I met Rhonda in the spring of 2012, after an injury to my lower spine. Rhonda, a physiotherapist at the U of C Sports Medicine clinic, assessed and diagnosed my back injury. I didn’t injure myself playing a sport, although I played many. I bent over to pick up a pair of kids shoes, and crashed to the ground in agony. I have seen Rhonda for two more injuries since that time, one just finishing up this week.
Under the care of Rhonda, I didn’t simply get rid of the pain, swelling, and bruising that goes along with an injury. She guided me through a type of attention and re-building like nothing I had ever experienced before. The time she invested in treating and teaching me, motivated me to actually do my exercises. Each time I injured myself, though I would have preferred a quick-fix-and-return-to-regular-activites approach, I know that wouldn’t have worked. With Rhonda’s guidance, I learned to tune in to specific parts of my body—tissues around the injury—and then strengthen from the inside out. I began to really understand the connectedness of our body as a whole.
I liked the fact that she portrayed a real situation, with achievable—and sometimes painfully slow—goals. She never told me what to do, she showed me how I could achieve healing and optimal strength.
Healing.
Strength.
Authenticity.
Let me return for a second to my “superhero in everyday clothing”, Brené Brown.
Rhonda provided me with the mental capacity to regain my physical strength, simply because she showed up each and every time I arrived. She paid attention to me as if I was the most important “thing” that she would do that day. I doubt that she knows what a marvellous effect she has on those with whom she journeys.
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