fear or worry or "shoulding herself".

I believe a KEY factor in this for her is the fact that she (like some other clients I've shared stories about here on the Zen Blog) uses the tools she's learned in our work together AS SHE NEEDS THEM. Rather than waiting for someone to say "do this", she takes the responsibility on to DO SOMETHING herself. The result being that MOST OF THE TIME it helps her recovery and/or any little discomforts she may be feeling. From there if something still lingers, her and I chat to discuss some other ideas how she can HELP HERSELF and HER BODY.

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The independance in health and wellbeing that clients like this create for themselves is impossible to describe. You have to EXPERIENCE IT for yourself to truly understand the magnitude of this power in being in charge of YOUR OWN WELLBEING.

👎 Too many of us rely on the doctor to tell us "what to do" or "which pill to take", rather than learning how to create a healthy, active lifestyle so we need the doc LESS ....

👎 Too many of us LIVE at physiotherapy rather than learning how to help ourselves so we can see the physio LESS...

👎 Too many of us rely on a chiropractor to "adjust us" for the rest of our lives, instead of learning how to better align ourselves and see the chiro LESS...

👎 Too many of us hire a Coach or Trainer to "tell us what to do" with our exercise, rather than learning what YOUR body is telling you and how to care for it, so you build independance and you need your Coach LESS...

👎Too many of us hire a Nutrition Coach or Dietitian/Nutritionist so they can "tell you what to eat", rather than learning what works for YOU and YOUR lifestyle now...

My most successful clients are those who take their health and wellbeing into their own hands. Those clients who come to me (or any other professional) to progressively build more independance over time. This creates self-accountability and self-reliance as the client moves forward in THEIR life. So no matter where THEY go or where their professional goes (if they move, get sick, quit their job etc) that person's health STAYS in their own hands.

When you see a health and wellness professional, I like to view it as progressively needing them less and less over time, until the point where they become "a Consultant" to you. Someone where if you have a question, concern or need a little boost you can call that professional you trust.

-THAT approach allows YOU to be in CONTROL of YOUR WELLBEING.

-THAT approach means YOU learn about YOUR PHYSIOLOGY

-THAT approach means YOUR health is NOT dependant on ANYONE else but YOURSELF

This is why I love to share client stories like this - It's the same pattern to create positive change:

-Having an open mind to NEW ways of thinking and doing

-Taking action and experimenting

-Having dicussions, being honest and open and asking questions

-Enjoying and learning to trust the process.