I really want to go swimming.

Well actually, I want to be outdoors and move my body and drink in fresh air in the hills with wild abandon. But I’ll settle for dreaming about swimming because it’s the nearest-to-now future body movement activity. I currently have a back injury and sometimes I need a distraction from the less glamorous reality of not quite being able to put on my own socks. When the time comes, will there be someone who tells me ‘yes it’s definitely the moment to try swimming?’ Maybe. And maybe not. Maybe I’ll have to decide my own wellness.

Maybe I get to decide when to fly out of the nest and be free.

Doctors are experts in the things that go wrong in the body and brain. It’s literally our job to tell you when you are unwell and why you’re unwell. But after (or even during) injury or trauma, who gives you permission to start feeling well again? Who determines your wellness?

Often, after injury or trauma, we learn to feel fragility–whether it’s favoring a leg after injury, avoiding certain places or people–we guard against further injury. It’s human. But the problem occurs when we don’t switch back, when we’re still operating like we’re injured even after healing.

So who gives you permission to say you are well? Who says it’s okay to begin life again full-force? Is there anyone in your life to celebrate the health within you?

And if you’re still going through trauma, illness, or injury, are there moments or parts of you that have permission to feel well?

Here are 3 ways to give yourself the permission of wellness:

1. Look to your strengths. I bet you’re one strong, badass person. Remember where you’re strong physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Need help? Click here for more info.

2. Celebrate little victories. Incremental improvements are huge! I’ve been nursing a back injury for months and I finally did the laundry this weekend. That was huge! It’s easy to list the things I miss doing, but don’t forget how far you’ve come!

3. There can be good in the now. It can be hard to understand and accept the fact that we never truly ‘return’ to where we were. Here’s a friendly reminder that there can be some GOOD in that!! This one is a tough little chestnut for a lot of folx I work with. Maybe you relate to the narrative, ‘There was that time when I was x years old and my body felt amazing and it’s never been the same.’ Part of time moving in a linear progression is accepting the fact that we may not return to the way we felt on our 17th birthdays (that was a really good day for me P.S.) And usually we frame this as a bad thing–but I challenge you to see the GOOD in the changes too. Are you wiser? Probably. Do you have fewer abhorrent people in your life? If you’re like me, you have more way more wonderful people in your life. Do you treat yourself better? I hope so (chances are you do if you’re reading this!).

Maybe you’re not quite sure when you can trust yourself and your body again, take that risk, move beyond the fear of visibility. That’s why working with someone who can not only diagnose the pathology but celebrate the health in you can be transformative!! Check out the work with me page for more info. Drop a comment below and let me know how you give yourself permission to tap into the wellness within.