Forest for the Trees

We’ve all heard the phrase “you can’t see the forest for the trees”. It’s an expression of perspective. If you’re too close to something, in any given situation, you can’t see the whole picture. You’re clinging to a narrow perspective rather than observing the big idea.

When it comes to healing and Chiropractic, it’s always important to step back and see the big picture, the whole, to get the best results.

There are several examples of this. The first is considering the whole body rather than the problem area. A lot of practitioners focus on the area of pain, just working on the low back with low back pain, for example. There are many times I’ve experienced where someone has severe low back pain and working on the area provides relief, but it’s not until I clear restrictions in their neck that the real shifts take place.

The problem that you’re feeling and the issue that’s causing it are often very different things (and can be in very different areas of the body). This the reason why we, at Kasa Chiropractic, look after the whole body, not just the problem area – we take a holistic view of health.

The other aspect of perspective is, we often hear patients say… my headaches, my sciatica, my fibromyalgia, my IBS. This is labelling yourself by a diagnosis a doctor or Google has given you, instead of seeing yourself as the healthy person you want to be.

Unfortunately, hanging onto a syndrome or symptoms is as beneficial as hugging a tree and failing to see the full forest of wellness.

To expand on that, health and sickness/symptoms are the same thing, they’re just at opposite ends of the spectrum. To move towards health, you don’t focus on sickness and symptoms and continually identify with them. To move towards health, you need to create health. In a pitch black room, you don’t fight the darkness – you simply turn the lights on and move towards light.

Know that the body’s ability to heal itself is far greater than anyone has permitted you to believe. You are an innately gifted human capable of healing. And it’s our job as Chiropractors to help you believe that and fulfil that.