Building Bulletproof Backs Ep 3 - Swim into your next Chapter with Louisa Cruz

Welcome to the Third episode of Building Bulletproof Backs podcast.

This podcast aims to empower listeners with HOPE that healing is possible when you know how. We discuss strategic tools addressing mental, physical and emotional Health.

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I am your host, Marion McRae, a physiotherapist & movement addict on a mission to see the existing model of treating back pain evolve. The current model is broken. It focusses almost entirely on the physical body, neglecting the fact that we are all both thinkers and feelers. When the thoughts in our head, and the the emotions in our bodies are less than optimal, we fail to thrive. 

Our Guest for this episode is Louisa Cruz. An inspiring young mother of two, ex yoga teacher and now endurance ocean swimmer who has kindly agreed to share her back pain story and winning outcome. 

We discuss 

Louisa’s tools:

1. Multiple Mental Strategies, a Mindset she attributes to YOGA
2. Movement - Pilates and Swimming

Louisa’s Top 3 tips

1. Mental - See the Pain as an opportunity to Learn and Grow. Do not Label it. 
2. Do not be discouraged by extended healing time frames.  
3. Trust you will come out the other side and it may look different, but better. 

Time stamp :

Louisa Shares her back pain story [2.48] including balancing motherhood with a yoga practice. The realisation that a spine pre-birth is different to a spine post-birth [4.01] Flexibility was more dominant than strength. Lack of sleep was also part of the equation. 
Louisa pushed through symptoms for approx 6 wks [6.04] before the body said "NO". 
We discuss the yoga approach to Pain [6.46] and whether it is useful, unified, and open to interpretation. Is it joint opening? or Damaging. 
Louisa Shares her lack of hope about returning to yoga [8.18] as a teacher and how she faced the loss of control of hers own destiny. 
[10.20] Grief as Louisa realises yoga was not the way of her future. 
[10.56] The benefits of Pilates for subtle strengthening, leads to swimming. Initially for pain relief and soon to become a new addiction. 
[13.19] 20 kms of swimming, over 6 + hours is a testament of a bulletproof back. 
[13.48] The mindset to heal was in place before Louisa's injury and attributed to yoga. Including the idea that everything is transient. Nothing is permanent. 
[15.15] The power of 3 - mental, physical and emotional strategies seem to be required to shake off a stubborn back story, yet can you learn them ? A wholistic approach is required. [16,46] Expectations for healing time frames can be non useful. 
 [18.58] Louisa Shares her top 3 tips for healing back pain. 
[21.27] The hormonal affects of pregnancy on backs and injury risk. The importance of prioritising your health as a mother.
[23.40] Modelling H

Transcript

spk_0:   0:07
welcome TTO building bulletproof backs where we redefined the mainstream medical approach. Teo Healing Stubborn back pain joint physiotherapist and movement attic. Mariam McRae on a mission in the back pain epidemic bility Bulletproof backs requires mental, physical and emotional strategy. Hope is not enough. Listen now, as she interviews rial life back pain sufferers who have found a way out of the nightmare and introduces you, tow leading edge teachers with powerful tools that can change your life. You can do this. Your body knows how to heal. You just gotta learn how to get out of its way. Now let's get into today's episode.

spk_1:   1:02
Hey, listeners. Welcome to Episode three. We've had a few technical issues getting started, but we in here now with Louisa Cruz. I've chosen Louisa to be on Episode three. It could think what's going to be best if if I alternate a movement teacher with a back pain sufferer who's actually managed to find a way out of the mess and is now displaying a bulletproof back. So given that we started with a back pain sufferer and then Episode two was a teacher, we're back now to a rare individual who has obviously displayed the skills required to you hell, their body and then here to share what they know. So, Luisa, would you like to introduce yourself to the listeners?

spk_0:   1:52
Thanks marrying? Yes, I'm Louisa and I am a mother of two. I have a 10 year old boy and a five year old boy, and I'm currently an absolute open water swimming at it. Before that, I wass an absolute Ashtanga yoga addict on DH. The thing that changed me from one to the other wass a back injury.

spk_1:   2:21
And would you just like to start with the storey noise? I just go back, Teo, how it all started for you.

spk_0:   2:32
So before having Children, I So I started yoga and I was about 16 and practise very diligently all the way through until 26 27. When I was 28 I fell pregnant with my first child. And so before I fell pregnant, I had complete freedom in my body. I could bend it and twist it and do pretty much whatever I wanted with it and would have no repercussions. So then, after the birth of my first child, I took a bit of a break from the intense, a stronger practise and slowly tried Teo make my way back to it, although I found that it wasn't really going particularly well. And that probably was pushing things beyond where I should have a TTE that point in time. So when my son was 18 months old, I was preparing to do a yoga retreat with my teacher in Bali, and I was desperately trying to get back to the place that I was in before having Children. And in hindsight, I realised that that wasn't possible with that, after having Children, your body is very different. Andi, my case, it was a matter off. My strength and flexibility had got a little bit out of whack. So before having Children, I would say they were quite equal after having Children. My flexibility outweighed my strength. So I was practising away as hard as I could. And I was in a Ford Bend and I just felt something, really. We'd gone on, didn't really know what it was at the time on. Then, over the course of like a few days and a few months, it just seemed to get worse and worse. And then I started investigating what might have happened, and the most likely cause of that pain was a dis poach.

spk_1:   4:46
Okay, so just not mean two out for a sec. What warning signs? Did you have a meeting up to it?

spk_0:   4:53
So in hindsight, I was ridiculously exhausted. I wasn't getting enough sleep on DH, but kind of wasn't paying much attention to those signals at that time. Physically, I could feel that my body was a lot looser, but from a yoga point of view, I was kind of getting into a few things are more deeply than I would have before, because I had that extra mobility in my body

spk_1:   5:23
on. But they're so the extra mobility felt safe,

spk_0:   5:28
Um, again at the time, looking back, it probably wasn't but again at the time, it did feel fine.

spk_1:   5:38
And how long? You know, let's say it was a grumbling along a little bit. How long did you keep pushing before the body said Way went on. We're not going to let this go any further.

spk_0:   5:53
It was probably a month to six weeks, so the back injury happened literally two weeks before I went. Tio, go to Bali on do retreat with my teacher. So I went to Bali and I sort of got to the retreat, but kind of only just and not not the way I'd hoped. Teo. And then I've got home from Bali, and then I kind of realised that this this wasn't going to work my current mode of dealing with the problem, which was just keep going. It wasn't going to work anymore.

spk_1:   6:28
And so what? What is Thie yoga approach to being in an asana or a posture and experiencing pain in that posture? Because I've heard a few yogis sort of preached that we can push through pain and it's, you know, it's zey mental block or an emotional block, and if you sit with it on DH, go deeper into it, there's potential to release it. What luck is that the background you were coming from or not?

spk_0:   6:56
Um, there is that attitude towards pain within yoga. I think it's really hard to define what is the pain of transition or opening on? What is the pain off? Perhaps something. Actually, Nigam, it'll be looked at. So, for example, you know when your muscles stretch and they lengthened, there is a certain degree off discomfort associated with that or when a joint is learning to open in it in a new way. There's discomfort in that. But I think then when you're talking about kind of gritty, grinding pain, then that's probably the one to stay away from. And

spk_1:   7:43
it's funny that because you know I can often have people and they're in a stretch. It's clearly a stretch and they will call it labelled. They would label it pain and then the vice versa of that. So language with being able to articulate what we're feeling in our bodies is a little bit lacking for some people. Have you observed that as well?

spk_0:   8:07
Definitely. And I think people's view of pain and discomfort is quite different or people's tolerance of it s o for one person, you know, you can give them a very what you would consider to be a very gentle stretch, but they may feel and experience has it quite something significant vice versa. But I think even though I would say the pain that I had in my back was very gritty and something to stay away from it wass then something that led me to a massive transition in my life.

spk_1:   8:49
Yes, I tell us about that because that's the hang on. Before we get to the happy ending, I want you to reflect back and were there times you actually had zero hope that you would find a way?

spk_0:   9:03
Yes, definitely. And I think a lot of that hope was to do with zero hope that I would be able to get back into my yoga factors. Because at that point, my ogre practise was absolutely key to my mental and physical well being as well as my job. So I was a yoga teacher, S o. I think it wasn't so much the pain that was a problem. It was more what that pain then meant for the rest of my life.

spk_1:   9:32
Yeah, that's a really good point, isn't it? So sometimes it's not. It's a really good point. Actually, never considered that it's not so much the pain we fear. But it's thie re identification of who we are in terms of potentially our chosen sport, or are chosen career or a hobby

spk_0:   9:50
on DH. The sense or the loss of control, the loss of control of one's own destiny in a way that you know that won't my My path had a significant change.

spk_1:   10:03
And so can you remember the moment when you actually made the decision? Alright. Yoga's not working for me right now. And what did you think this would be? A temporary withdrawal from yoga?

spk_0:   10:17
I think at the time, I sense that it was more than that because at the time I was very, very sad on DH grieved. Almost that loss of what I wass s o. I think I kind of somewhere immune you That that, you know, may come to a close at that point on. But I needed to start looking at other things that might give me a sense of well being and health on DH, physical freedom.

spk_1:   10:44
Beautiful. And they're headed swimming drop in there or whether things he tried before swimming.

spk_0:   10:49
So alongside swimming, I started to dio simple Artie's as well on I found that the polite of system eight was amazing in that could very subtly start to strengthen all of those core muscles which had switched off due to the pain without really loading my backup or without kind of moving in any sort of extreme or any direction on DH, then the swimming was just magic in terms of pain relief. Att. That stage that was the only reason I was swimming is because I enjoy being in the water. And I didn't hurt when I was in the water and I felt great for at least three hours when I got out of the

spk_1:   11:34
water. Magic isn't that lovely. And so, naturally, when you have a positive experience of a movement, you are drawn. Teo, keep going there.

spk_0:   11:45
Yeah, yes. So I sort of continue to swim more from a therapeutic way for quite some time and then fell pregnant with my second child. And then after he was born, I kind of felt like I'd like to get a little bit more serious about assuming. And by that point, my body was feeling pretty good and pretty strong. And I knew what not to do after having a baby which is, you know, really pushed your body to extremes on DH. So I started just slowly, slowly Jason swimming classes with Charlie. It's swimming women and started to build up a little bit more technique which really helped. And then from there, it just sort of grew and grew and grew to the point that you know Now I feel like I have the same freedom that I had in yoga. But I have it in the water.

spk_1:   12:38
Gorgeous and especially the outdoors would hey swimming up and down the bay and between islands. And now also recently, what was your solo long swim? I think it was pretty incredible. How long was it in the end?

spk_0:   12:51
So I had trained for a year to swim the port pod race, which was from Fremantle Beach to Rot Nest Island, which unfortunately got cancer. So I decided to try and complete the distance in now about they. So I did 20 kilometres continuously with a lot of help from a lot of amazing swimmers along the way who jumped in and swam with May Andi. It took me 6.5 hours.

spk_1:   13:20
Wow. Now think about this. Think about these ultra insurance events and the mental focus you review need and your ability to endure physical discomfort to allow you to keep going for that long Are they skills you feel now? In hindsight, maybe you developed in your journey of healing your back

spk_0:   13:41
definitely in the journey of healing it. And also, I think a lot of those lessons were learned through yoga as well,

spk_1:   13:49
right? Yeah, right. So maybe you had them before, and now they were the tools, the mentor tools that allowed you to reframe your pain and perhaps start believing that you could hell on DH then finding a pathway.

spk_0:   14:07
Yeah, I think that Sze quite a strong philosophy ofthe yoga practises that you know that things come and they go that that things don't stay forever. Everything is in a state of flux and in state of change. So yeah, possibly whereas those skills that I learned through practising yoga, that then helped me to get through a back injury that then helped me tio be a ble Teo swim for a significantly long time without being concerned about the fact that no things start to hurt Then they don't hurt. You want to stop? But then you'd escaped. Going?

spk_1:   14:47
Yeah. Wow, It's Do you think this is This's my love. Your opinion on this? It almost seemed to like I mean, we all know show many people stuck in back pain. They're everywhere, you know, An eight out of 10 of us at some stage in our life will experience pain and transit. Back pain is one thing, but persistent. You know, Constant stumbled back pain that's been there for years and doesn't seem to shift. It really does take mental physical on DH emotional strategies. Do you think you could have done it without all three?

spk_0:   15:24
No, no. I think it's got to be a holistic approach,

spk_1:   15:29
and you see currently that many people are offering that. I mean, you seem to be graced with you had the mental skills. You had the emotional awareness through yoga on you had movement awareness from yoga. So, you know, we could argue that you were always going to be successful because you heard those things before the injury. How do you think people go about learning those things after the injury from a place off, being in physical pain, being emotionally distressed, losing hope? I mean, it's a big ask, isn't it to ask people who are in it to start to develop these tools?

spk_0:   16:05
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it can be very easy to fall into the trap of thinking this is just one thing. It's just my disc because more often than not, it is not just one thing. It's more than that that you know the discs related to the hips that's related to the torso. That's related, Teo, all sorts of things that are going on in your life. And I think quite often people can be quick to say, Oh, this should be healed in X amount of time And I think more often than not, it's the least double that because it's it's holistic. It's not just one part of you that's gotto get itself sorted. It's often multiple parts of you.

spk_1:   16:52
Andi. I think the time frame for healing depends on your willingness to explore all three aspects. I see people who were doing everything right physically. They're doing Pallotti's. They move really well. But the back pain still hanging there usually, you know, they might be under financial stress, or they might be stuck in a relationship or a job they hate. And it's our willingness, I think, to surrender like you, said Teo. Let go of expectations, let go of timeframes and just commit Teo. Believe I think, is the most important thing, believing it's possible. But then knowing having practical tools to help get you there.

spk_0:   17:31
Yeah, absolutely. And again, it's not a familiar or comfortable, what well taught place to be in our culture. We want results. You want action. We want timelines. And really healing, as you said, doesn't really work like that.

spk_1:   17:50
No, I think the more you that which we resist persists. And, you know, I think thinking of pain is a physical aspect. Only keeps it there because you only try physical measures too easy. You know, the amount of people having micro dissect Amis and still having pain 12 months later is quite high. And to me, that's just fixing the structure, which may or may not be the source of the pain and hoping it's, you know, like crossing your fingers and hoping for an outcome. And, yeah, look this time in places where that is certainly indicated. But I think there's a lot that can be done before we end up slicing and dicing people.

spk_0:   18:31
Absolutely, Yeah,

spk_1:   18:36
yeah. So what's Ah, let's think about now. I mean, you're feeling fit and strong and free and your body. I can imagine what would be your three tips for someone where you were,

spk_0:   18:50
I think, from a mental point of view, just viewing the pain is an opportunity to learn and to grow, not labelling it as and negative experiences such

spk_1:   19:05
Now. What's so funny? You say that because K in the first episode that referred top tip don't label it. That's great,

spk_0:   19:14
Andi. You definitely don't be discouraged by how long it might take. You know, it could take months. It could take years. Yes, that it has its own timeline on also the trust that you will come out the other side and on the other side it It might look very different from what you expected, but it might look even better on I could definitely say that my physical well being is probably the best it's ever been having come out the other side.

spk_1:   19:47
Ah, that That kind of makes me emotional. E think No, we always took a somewhat We've lost. But to think that what your name could be Syria and renewed more joy than what you originally were attached to is a lovely idea, isn't it?

spk_0:   20:06
Yeah. I mean, when I am down and now about swimming, I think Wow. You know, if I was still in a yoga mat, you know, happen and puffing away in my studio. I wouldn't be experiencing the crashing of the waves and the different seasons within the ocean and the great people that I get to swim with.

spk_1:   20:26
And isn't it funny that, you know, it probably took a back injury to get you there? I love this idea that that's where you were, you're so new. That was where you were going to thrive and experience life in a whole new level. And in a way, it took maybe a back issue. You shift. And I like the idea of thinking that the pain is always for us. It's not happening to us. It's happening for us, and being open to reframing it in that way is easier said than done. I I get that. But it's so nice listening to someone from your perspective.

spk_0:   21:04
Yeah, yeah, and I relate. Tio, what you're saying as well about being almost forced into a different situation because you wouldn't choose it, you know? Why would you give up? You know, it was my career as well as my my hobby. You If I didn't know that there was something even better on the other side.

spk_1:   21:26
Yeah, on DH. Let's let's get back to being a mum, Kids, because we haven't addressed this issue before. Certainly, we know the effects of relax and, you know, can last in the system for up to 12 to 18 months. Post pregnancy. And they do make him or mobile as a yogi. Were you aware of that?

spk_0:   21:47
Yeah, I was aware of that. And when I did go and do the retreat in Bali with my teacher, who is a mother as well, she talked me through a lot of different sort of strengthening exercises that she found useful after she had Children. But at that point, it was a bit too late. I kind of needed that information 18 months ago, just after I had my first child.

spk_1:   22:18
Okay? Yeah, Andi, I guess it's a really good thing for Mom's listening to know that despite the physical changes in your body, you can with appropriate movement, you know, and finding something you love, you can find a way back to a fit, strong, healthy, productive, energise body.

spk_0:   22:36
Yeah, absolutely. I think making that a priority is a mama's Well, it's really important that it's pretty easy to let that kind of slip, particularly if you're not someone who, you know, perhaps enjoys exercise or moving much. For May, it was away, something I just had to do. But for other people, it's not something that's got such a strong pool. But I can definitely say that the benefits of being healthy and fit and strong fabulous, not just for me but you know, to be ableto run around and play with two small Children have energy to do. That is really positive.

spk_1:   23:19
Yeah, well, it's a bit like the Tony Robbins idea. The quality of your life is comes back to the quality of the energy you have to be out of put into these relationships and these decisions. But I think any any injury, we must remember how we approach it is what we're modelling to our Children. So there's opportunity, even in that for us to demonstrate what healings about, you know, and having those conversations with our kids that, um, healing requires movement. It requires noticing our emotions. It requires noticing the thoughts in our head attached to the injury. You know, those conversations can never start too early, and I think kids particularly almost no, these things organically on DH. You know, when you hear a child talk about an injury, they have a natural knowing that it will get better as adults. We struggle with that idea a lot because of perhaps the mis informed advice from health professionals or GPS or whoever's path. We crossed me seek guidance. Sometimes the prognosis is a little bit pessimistic. Did you have any experiences like that?

spk_0:   24:32
I think the most difficult being with going to see seek advice about the back pain wass the unholy stick approach and that there wasn't a heap of understanding about, you know, this that was able to diagnose. This is what we think it is. But I think I also got to a point where I even though physically I knew that there was nothing, nothing there anymore. There was still the pain, like he's sort of we're talking about with people going in and having surgery. I think it took me a long time then to finally accept that the pain was then purely a mental thing, that simply my brain and my body was still locked in this cycle of panning, even though there was physically nothing there anymore.

spk_1:   25:34
And that's a hard one to grasp, isn't it that the the pain could be wired into your neurology long after the actual tissue damage or trauma is there, and different techniques are required when it sort of gets to that stage. But again, it's still possible with the right techniques?

spk_0:   25:52
Yes, absolutely. But I think it takes a fairly skilled set of hands and a skilled mind. Tio have those those tools available?

spk_1:   26:04
Well, I think people action them when they actually believe they might work. I think if it's all a bit intellectually and they don't actually believe that whatever you're suggesting is goingto work, they kind of don't fully commit on da You know, I sometimes nothing about persistent back paying that forces you to go deeper. If you really want to be out of it, you actually have to do the work. You have to do the mental work and you have to learn how to move a bit better. And, no, it's like anything in life that won't shift easily. We have to dig deeper and develop more skills in that way. It's always for our own benefit.

spk_0:   26:44
Yeah, yeah, Andi, I think the strength that you gain through digging that deep is such a such a gift. Really.

spk_1:   26:55
It is a gift that helped you swim 20 kilometres. Yeah. All right. So let's let's that sharp. I want now, just in your own words. What is the bulletproof back look like? Feel like what? Words come to mind for you when you hear that.

spk_0:   27:12
So I think it's a back that feels incredibly safe and secure, so back that doesn't feel like it's going to suddenly collapse on you. If you do something sudden or something different and it back, that will allow you to do whatever you want to do. The fact that allows you freedom,

spk_1:   27:35
love it, love it. What a great definition. I love it. All right, my friend. Well, thank you so much for sharing your storey. I think it's a really inspiring one, and I think it's one of hope because, like he said, without your back pain incident for you to move. But you wouldn't have found the sport that now think your soul and I'm really not that idea. And 17 1 listening in pain right now to maybe close their eyes and I mean it. Just considering how the pain you're in right now might be leading you down a new path and have trust, maybe maybe trust the rendering and allowing yourself to these drawn into a new direction. That's what field is, where it's leading you. But at the end of the day, only, you know and it's your journey with us either trying to get some ideas. So thanks, Louisa. Do you have any final words?

spk_0:   28:32
It's been a pleasure talking to you marry in and has even consolidated a few of my ideas about what happened. What happened as you've been talking a long

spk_1:   28:42
Oh, fabulous. I think it's really interesting to have these chats, isn't it? Because we never see people once they leave once, they're all better and they're out the door, you know, as a practitioner, and we lose part of the storey and I'm really loving having these chats with people because it gives a whole new meaning to me about what people go through when they're in it. And as a practitioner, we kind of we get that 30 40 minutes with you and then think you're out the door. So this is a really nice I guess. Final chapter. But you've got so much more ahead of you. And again, I just thank you so much for being prepared to share your storey.

spk_0:   29:18
Right? Thanks so much, Marien.

spk_1:   29:19
No worries. We shall chat again soon, Louisa. Sure. Thanks everyone for listening and stay tuned for Episode four

spk_0:   29:37
Banks for listeningto Building Bulletproof backs To learn more about Marion's Uni eight week building a bulletproof back online course, visit the link in the show notes. You will receive a step by step system providing mental, physical and emotional strategies for smashing your back pain to the curb and nothing like this anywhere else on the market become your own hero.