A Little Story About Hips, Irish Dancing, and Knowing When to Ask for Help

A few weeks ago I started noticing a tightness on the outside of my pelvis. I thought I knew exactly what to do—some standing abduction work to tease it out, some TRE, and long-held stretches. I stayed consistent, and it started improving. Victory! I had found a helpful combination of movements to address a problem, even though I had no idea what caused it in the first place—and honestly, I was more interested in finding a way out of this new tightness than anything else.

Then came St. Patrick’s Day.

I never go out for this. holiday, but an old friend was playing music and a group of people were going, so there I was in a bar with live Irish music. My old Irish step-dancing self got excited, and I started doing a few jigs—enthusiastically, if not skillfully.
The next day? I could barely walk.

It turns out that the hopping in Irish step dancing was not what my hip needed. My fascia retracted faster than I could have imagined, and it was far tighter than I could have ever imagined. Surprise! So, I went back to basics: heat, anti-inflammatories, and a visit to my MFR provider. Before my appointment, I dug in to my own self-treatment—gentle movement, rest from extreme exercise, and heat. The session helped tremendously, and soon I was better than I was before my enthusiastic dancing.

The real test came the following Saturday: I went dancing again—this time it was disco, which in my professional opinion is far kinder to the body than irish step, and I was completely fine.
Around the time all of this was happening, I sent out the Spring Special without much explanation, so I wanted to circle back and share the context. What helped me recover was not one single thing, but a combination of things, and that is what I am offering this spring. 

We don’t always need to know the exact source of a problem to start healing. What we need is a way out of pain and back into functionality.

When I was growing up, my dad could fix almost anything. We were lucky—our house had a free handyman. But when something went wrong with the very old cars we always had, we took them to a mechanic. There was no fooling around. He knew his limits, and more importantly, he knew who to call.

I felt confident managing my hip on my own—until I needed another set of hands, and a little assessment.
You have heard me say this before: you don’t have to know how to do it; you just have to know who to call.

This spring, I’m offering sessions that combine fascial release and TRE when appropriate, targeted at-home exercises, and other forms of self-care—including meditation or spiritual mentoring if that part is needed, because sometimes it is. These approaches work together to help you get back on your feet—physically and mentally and spiritually.
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You don’t have to know exactly what’s wrong or which modality is best. That’s my job.
You just have to know who to call. (Or in this case, who to email.)