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Your skill as a
problem-solver has a lot to do with your self-confidence. It also
affects your posture, which is a major factor in creating your state
of health. Stumped over why your back's so tight or your head aches?
Try boosting your problem-solving skills. It might just be the
health-building step you're missing.
Your aching back ... and problem-solving?
How's that again?
Your problem-solving skill impacts soft
tissue tension and, therefore, muscle and joint pain and stiffness. It may not be so
obvious. But the connection is there. Really.
Here's how it
goes. Your skill as a problem-solver has a lot to do with your
self-confidence. As you become better at handling the in's and out's
of daily life (big and small), your self-confidence increases.
Self-confidence,
and your sense of personal authority, is reflected in your posture.
Personal
authority refers to a state in which you are the agent that directs
the activities of your own life. Not your mom, your boss, the group
you hang with, your ex-spouse, or anybody else. You.
A keen observer
of posture will be able to tell whether you direct your life or leave
it up to someone else. Uh-oh! Yep, we humans are actually pretty
transparent. Try it yourself
next time you go to the mall.
Anyway, the more
you gain control over your life circumstances, by becoming a better
problem-solver, the healthier your posture becomes. [Remember this
is a skill you can learn.]
And how does that
affect your aching back? Well, quite simply, when your posture's off,
you don't balance properly over your center of gravity. Your muscles
and joints end up working overtime to hold you up and keep you moving.
That means pain.
Muscles that are held in a state of chronic tension and joints under
too much pressure. Aching. Stiffness. Joints and discs that wear out
too fast. Bad news.
Not just back
pain, but neck problems, headaches, unexplained achy muscles,
unexplained fatigue and loss of energy, shoulder problems, hip pain
and premature wear (often leading to surgery), premature wear of
cervical and lumbar discs of the back (often leading to surgery), jaw
pain, unexplained stiffness, "sciatica" and on and on and on.
Do I think that
becoming a better problem-solver will, in and of itself, solve all of
those problems? Of course not. But if you've tried other strategies that haven't
worked as well as you'd like, it just might be a missing piece.
Bottom line: your
muscles and connective tissue are directed by three main controls:
- Direct injury
or trauma
- Uncontrolled
stress or tension
- Compensation
for loss of proper movement, as a result of both numbers 1 and 2.
The ability to
problem-solve effectively has a direct effect on both numbers 1 and 2
above.
The
self-confidence that comes from being an effective problem solver is
an important key to creating good health. Brush up your skills and
you'll be feeling better in no time.
Elizabeth Eckert is a wellness
coach and structural bodyworker who supports people in becoming more
effective problem-solvers. She is the author of Word Cures: How
to Keep Stupid Excuses From Sabotaging Your Health and creator
of the Ultimate Stress-Buster Kit and the Wellness Warrior
Adventure Kit. To learn more, visit
www.WellnessCoachingProgram.com
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