Candace's Story
When I first met Candace about 16 months ago one of my first concerns about working with her were the obvious signs of poor circulation especially in the feet and ankles which were blue and very cold. It was also very noticeable that the left side of her body was considerably weaker and it was difficult for her to straighten her arm and leg on that side of her body. There was little range of motion in the ankles and toes and this affected her gait as she walked.
We spent many weeks building a programme to safely improve mobility in her feet and ankles with me having to manipulate these areas as she didn’t have the ability to control these muscles by herself. We also worked on exercises to improve her posture. I felt it was important to work from the feet upwards as they are to like the roots that support the mighty oak tree. It was a long arduous process but has been instrumental in the progression that she has made over the last year.
Since Candace has returned from the Listening Centre I immediately noticed that when I placed my hand on her body to make a correction that it felt considerably warmer and when I had her remove her socks the skin around her Achilles tendon was pinker and much warmer indicating better blood flow to her extremities. I also noticed more flaccidity in her muscles especially in the lower limbs and this has facilitated much more ease of movement and more speed in the execution of the steps.
Candace seems to be grasping the information I give her much more quickly and can sometimes self correct or anticipate the next movement in a sequence. Without a doubt we can spend a longer time working on something before she needs to rest her mental responses and we need to change up the exercises.
We are working on her saying each step out loud as she does it in the sequence before we set it to the music and this is helping her to better remember it.