Ep.10_Setbacks on the Journey out of Back Pain_ CBT Coaching 6_8_22
00:00:00 Speaker: This week's topic is going to be about something that we all experience on any journey towards anything. If we're trying to get out of pain or trying to make progress towards something, we experience setbacks and the trajectory line towards reaching any goal is rarely ever a straight line, and so we experience periods when we may not be making progress, or we may be making great progress and then have an event happen, and it sets us back in our progress. And that can be quite deflating. And so we're going to talk a little bit about how to deal with setbacks, what to do, and a lot about the psychology of setbacks, because what I've found is that setbacks are a more of a mental game than anything else. We have a few questions lined up that have come through this week from students, and we're going to talk a little bit about the topic of setbacks. Before we get into those, and I chose the topic this week because we've had a few inquiries from students just sharing with me that they've had a bit of a setback and in some cases asking for advice, what to do and in other cases just sharing. So the first thing I want to say about setbacks is kind of what I led into in the beginning is that it's really more of a psychological event that you're dealing with after the setback happens. And so it's a mental game that we play. And so we will talk about some strategies. You know from a physical perspective practical things that you can do when a setback occurs. But the number one thing that I want to kind of portray and get across is that I believe that setbacks are part of the process of the journey to get out of back pain and any process. And so they're expected, and in most cases they're unavoidable. And so when they do happen, it's important to not be upset at yourself or feel like you've let yourself down. I think the first step is to accept that the setback occurred and let it be an event that is in the past, and just not let yourself get down about the fact that it happened because it's expected. If we were going to compare it to a graph of the stock market, you know, the the stock generally go up over time, but it's never a straight line. It's very jagged. And I think that's similar to the process of accomplishing a goal, especially related to health or healing a physical injury. You know, setbacks are more common in the beginning when the tissues are more fragile. And so that you could imagine a lot of small zigzags in the beginning. You know, any little thing that you do wrong is potentially going to irritate it. And then as you build up your strength and your your tissue resilience, those smaller zigzags tend to smooth out, and maybe you have a setback later on, but it can be a bigger event. So later on, if there was a fall or something that happened, it can be a bigger setback and it's just a slowdown in the process of the big picture. And so it's important to stay focused on the big picture. And so that's kind of the way I look at it is they're pretty much inevitable. It's rarely ever a straight line up. And so what to do when you have a setback. So step one is to accept it and not let yourself get down and ask yourself, what can I learn from this experience? So maybe the setback was due to overdoing it, pushing too hard, overuse doing too much. Uh, that's a really common reason for setbacks. That's probably one of the reasons why at least one setback happened this week from a student. And we'll take a look at that and you can learn, okay, what did I do? What was my limit and what can I do next time that will be more appropriate for my body and work underneath that limit, or stop before that limit is reached and accepting it, knowing that it's part of the process. Not getting upset at yourself. Figuring out what you can do to learn from this experience. And then the next step is from a physical or practical perspective, is to go back to the basics. Okay, you don't want to rest for too long a period of time because extended amounts of rest will encourage or you know, it leads to weakness, muscle atrophy. The tissues become weaker. So rest is good. But for a short period of time and I think for a typical setback, you know, one to three days on a worse setback, like a really bad setback, maybe three days. But in a lot of cases it's just like, take the day off, maybe take two days off, and then you got to start getting back to activity. That's where the progress came from, and that's how it's going to have to continue. It may be very slow at the beginning, but that's okay because we're looking at the big picture. And so going back to the basics or the fundamentals means you're not going to be at the level that you were at before the setback occurred. And so you should not be doing that level of training. You may have still have some of the strength that you developed and the coordination and the motor control the body, control the neuromuscular connections. You may those will carry over. But there potentially was some thing that caused irritation or inflammation or even maybe an injury, and you're just not at the level of where where you were before the setback. So it doesn't make sense to continue doing the same training. You need to go back and and say, if you're in the program, in the Core Balance training program, go back to the previous module. I encourage students to go back to phase one. So, you know, start again at module one, get down on the floor and reset. Do the very basics that are not going to be stressing the tissues very much and and work on your connections. And that's okay. It's always okay, and it's always a great idea to work on your connections and just get down on the floor and connect to your core and meditate on that and feel those connections and build those connections and strengthen them. That's my number one recommendation for if a setback occurs, big or small, just get down on the floor and meditate on on your back anchor or your front anchors. And that's not going to hurt anything. And one of the things that often happens when a setback or flare up occurs is those muscles that we're working on so hard on turning back on tend to shut off again instantly. And so it's part of the protective mechanism. It's one of the predictable Patterns of the muscle imbalances is that certain muscles shut off in response to stress, and a setback is a form of physical stress. Typically physical. And so, uh, that might happen. It often does. And I've experienced it myself where I'm doing great and something happens and it's a setback and I can just feel my core just shuts right back off. And I feel like I've lost connection. And so getting back down on the floor and just working on reforming that connection is step one, phase one, or uh, yeah, phase one, module one or two type activities. And those connections will come back faster than it originally took to form them or to reform them when like say you just started the program and it took a few days or a couple weeks to form these connections. Well, with a setback, even if you lose them or they shut off, they will come back faster because of muscle memory. Neuromuscular connections are still there, and so it's just about reactivating them. And that happens pretty quick. So that's my encouragement is to never be afraid to go back to the basics. And, you know, look at the big picture. Don't get too down on yourself. Know that it's part of the process. What can you learn from it and zoom out and look at the big picture. So that's really what the message I kind of wanted to send out there today is to stay positive through those dips in your progress, because they're going to happen, and it just means you're human. I'm going to get into some student questions, and some of them are kind of like stories that happened this week that are all in the, you know, the same kind of topic of setbacks. And so we'll talk about each one and a little bit about my advice that I gave for each one as well. So this was posted earlier this week in module two assessment at the end of module one and two. I have every student take an assessment just to make sure that you've got those front and back anchor connections down before moving forward in the program. This is from Marcy. She says I was feeling great. No leg pain. No back pain. Walking three miles. I believe it was maybe holding the front anchors and doing the walking motion for too long. That set my back pain off. Nothing acute. I just know it's there. I will keep it up, but maybe not hold for so long. I also was able to hold the bridge for close to five minutes. I definitely can tell a difference in how I stand and walk. Thanks for what you're doing. So this post from Marcy is something I already responded to, and I'm just going to kind of reiterate some of the things that I said. I was first really impressed to hear that, Marcy, that you got to the point where you had no leg pain and no back pain. That's incredible. And I want to honor you for that and the commitment that you've made to make that happen, because it doesn't happen on its own. You have to earn this stuff. And so you got to give yourself that credit and be proud of that. And it's an incredible feeling just to know that you can get there. And I hope this gives hope to other students that this is possible. And so now that you know, Marcy, that you can get to that point, it's possible. It's right there within your reach. The goal is now just to maintain it. And so this is one of those opportunities. You know this type of a setback where where Marcy you believe that it was holding the front anchors too long, maybe walking too long. I'm not sure if you think you were walking too far, or maybe just holding the front anchors for too long while walking. But you know, this isn't like a fall or a traumatic injury type setback. This is a movement pattern and you have control over that and you can change that. And so great learning opportunity. And it looks like you've already done that work to reflect on what may have caused it. And you know, Marcy, it sounds like you've already looked at the positive. And you say you can tell a difference and you show gratitude. So, uh, this is a fantastic example of kind of the way that I would suggest to deal with a setback, accept it, learn from it, and make a change from what you've learned. So my recommendation to Marcy and my response was to really change your intention from hold, to connect or to integrate. So she says, I believe it was maybe holding the front anchors and doing the walking motion for too long. And I prefer not to use the word hold with the front anchors, because hold implies, you know, if you're talking, you're talking about breath. A breath hold is is not something that we promote in the program. We want continuous fluid breathing. And I would want the anchors to be approached in the same way. The anchors are fluid And they're continuous. And we're not holding them because that implies kind of like tension and and, uh, static. Static posture. But what we want is dynamic. We want fluid. We want the anchors to be able to integrate into everything we do. And so it might be, Marcy, that is not that you were holding them. It was that you were doing them too intensely. And if you are thinking about holding them, then we need to change that. But it's possible that doing anything too much, too intense can be a bad thing. And so, you know, we want to be able to let our muscles relax, even the muscles that we're trying to strengthen and trying to connect with the anchors, you know, the deep core muscles. Nothing is one hundred percent intensity unless you're doing a purely strength building exercise. So the idea that I am trying to get across is that it might just be the level that you are integrating the anchors that needs to be reduced, and to try and make those connections while you're doing anything but just at a more subtle level. And so that's the way I would approach it, learning from it. I'm glad there was nothing acute, nothing traumatic. Just flared up a little bit. And um, so thank you for sharing. Yevgeni so says I have two points for discussion after watching the replay of your previous live on tendonitis, I've understood that I have it at my shoulder since I've fallen on ice last winter. Fortunately, my back survived that fall. And then the second topic is morning tightness in the lower back after waking up. So for number one, the shoulder tendonitis might be impingement. Judging from mobility assessment tests I've done, looking at some videos and concentric exercise might help. And I've understood on the program you have a lesson on passive stretching of the shoulder from child pose. What are your thoughts on applying it? In my case. So let's talk about the shoulder. First you have Jenny and then we'll get into the waking up with tightness in the lower back muscles. So impingement shoulder impingement you have Jenny would be typically a pattern across the shoulder. They'll call it a horizontal pattern. And so that's if you're aware of impingement. That's typically The two bones approximating too closely the acromion process and the humerus. And so that's very different than tendinitis. It could potentially cause tendinitis. But it's a it's a physical structural obstruction. And so that would be treated differently. That's going to be more of a postural thing than tendinitis, where tendinitis is more of an overuse underuse type situation. And so it would be important to differentiate which one that is typically calling or a traumatic event doesn't cause tendinitis, but it could trigger it. So if you had an injury to the tissue, you know potentially the tendon tissue like from a trauma Armour, then that could trigger tendonitis. But there's something that's keeping the tendonitis going. And so that's what we'll want to address. And the fall is not keeping the tendonitis going. And if the fall were to be the trigger of the impingement that's also a possibility. But what would be keeping that going is likely a postural related thing. When the shoulders start to round forward, then it's harder when you lift your arm up for the humerus to clear this acromion process. So, Yevgeni, if you don't mind me asking you what triggers this tendinitis or this impingement pain, are you able to lift your arm up over your head without pain, just slowly under control? Are you able to do that? That would be the first question I'd have for you. And once we figure that out, that will tell me if it's impingement or not. And once we figure that out, then we can go from there. So the ultimate question with number one is in the program you have a lesson on passive stretching of the shoulder from child pose. What are your thoughts on applying it in my case. All right. So it says you're able to lift your arm at a higher point. When arm up it hurts. So at a higher point okay. It'll be hard for me to really know because it sounds like there's some overlap in the symptoms that you might be experiencing. It could be either. So we'll just we'll just answer your question. You know, the child pose stretch is going to be an extreme stretch of the shoulder. And I think that it could potentially be beneficial for you. This is what I would do if I were you, Yevgeny. I would go into that stretch. And if you feel pain in the stretch, by the way, it's not a passive stretch. It's an active stretch. So we do the child's pose. We begin in the passive position of child's pose. But then we add the active component. And so I would go up into the point of pain for you. Give Jenny and find that threshold where the pain starts. And I would not go past that. I would activate the muscles, the shoulder muscles right at that threshold. So it doesn't feel like you're doing too much damage, but it is training those muscles in that vulnerable area of the arc. What you have is a painful arc of motion. At a certain point, when you're lifting your arm up, there becomes pain. And so right at that point in the arc where the pain starts is where I would be training the muscle, and this is something that can be applied to any injury. You know, it reflects back to listening to your body. We want to go up. Typically a good philosophy to follow is to go right up to the point of pain just before that. And that's where your training should stop. So we don't want to invite more pain in. And it does depend on the type of pain. But we want to be able to push that threshold of pain further and further away. And so the way to do that is to train right up to the threshold just before it and become stronger right in that area. And there tends to be about a ten percent range of motion that you get benefit from the training. And so that could have the potential to push that painful arc, whatever body part, whatever motion you're doing to push that painful arc of motion ten percent further away. And if you continue to do that, you can push it away completely out of your range of motion. So that would be how I would answer your question. You have Jenny on how to do that. Stretch and just train the muscle actively right up to that point of pain. Guillermo, I see you have a question on the bridge, so we'll go ahead and get into that. When doing the bridge, if you're not following the program, you would be using which muscles, lower back muscles, quads or both. So basically you're asking if you're doing the bridge wrong, what muscles would you be using? I think that's what you're asking. Typically the muscles that people use doing the bridge, just like any old bridge, if you said do the bridge and you didn't give people any instruction, they're going to be heavily using their quads and their lower back muscles. Both. Yeah. Guillermo, those are the overactive muscle groups that typically take over. They become dominant, and they overshadow the other muscle groups in the predictable pattern of muscle imbalances. So people with chronic lower back pain typically have overactive lower back muscles and overactive quads. And so any movement that you do is typically going to be primarily using those muscles. Those are like the default firing patterns for the neuromuscular connections. And so what we try to do in the program is we try to flip that script and, and make the muscles that are typically underactive wake up and be more part of your movement. And those typically are the abdominals, the deep core muscles and the glutes. And it's important that the glutes and abdominals are working together as a force couple, because it's easy to fall into this pattern where the we just try to use the glutes and strengthen the glutes. But the glutes are not a spinal stabilizer. And so we can't have the glutes turned on all day long. They have to come on and off, on and off with movement. Like every step you take. Glutes will be turning off at a certain point in the step because they're not a deep core muscle. They're not for posture. They're for movement. And so, yes, they're important to turn back on, but not alone. They need to be coupled with the deep core. So we've got a follow up question from Guillermo. I'm asking so that I can be aware of what not to do and feel if these muscles are turning on and I can turn them off. Yeah. So the muscles that you'll want to be aware of are of from overusing them or the lower back muscles for sure. And the quads. And it's hard to turn muscles off. But what you would like to do instead is turn the supporting muscle groups around those on, so that those muscles don't have to do as much work. And so you want to turn on the deep core. You want to turn on the abdominals. You want to turn on the glutes. And hopefully that will, through reciprocal inhibition, allow the quads and lower back muscles to kind of quiet down a little bit. Yeah. And listening to your body while you're doing that is a great idea. Uh, Yevgeny, let's do your second question. So morning, tightness in the lower back and it says, I'm trying to apply your advice on listening to the body and reflecting on feedback loops from preceding activities. All right, so say hypothetically, if Jenny, you're doing everything right. There is an element of your sleeping position and your mattress. So maybe you are doing everything right during the day when you're active. We can't be sure. I can't be sure that it might just be. You know, you're waking up stiff because your mattress is too soft. If you sleep on your back and you have a soft mattress, that's going to be not ideal for the lower back. If you sleep on your side and you have a soft mattress, that's more okay because you're protecting your shoulder and it's not sagging in the middle for your lower back as much. Or if you have a firm mattress, then I'm not going to blame the mattress. And if it's somewhere in the middle which most people's mattresses are somewhere between soft and firm, then it'll be hard to tell. And so sleeping position is also an element. You know, back side stomach could be contributing to how you wake up. So I'd be curious to know that information before I can respond appropriately. Just in general. If your mattress is a little too soft, I'd be sleeping on the side. And if your mattress is firm, then it's ideal for sleeping on the back. And yeah, listening to your body reflecting on what you're doing during the day. Maybe sitting too much is a really common problem. Maybe just going for another walk halfway between your bouts of sitting could be a good solution to that. And another thing that you can do to reduce soreness, if it's just general soreness, is add cardio to your activities, to your daily life. Because what cardio does is it increases blood flow, which increases oxygen to the muscle tissues. And it has a really powerful effect for reducing muscle soreness. And so it should be a cardio activity that is good for the body. You know, I'm not going to recommend rowing to everyone that has chronic lower back pain. But like walking, walking up hills, you know, hiking are all excellent activities. And yeah, a lot of what muscle soreness comes from is just stagnant fluid, lack of oxygen, a lot of muscular pain comes from lack of oxygen to the tissues. So we can address that by increasing blood flow to those tissues. And cardio activities are the best way to do that. So let's see you have Jenny mattresses. Not soft noticed when wake earlier morning at like five or six. The back is less tight. I thought it might depend on how much I was sitting the day before and which exercise. So still listening to the body. Um, so yeah, that that sounds about right. I would, I would, uh, say if you're sitting a lot, that could be a contributing factor. Get a throw a little cardio event in there in the middle of your your bouts of sitting even. It's just like five minutes. That can have a huge benefit. Back up to Guillermo. It says, should I be feeling the tug of war between the quads and glutes? The tug of war. Guillermo is between the hip flexors and one of the quads. One of the four quads is a hip flexor. So yeah, technically, yeah. And the other end of the tug of war is the glutes and abdominals together as a force couple. So yeah, the tug of war is felt in the tilt of your pelvis. If your pelvis is tilting anteriorly, the hip flexors are winning the tug of war during the bridge and if your pelvis is remaining neutral or staying in posterior tilt, then the glutes and abdominals are winning. And that's what we want during the bridge. And so that's how you'll pay attention to the tug of war. So we'll get back into some student questions. We'll go to Jody. And this is kind of a long one. So sorry about that. This is the back anchor progression. So this is day three of module one. So basically it's in the free trial of day three. So Jody says my lower back pain has all but disappeared. But in the meantime I know I have a weak core and very bad posture. Forward shoulders and head slumping is a very comfortable for me. Slumping is comfortable sitting without back support and pushing up from my sit bones takes a lot of attention and effort. And when I lie on my back and push away so that my back likes lies flat on the floor, I can barely breathe. I have to stop periodically and catch my breath as I endeavor to hold the position for five minutes. As for lifting my pelvis with the pushing away effort, I can't even get there. I plan to keep trying though. Any perspective or advice will help. I have a great respect for Doctor Ryan and appreciate the program. Jodi. Thank you so much, Jodi, for the kind words. Uh, it seems like there's, you know, a lot to be happy about and proud of here because you're if you're only on day three and you your back pain is all but disappeared, then I honor you for doing the work to make that happen. So great job. Um, and and if you're coming into the program with, poor posture. You know, rounded shoulders, forward head. And it's been going on for a long time. Then it's going to take a long time to reverse that stuff. You know, we're dealing with muscle tissue, uh, length of muscles. And for in order for muscles to become longer and change their, their physiology and their genetic makeup, you know, not genetic makeup, but their, uh, tissue makeup, that takes time. They have to add new cells and they have to add length to the tissues. And so typically the longer the the postural situation, if it's poor posture has been going on, then the longer it will take to reverse it. But it's absolutely possible to do. And so it's just going to take Persistence. It's going to take, uh, consistency over time. And so I would encourage you to stick with the program and, and keep at it, because you've already experienced some benefits. And it sounds like this posture, this postural pattern is making it hard for you to breathe during the back anchor zone and the push away. And so I did respond to you already about this, but I would prioritize breathing. So you're going to want to make sure that you're breathing continuously first before you add any other challenges to your breathing. The breathing is the base level. It's the foundation. And yes, the anchors are also the foundation of the program, but we're adding those on top of breathing. So the breathing is the foundation of the foundation. And once you get the breathing down, then you can add in the anchors. And if that impedes your breathing, then you need to lay off the anchor a little bit. The back anchor in this situation you're talking about the back anchor. So add it in gradually to the point where you can still continue breathing and build your tolerance for core connection, for abdominal engagement while breathing. That's what you have to do. That's number one priority. And so, um, some people come into the program and that's no problem for them. It's not even a thought. And others on the other side of the spectrum are unable to do both at the same time. And it sounds like you can do a little bit of breathing and connecting. And so it's just about improving that tolerance, um, the ability to do both at the same time. And that's a lot of this program. And we're going to continue to challenge you in that skill. As we go through the program, especially with the bridge, it becomes really hard to practice the breathing that we do, the core balance training method of breathing, and to be able to do the bridge and maintain your connections at the same time. It seems like a really simple exercise, but it gets really complicated when you know that you have to prioritize your breathing, uh, in order to do it. And so, uh, you're doing great, Jodi. Um, I don't have any advice except for be patient. Keep going. You're doing the right thing and keep at it because it's going to take time. The cool thing is that even though, say, it takes months to reverse the posture, it doesn't take months to get the benefits, The benefits happen continuously along that journey and it sounds like you're already experiencing them. So you get to experience continuous, consistent benefits along your path to improving your posture and your core connection. Um, even though it takes a long time, you still get to benefit, and I love that. Thank you for sharing, Jodie, and we'll move on to the next one. This one's from Greg in the lesson called Refine the Perfect Bridge. So this is in module two. And we are just improving the quality of the bridge. It says, uh, Doctor Ryan, I'm progressing nicely in terms of being able to perform the breathing front anchors, bridges, back anchors, pubic bone. I know I'm getting better, but I'm keep experiencing minor setbacks with soreness stiffness in my lumbar region. Is it possible that I'm overdoing it? I usually go to the gym at lunch to perform the stretches, anchors, etc. and all is well. Sometimes I will do some more anchors bridges in the evening while I while lying on the floor watching TV. Should I only do the prescribed exercises once per day? Any feedback or help would be appreciated. So, uh, this is a, you know, in in alignment with today's topic of setbacks. It sounds like, Greg, you're making great progress and, uh, it seems like it's consistent and you're the, you know, the functional, uh, gains are are in alignment with the progress. So you're improving, uh, your, your connect with your connections. Um, your functional movements are getting better. So all of that is great. And then you experience a bit of a setback, and it seems like it's a kind of a smaller setback where, uh, it's. stiffness and soreness, but it's bothersome, it's annoying. And you, your intuition, it sounds like, is telling you that you might be overdoing it. And, uh, I did already respond to you about this. And so I'll just reiterate that I usually tell students that their intuition is probably right. So I'm going to say the same to you. Um, and my recommendation is, yeah, you might want to just stick with one a day and see how that affects, you know, if that changes anything, maybe you're not. You don't get the soreness or the stiffness with once a day. Then there's your solution. And it's just going to be about building up your your ability to tolerate more activity. It could also be that while you're doing it, you're doing it too intensely. And then the third option. So in that case you'd want to turn down the intensity. And then the third option is uh, kind of what I wrote back to you about is that it may be that you are you you're using your lower back muscles too much in the movements. The fact that the lower back muscles are getting sore and stiff may, may be because, um, they are they're overworking. And so, you know, one of the goals in the program is that we're trying to use the abdominals, the deep core, and activate those. And you know, those. We want those to become our primary muscles to do the movements. And so I would turn down the intensity and really kind of hyper focus your attention on activating the abdominals to do the movement. And if you feel the lower back muscles getting brought into the movement, then to lay off a little bit and turn down the intensity again and go and go right to that level where you can feel more control and then gradually build up your your motor control, your ability to control those muscles. And we want to achieve something I call core dominant movement. So your abdominals, if anything gets sore from you doing movement, it's the abdominals because they're working the hardest. And that includes the deep core, the deep abdominals and the glutes would be great to get sore. And so uh that's really going to be the recommendation is turning down the intensity. Maybe, you know you're you're asking if you should reduce your frequency. So yeah that could be it. Um, you can try that. I would try each strategy separately. So if you're going to reduce the frequency um, don't do it at the exact same time as trying another strategy, because then you won't know which one is working. But, um, yeah, my my hunch is that it's probably just getting the, you know, the targeting your focus on into the abdominals and, and the deep core and, um, trying to do the movements with those muscles as a priority so that the lower back muscles are less dominant. So Mark says, uh, so I believe he's talking about the perfect bridge. He posted it in the integration day lesson, but I believe it was about the perfect bridge. So the question is, do you feel improvement after this lesson? And he says, yes, but my quads are cramping. Am I doing it wrong? You may not be doing it wrong. Mark the if you were, you know, in your first week in the program, then there's all kinds of Previous movement patterns that have been built up over time. Your posture, the posture you had prior to starting the program was built up over time. And so even if you're doing it right and following all the instructions given in the program, there could still be some things that don't go right for you because of preexisting patterns, movement patterns, and postures. You know, muscle imbalances. And so I don't know that you're doing it wrong. I could use a little more information on how you're doing it. So that would be that would allow me to give a more specific answer, whether you're doing it right or wrong. But, um, I'm going to assume you're following, you know, the instructions from each lesson. And, uh, maybe that cramping is happening because, um. Prior to starting the program, you used your quads as the dominant muscle group so heavily, and that's what's happening during the bridge. And breaking out of that movement pattern doesn't happen overnight. It takes time and it takes a lot of focus and repetition. It might take weeks for you, and so the quads just might be getting tired and getting overworked from doing a quad heavy activity. And so my recommendation to you, Mark, is to. Turn it down a little bit. Uh, go back to the back anchor on the progression and just really focus on the abdominals and getting being able to lift that pelvis by pushing away from your back anchor without using the legs, and get really strong with that and build up your strength, um, for maybe a few days of that, and then start coming gradually up into the bridge and see if using your core, your abdominals and your glutes more during the bridge will, uh, take the load off of the quads and maybe they won't cramp as much. So that's my strong intuition about probably what's happening. And so it's just a matter of time and continuing to practice the fundamentals so that you can get extra support for those quads. But with the muscles around them. So Sherry says reflection on setbacks. Try to find something to be grateful for. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a great practice for life. I have found gratitude to be extremely powerful and still need to continue working on it. So thank you for sharing that. That's very powerful, Sherry. Helps you get through the initial, most difficult stage of a setback. Yes. So, yeah, we're going to be wrapping this live stream up with a little conclusion. That's what I would love to end on, is, you know, we're all going to experience setbacks. And the initial stage of the setback is the hardest part. You're right Sherry. And so just accepting it and knowing that you're human in this part of the process. And then, yeah, sending your mind into a state of gratitude and just reflecting on what you've accomplished and, and everything that you have in your life and the progress that you've made so far can be really powerful. So I really appreciate you sharing that and knowing that the setback is not the end. You know, the worst thing that you can do after a setback is to quit. And this is easy for people to fall into. I I've experienced many setbacks. You've made all this progress. You've worked so hard. And then this terrible thing happens and sets you back and it's like, I don't have anything left. I clearly can't maintain anything and I'm just done. That's the worst thing you can do after a setback. And so you can look at the setback as a challenge to you, to your mental strength to be able to instead say, okay, this is a challenge to my mental Whole strength of my psychology and I'm going to win this challenge. All I have to do is accept that what happened happened and give my body a little bit of time a couple days, and then I'm going to get back to work, and I accept the challenge and I'm going to go for it. I'm going to get back up, and I'm going to do the most human thing and get back up and continue my progress and know that you're going to be able to do it, and that the progress that's ahead of you is going to happen faster than the initial progress, because you've already laid the groundwork, you've already built the connections, you've already built the strength. And that doesn't disappear with the setback. The setback might be an injury or inflammation to a tissue, but once that heals this, the groundwork that you laid before that will be easier to recapture. It happens faster and so you don't have to do all that work over again starting from zero. You should go back to the fundamentals. You should go back to phase one. Go get down on the floor and connect to your back anchor and your front anchors and reform those connections. And they will come back faster. And that strength that you built up before will still be there. And you can progress quicker back to where you were, but you're not where you were before the setback occurred. After a setback. You do need to go back and re progress through, and it will happen at a quicker rate and get back to where you were before, and then continue that progress that you had started and be prepared for another setback. But you can try and minimize the probability by learning from the previous one so you don't repeat the same mistake or event that caused the setback. So that's a little conclusion. There was another student who shared that he was in a car accident. And so this whole stream applies to him as well. And that set him back several weeks. I hope that as we finish up here that you go do something that's good for your body. If that's core balance training, then get down on the floor and give some love to your core. And if not, then go for a walk or do some healthy activity to counterbalance all of the sitting and computer stuff that we do. So thank you everyone for being here. Um super grateful. And if you are catching the replay or here live, hit that like button and show some support for the stream. And until next time, get down on the floor and connect to your core.
