Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist: Dance Comps, Finding and then Insuring your Health
Welcome to Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist! Number 33!
Motion Forword is about discussing the combined benefits of movement with a positive mental attitude. Using my personal/professional experiences, evidence-based research and some of your own experiences.
Bringing some hope, positivity, happiness and maybe usefulness to those, perhaps like yourself, that needs a pick me up.
Something about me… UK WCS Champs Competition
I did it!
I competed in the Newcomer Level competition at the UK WCS Champs!
It wasn’t all plain sailing though.
My confidence got knocked the first night of the weekend.
But I kept battling against my inner negativity bias and was encouraged by my partner to keep going. I had some lovely dances with people who were very complimentary and found my confidence and enjoyment again.
By the time the Sunday evening arrived to start competing, I was anxious but excited.
The competition is called a Jack & Jill (J&J). This means you get a random partner to a random song.
In my competition there were 22 leaders and 33 followers. There were 2 heats with leaders and followers judged seperately. During the heats you get 3 dances, each with a different partner. During these heats, you are judged by your role (leader or follower).
In these heats, you need to be in the top 10 to go through to the final. My scoring got me 3rd!
In the final, you get 3 dances, 3 random songs with one partner and you are judged as a couple.
I was lucky enough to be partnered with a young lady called Victoria and I had a blast with her. I really enjoyed our dances and it felt really easy with her.
Once we finished, it was a huge relief but a huge sense of pride for what we achieved. Regardless of the outcome.
When the results were announced later that evening. We placed 5th out of the 10 finalists. I was genuinely happy with that because I had a great time and was proud of myself for competing having never done it before, but perhaps even better was that my partner came 2nd!!! I was super proud.
What a weekend! Onto the next one!
Something for you… Salutogenesis
You guys are always teaching me things…
This month, I met a patient who teaches at the Southampton Solent University in Public & Sport Health specialising in health promotion and health improvement.
I was immediately intrigued and we got talking more about his work… free lecture!
From what I took from our talk is that he aims to flip the health system on its head.
Rather than treating disease (the ol’ fashioned way), he is trying to promote health.
Taking what keeps people healthy and applying that to communities that may struggle to stay healthy (at least in the psychological sense).
This idea is called Salutogenesis.
I am still in the early stages of understanding Aaron Antonovsky’s Salutogenic model but it aligns strongly with my own approach to well-being:
Promoting movement and reducing stillness
Promoting strength, mobility and cardio exercise to improve resilence and injury prevention
Promoting social engagement and community
Shifting focus towards our internal self rather than the external demands of life
Considering how the Salutogenic model and my own beliefs around health seem to overlap, it is quite incredible that I have never come across it until now. Makes sense if it doesn’t appear in major medical texts…
Regardless of that, I really like the idea of promoting healthy behaviour and habits to prevent problems compared to unravelling and dealing with problems after they have occurred.
So my question to you is…
What do you do to promote health in yourself? (not just treating disease when it arrises!)
I’d love to hear you answers: WhatsApp me: 07709199120
A story… Cash Plans!
On the topic of finding health rather than preventing disease, have you heard of a health cash plan before?!
If you are employed, you may have access to health cash plans as a work-place benefit.
Health cash plans often cover every day needs including prescriptions, optical tests/new glasses, routine dental/ hygienist care, private GP apointments, diagnostic tests and scans, and… THERAPY!
Therapy usually includes physiotherapy, chiropractors AND Osteopathy!
Providers* of cash plans that I accept include:
Using your cash plan is made easy.
Request what you need and get it authorised.
Make an appointment and come for your treatment. I will provide the receipt with all the necessary details.
Use an online portal or app to claim money back.
If you have a cash plan, I would fully recommend you look into what is covered by your policy and use it to its fullest.
Its a benefit many people forget to make the most of. Especially with increasing NHS waiting times (several months wait for NHS physiotherapy last time I heard) and increasing costs, you are missing out on savings but also care you may not have realised you had access to sooner.
*There are bigger providers out there like BUPA and AXA but I don’t tend to work with these companies. They don’t pay therapists fairly and as a solo-therapist, I have very little power over it, so I tend to boycott them!
So check with your employer to see what you have and get out there and use it!
Thanks for reading.
Until next month…
Motion Forword ⏩⏩
Nathan