Healthy Living in a Healthy Body

I was listening to an audio book this morning while walking in the neighborhood and it got me thinking about writing this article.

The author of the book is Pema Chödrön, one of my favorite teachers in the world: Embracing the Unknown. She speaks about how to approach death, change and transformation in our everyday life.

She describes a diagram of sorts where in the middle, you have the comfort zone; the outer layers are the challenge zone and the high-risk zone.

You can apply this diagram to the philosophy of rehabilitation and healthy living. We have the choice every day to be in any one of these zones.

The comfort zone is where we are passive in our life, where we can rest and where nothing happens. When you have an acute (fresh) injury, you want to be in this phase.

The challenge zone is the learning place; it is where transformation happens. It is also the zone to be in if you want to see change in your physical condition. We, as physiotherapists and rehabilitation professionals, are constantly looking for this zone.

The high-risk zone is where you might get injured more. It is a temporary phase, meaning that an activity or a state of being might be high risk for you now but not risky in another time.

If you are too much in your comfort zone, it will start shrinking. On the opposite, if you are constantly in a challenge zone, your comfort zone will expand allowing you for more restful and alive moments in your life.