My Physiotherapist Knows What’s Up
Read time: 5 minutes
Welcome to My Musings
Where I share insights that have impacted me, thoughts on personal growth, and actionable strategies to help you navigate career and life transitions.
Today: All those things you don’t want to do? They are the entryway into not only what you DO want to do, but WHERE you want to go.
My Physiotherapist Knows What’s Up
Recently, I was at my physiotherapist’s office, enduring my monthly torture session—one of those necessary evils that keep me running despite all the wear and tear. As she worked through my various aches and pains, she told me I needed to start doing a particular set of exercises. Exercises that wouldn’t just prevent injury but would make running easier and more enjoyable.
My immediate reaction? Ugh.
I knew exactly the ones she was talking about. The ones I always avoid.
Her response? "Good. That’s why you have to do them."
Another part of the session involved dry needling—targeting the locked-up spots in my back that were restricting my movement, making my stride less efficient, and ultimately causing unnecessary strain. The needles weren’t pleasant, but they did their job. They released the knots, creating space for my body to move more freely.
The exercises? They’re tedious. I don’t like doing them.
The needles? They hurt. A lot. I don't enjoy it.
But they both work. And it’s not because I enjoy them—it’s because I stick with them as practices aimed at a longer-term result.
And isn’t that the case with most of the things that actually help us grow?
The Practices We Avoid (and Why We Need Them)
"To Practice" is defined as "to perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to acquire, improve, or maintain proficiency," according to the Oxford Dictionary.
In coaching—particularly Integral Coaching—practices are not just habits we build, but intentional ways of being that help us shift our patterns of thought, emotion, and action. They serve as tools to deepen self-awareness, unlock new perspectives, and develop a more sustainable way of engaging with life’s challenges. Rather than forcing change, they create the conditions in which transformation can naturally unfold. To borrow the language of some of my teachers, through consistent practice, we move from effortful striving to embodied wisdom.
One of my teachers once said that practices allow us to “experience possibilities and have them realized in our daily lives.” Another put it differently: practices “massage out the things in life that hold us back.”
Like a stubborn knot in a muscle, practices work on the tension in our habits—the parts of us that resist change, that keep us stuck in old stories, that prevent us from stepping fully into who we want to be.
The problem? Practices are unsexy.
They’re repetitive. Tedious. Annoying.
They often require us to do the very things we least want to do. And that’s exactly why we should be doing them.
The Work We Resist is the Work We Need
We often approach change like a problem to be solved—pushing, grinding, forcing our way through. We think, This time, if I just do it right, it’ll stick.
But real change is often about doing the small, unglamorous things we avoid.
Neuroscience tells us that our brains are wired to resist change. Our habits, thoughts, and emotional patterns form well-worn neural pathways that feel familiar—even when they don’t serve us. To shift, we need to create new pathways, which takes intentional repetition and discomfort before they become second nature.
This is where coaching, therapy, and other structured approaches to breaking patterns come in. Rather than brute-forcing change, they create frameworks that help new ways of being emerge over time.
From Struggle to Second Nature
To go back to my running for a moment—two years ago, I set a goal of running a half marathon in under two hours. A realistic, achievable, measurable goal.
I hired a running coach.
Together, we tracked not just my running times, but my habits—the things that supported my running and the things that held me back. I had to adopt new practices: different strength training routines, more hydration than I was used to, eating foods I didn’t necessarily enjoy but that fueled my body and recovery.
I also had to let go of certain habits. Staying up too late. Pushing too hard in training. The constant need to prove to myself that I was "fast."
The result? I blew past my two-hour goal. Not because I forced it, but because, by the time I ran the race, the things I once resisted had become second nature. The small, daily practices accumulated into something transformative.
The Avoidance Pattern—Beyond Running
This pattern of avoidance isn’t just about fitness. It shows up in work, relationships, creativity, and personal growth. How often do we avoid the difficult conversation, knowing it would clear the air? Or put off starting that creative project because it feels daunting? Or resist slowing down, even when we know deep rest is what we actually need?
We like to believe that real change happens in dramatic moments, in big decisions—but in reality, it happens in the smallest acts of practice. The ones we resist the most.
A Practice to Try
Check in with yourself a few times a day. Pick a few moments when you can reflect on the last few hours.
Ask yourself: What did I avoid? What did I willingly do? What did I put off?
Then go deeper: How did I know I was avoiding it? Was it a thought? A feeling? A physical reaction?
Choose one thing you avoided and approach it. Just one.
Afterward, reflect: How do I feel now? What else can I do?
Simple? Yes. Easy? Rarely.
But if we want real change, we have to be willing to do the work we resist.
Because, more often than not, that’s exactly where the shift happens.
Your Next Step: What Can I Practice?
Want to talk that one out? Get in touch for a complementary coaching session and we can do it.
See you next week.
