The 1st July marks my osteopathic birthday, as that’s when I started working. In fact, that year it was a Sunday, but I had to take out liability insurance from the beginning of the month, so 1st July it is. This year marks 32 years since I qualified from the, then, British School of Osteopathy. It feels a bit like remembering one’s wedding day –a lifetime ago yet it feels like yesterday!
So many memories: the many patients I have treated over the years, and the different designs of cards I have had…
And so many lessons I have learnt – where to start?! These are just some of the points that come to me this morning:
· To be patient and understanding when patients are late – whether through their own fault, or maybe it’s one of those days with traffic problems or bad weather when time-keeping just goes out the window.
· In the early days I would get very tired, always giving energy to my patients, until a wise singing teacher taught me to accept the loving energy that patients give to us, as practitioners: so that there is an exchange of loving energy, rather than it just being one-way. That’s a win-win situation and makes a huge difference.
· On a busy day, to pace myself; on a quiet day to stay focussed and use the opportunity to catch up with other tasks.
· To truly listen, to give patients the time and space to tell their pain story – and also to dig deeper with my own questioning. For me, the stress factors in patients‘ lives are hugely important – when we are stressed, this reduces our comfort zone and we become more sensitive to our pain triggers. And when I was a student osteopath, I remember an older tutor talking about the “little green man on his shoulder“ – that inner compass if you like – when you know something’s not quite right, or you get an intuition to ask the unexpected question.
· To say “I don’t know”, when I don’t have an answer – and to say that I shall have to think about that, or look something up, and get back to them.
· Also to explain things simply so that patients can understand what is going on, and WHY the exercises or advice I suggest matter.
· To slow down! My natural tendency has been to speak quite quickly, I am slowly learning to talk more slowly . . . . 
· To weave the different parts of a treatment session into a flowing whole.
· To mind my posture, and most importantly to look after Myself: – the difference it makes to my own sense of well-being, and my ability to be truly present to my patients, when I take the time every day to meditate, to have better nutrition, to stretch out or go for a walk, to read, to learn, and if possible to have the time for some music or to go dancing, to have the time to write.
What are the life lessons you have learnt in your careers?
If you live or work in or near Baldock in North Hertfordshire, or Bromley in South East London, and would like to have a chat about how osteopathy might be able to help you, then do get in touch: text me or call me on 07535 350 343. I may be with a patient, so a text is best, and I can call you back.