unwinding

Unwinding your way to health

Have you ever started a new health regime and noticed that you felt worse before you felt better? This is a process that I like to call unwinding.

A perfect example is when you start a new intensive exercise regime. It often feels really hard while you are doing it and you may feel sore for days or even weeks after that first session. Does that mean that the exercise is bad for you? Probably not. It just means that you have used your body in a way that it hasn’t experienced in a while, and it isn’t used
to it.

What actually happens is that in order to make new muscle cells, the old cells are damaged and destroyed. Sounds bad, doesn’t it? But actually, it’s good because these are then replaced by new stronger muscle cells that are better able to meet the new demands you are putting on
your body.

Similarly when you start a new diet, a new therapy (such as chiropractic) or even start changing your thought patterns, it may initially be hard. During this part of unwinding you may feel sore, anxious and depressed because the increased pressure leads you to think you’re getting worse – but you may not be!

Of course you should consult with your health care professional to make sure that you aren’t doing the wrong thing. But you should not automatically assume that it is therefore bad for you. In fact those very same symptoms may be a sign that you are on the right track. As your body unwinds, these symptoms tell you that things are changing – and isn’t that why you started your new regime in the first place?

We are conditioned in our modern society that all symptoms are bad and that we should do whatever it takes to avoid them, but sometimes some short-term aches and pains can reap a massive long-term gain in terms of your health.

So remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get healthy!

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This spine needs unwinding