The Importance Of Rest, Recovery and Mindfulness with Scoliosis With Kerry Green
I’m so excited that I had the chance to speak with Kerry Green, a fellow scolio-warrior who works with others on their mindset and mental health!
After being diagnosed in middle school, she headed down the regular scolio-path. Getting fitted for a brace (that she only wore at night), doing the doctor’s visits, and waiting to see when she’d need surgery — because doctors told her it was only a matter of time.
Finally, she did the procedure in college and took a month off of school and life back in 2007. For the next 13 years, she still continued to feel like the victim of her condition instead of the warrior she is. So how did she get out of that mindset and into the mind of a warrior?
Depression + Scoliosis
Before getting the surgery, Kerry was extremely depressed. In fact, the surgery wasn’t so much a choice of hers as it was something she just “had to do.” This, of course, only led to more depression, which is what motivated Kerry to become a mental health specialist. At first, she just wanted to help others who felt the way she did — depressed and with no excitement for life.
Now, she helps women overcome trauma, anxiety, and other struggles. There are a few themes she’s recognized that tend to give women a higher level of anxiety, especially regarding societal standards.
Already, women are dealt a heavy hand when it comes to what our bodies “should” look like, which leads to body dysmorphia in any woman. But it’s especially clear in women with scoliosis, who feel like their bodies don’t look the way they should.
I’ve seen this myself when women come into my practice. So many women have poor self-image and come in defeated and depressed because of their scoliosis.
For example, Kerry never used to go for a run in her sports bra simply because of the curvature in her spine. But now, she can confidently wear a sports bra and shorts, knowing her body is beautiful just the way it is!
The Difficulty of the Holidays
As I’ve mentioned before, the holidays can be rough on us scolio-warriors. Kerry points out that we’re going to be spending a lot of time traveling to and living in other people’s homes [ traveling w/ scoliosis episode ], which means we might not have the physical comforts we’re used to and need.
But the best thing you can do in these situations is to communicate your needs to those around you. When you’re comfortable and pain-free, you have the ability to become and stay so much more present, which is what the holidays are about, after all!
Asking for what we need is definitely not easy by any stretch of the imagination! Kerry’s advice is to not make assumptions about what others think, unless they say it out loud. Secondly, you can also practice asking for things with the safe people in your life.
Rest + Recovery Are As Important As Exercise
I speak a lot about the importance of movement and practicing your exercises. But I wanted to chat with Kerry about the idea of rest and recovery versus exercise.
She points out that they’re both equally important. You can’t see improvement if you’re not allowing your body the time to rest and recover.
Relaxation is easier said than done, especially since most of us are perfectionists. If you have trouble relaxing, you might fall into this category. The first step to healing that perfectionism is to be kind to yourself. You deserve a day of rest, just like everyone else.
Something I’ve heard (and often repeat to myself) is, “Would you speak to a friend the way you’re speaking to yourself?”
Learning to Rest
Hitting the pause button when you’re used to fast-forward is extremely difficult. Kerry’s go-to aid is mindfulness and awareness of your thoughts and patterns.
This doesn’t have to include a long journaling session every morning. Instead, mindfulness is about practicing frequent check-ins with yourself to see both how you’re feeling and what you need and want at that moment. The way we feel is constantly changing, so what you want at one point in the day may not be what you want or need at another.
As someone who avoids check-ins like this at all costs, I couldn’t help but ask for Kerry’s advice on bringing regular check-ins to my routine. Writing down a list of your check-ins and making a super quick list of how you feel when you do this check-in is a really great way to remind yourself when you need to do it.
Healthy Rest
Many of us think of rest as laying on the couch, zoning out, and watching Netflix. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But other forms of rest can lead to recovery as well.
This can look like working less one day out of the week, going on a long walk, or getting a massage… it can even be as simple as not thinking about all the things you have to do.
Changing Your Thought Patterns
When she started to work with clients on changing their thoughts and the narratives they had in their life, Kerry realized that she had many of her own narratives that were holding her back.
Firstly, the doctors that had treated her since she was a child essentially told her that this was just the way things were. There was no healing or help to be found for her scoliosis, and this would just be the way it was.
Then, she discovered on Instagram and the internet that there were many scolio-warriors out there who were using thoughtful movement and exercise to really improve their condition. The first thing she did was join Vivian Doreen’s Scoli-Fit program. Within a few weeks, she started to feel stronger and realized her pain was going down for the first time in a long time.
Doctors will often tell us that there’s little to nothing to be done about our condition. It’s just something we have to live with. But I definitely don’t believe that to be true! There are so many things you can do to improve your scoliosis and quality of life.
If you’re interested in working with Kerry to improve your mindset, mental health, and thought patterns, you can view her website and services here. She works with patients on how to like their bodies and start to truly love the form they live in!
