I have always been questioning 'why'. This is reflected in my teaching.
My mum tells me that I was always asking 'why' as a child. I had a lot of pain as a child and I wanted to know why. I had a bone disease in my knee at 8, that made sport and dance quite difficult, but I loved to dance, so I stuck with it. I saw top athletes recover from knee injuries, so I knew there was more information out there, I just hadn't found it yet (it was Coolum circa 1983). Suspecting Rheumatoid Arthritis, I was diagnosed with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder at 18. There is still minimal awareness of this condition, and at the time, I just understood it as a collagen disorder, and that I was more bendy than others. This left me with many questions to be answered; a personal journey that has led me to seek out and learn from many medical practitioners, body workers and teachers.
Through my personal and professional journey as a Pilates teacher for 22 years, I have answered a lot of my childhood questions and some. As the world comes to understand more about 'fascia', and that it not just our ligaments and tendons, but the tissues that connect us, that assists us to digest food, assimilate nutrients, eliminate toxins, move blood and energy, the more we understand that a connective tissue disorder can present with a myriad of issues, which is why it is now a 'spectrum disorder'. There are a lot of 'spectrum' disorders these days, an acknowledgment that we are all unique and that our body grows and responds to our environment in it's own unique way. And yet, I have still hit constant brick walls when I ask some practitioners if they think that something might be linked to the HSD. It is for this reason that I had an early Bone Density Screening. Bone is made up of connective tissue, so it made sense, and yes I have early Osteoporosis. Despite the research literature being there, it was still hard to find a practitioner that would make the connection. It fact, I have found more information from my senior peers in the Pilates community.
Fortunately I had already committed to learning more about Osteoporosis on behalf of many of my clients. But now it is part of my personal path to move through and navigate. I make more of an open announcement of my HSD & Osteoporosis these days. Not to let it define me, but because it is part of who I am, and has shaped my journey, how I think, how I teach, what I learn. It helps me to accept myself for who I am and what I am capable of. Something I think you tend to move towards as you find yourself close to 50. Like many others, my journey for answers hasn't always been an easy one, and if I can help someone by sharing my path, sharing referrals, sharing new information, then that is what I like to do. I feel fortunate that I had a diagnosis when I was 18. It gave reason to my pain. I see many people online that have searched and only found their diagnosis in their later life. Although my diagnosis didn't give me all the answers, it gave me the questions. Sometimes you just have to ask the right question, to get the answer. Movement Science has come a long way in the last few decades, new questions, new research, new answers, and the ability to share and support each other globally via the internet has led to many more people understanding themselves and knowing what questions to ask, and where and who might help them with their path.
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