Antoinette wrote this testimonial in October 2015, after participating in the Virtual Programme and attending two 1-1 sessions, each of which involved a 12 hour round trip of travel on two different buses.
"The main positive that I have gained from my first visit is a lack of fear. For the previous 18 months, I had gone from trying too hard to improve, which had the opposite effect, to not trying anything. I had begun to feel that everything I did caused more pain. Mags helped me see that my body was not as fragile as I imagined and that doing things, slowly but surely would help me live again. I had stopped bending, lifting, walking, cycling, basically everything.
“Since my first visit I have gone cycling with my girlies, walked, bent to lift things off the floor, all whilst ensuring my core was prepared. Core preparation and lack of terror has enabled me to live more normally than I had in a long while. I no longer bring a cane with me to help me walk, because Mags reminded me that my legs are strong enough to carry me on their own. I even went camping at the start of August, and although there were times when the pain was so excruciatingly debilitating, I managed. I would never even have contemplated attempting this in my previous pain-filled life.
“I find that living outside of my pain and ignoring it as best I can is far better, and more freeing, than living inside the pain. When my back clicks painfully now I say ‘go away stupid back’ rather than imaging that if I move I will break. As the pain is no longer at the forefront of my entire mind, I have been able to focus a bit better on things like cooking, baking, knitting, reading, talking and playing. I can listen to my children and truly hear what they are saying because I am now outside the pain cloud that had enveloped me for so long. I also find that my brain is chattering a lot more than it used to but by following my breath I can get some sleep."