By Joshua Stevens
Integrity means wholeness or completeness. We have integrity in our personal relationships. We have it at work. We have it in all areas of our life we consider successful. We have it in our training and racing, especially when everything goes well. We lose integrity in any of these areas when we experience breakdowns. It could be communication, dishonesty, a flat tire, or anytime things fall short of being whole or complete. Likewise, a body without integrity is an injured body. My sister and I are holistic chiropractic physicians and we help people every day handle this loss of integrity in the human frame. We do it in concert with the body’s natural inborn ability to heal and recover. We all have this. We also all have the ability to restore integrity in our lives however we see fit.
When I was a young runner in college, I ran too many miles for my age and capacity. I know this now because I had a chronically injured knee at the time. My body’s integrity was compromised by consistently running 80-100 miles weekly. It took many local doctors, therapists, and coaches to throw their collective hands up in the air in frustration when treatments for my injured knee failed. For me, I realized that it wasn’t as important what was wrong with my knee, but how I injured myself in the first place. I was simply out of integrity with what I was asking my body to do and its ability to do it and recover effectively. Taking time to get the right care, rest, and rehabilitation was the long road to returning to running integrity for me, as it is for a lot of athletes.
I wish for all my patients, and especially my patient-athletes, to have the awareness I was force-fed as a result of my injury as a young runner. I hope they have the awareness to shift gears to another activity if needed to take pressure off and injured area or seek help when the body hurts. Adding in weekly yoga sessions or monthly maintenance visits to massage therapists and chiropractors will pay dividends in a long athletic lifestyle or career. We practitioners not only solve problems but encourage the body to become more sound long-term. Be diverse with athletic activity all through life so your body may be strong and cope with breakdowns. If you do not, breakdowns are always around the corner. And breakdowns feel bad!
Do you know what else is around the corner? Breakthroughs. Breakthroughs occur when integrity is lost and found again. These breakthroughs feel good! Since my knee injury 18 years ago, I have never suffered from another overuse injury. If you are feeling broken down, get help. Help could come from a friend, a coach, or a professional. I often see people go it alone and continue to suffer with their loss of integrity in their lives. It may be an injury or a dysfunctional relationship or another part of their lives. This is sad, but it does not have to be this way.
These breakdowns are opportunities. They are gifts. They can teach powerful lessons on integrity – how it is lost, restored, and maintained. Don’t resist this cycle of breaking down and breaking through. These are powerful lessons in life for us all.
Joshua Stevens, D.C., is a holistic chiropractor in Chapel Hill and Durham where he utilizes chiropractic, acupuncture, detoxification, nutrition, and cold laser therapy with patients. A two-time Ironman finisher, he focuses on racing cyclocross and mountain bikes … much easier!
