April 22, 2022 • 19 mins
We talk to Patricia Goka, an expert Holistic Physical Therapist, who helps people to 'stay stronger for longer' and loves working with the over 50's to get their posture sorted and help them stay mobile well into old age.
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Episode Transcript
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James Crow (00:01):
So hi everybody.
It's James from Posture Starsand today I am talking to
Patricia Goka from holistic ptstudio. Hi, Patricia.
Patricia Goka (00:10):
James, how are you?
James Crow (00:11):
Yeah, really good thanks. It's great to see and
hear you're down in Croydon inLondon, United Kingdom.
Patricia Goka (00:19):
Yes, Sunny Croydon
James Crow (00:20):
Sunny Croydon, the jewel of the South.
Patricia Goka (00:24):
It really is.
James Crow (00:25):
I'm up here in Stockport, it's great to see
you. I've wanted to speak to youfor ages, because you've been
doing some great stuff,particularly on LinkedIn with
regards to how you're helpingpeople keep stronger for longer.
So I wanted to have a chat withyou about how you're helping
people's posture and how you'rehelping keep them more mobile.
You're generally working witholder people now. Is that right?
Patricia Goka (00:49):
Yes. Although no one really admits they're, quote
unquote, old, but yes, well,generally 50s Plus, is sort of
my is the average age I'mworking with. Yeah.
James Crow (01:02):
Great. I'm one of your ideal clients, then.
Patricia Goka (01:05):
We will have another talk, don't you worry!
I'm here for you.
James Crow (01:09):
Well, I've been doing loads of running recently.
So I probably need a bit ofunwinding. Although my fitness
watch yesterday decided I was 36years old, which I was really
pleased with, there's a result.
I think they need to changetheir algorithms a little bit.
Patricia Goka (01:24):
No, I mean, people are doing more and more
exercise, more intense exerciseat a later age. And so I think
if you were to benchmark theaverage 50 year old today versus
the average 50 year old 20, 30years ago, you would be sort of
the equivalent of mid 30s. Yeah,I think we need to start moving
(01:45):
that benchmark up even further.
So when we're 60 - 70 we havethe fitness, the strength of a
20 year old.
James Crow (01:52):
That's my plan.
That's my plan. I think postureis really important to keep that
going. We're just coming out atthe end of having loads of
lockdowns from Coronavirus, areyou finding that lots of people
are suddenly jumping intoexercise and fitness and
breaking themselves?
Patricia Goka (02:11):
They don't admit that their breaking themselves.
But I think I think people arepeople are still quite stressed.
So they're not doing as muchwell, people aren't willing to
not as much high intensityexercise. So they're doing more
activities. So something alittle bit more therapeutic. So
lots of walking could be stillhiking, some gardening, because
everyone sort of got back togardening and not neglected it
(02:35):
during lockdown. So yes, it'sthings like you know, yoga and
pilates and little bit moreworking from the inside out as
well. I'm finding that yes,there is definitely some aches
and pains that going on, but alot of sorts of denial as well.
James Crow (02:51):
So I will get fit, and I'm going to ignore the fact
that it's causing me discomfort.
Patricia Goka (02:56):
Yeah. We've all been there.
James Crow (02:59):
We've all been there, haven't we? You've got
this, this lovely little phrase,keeping stronger for longer?
That's a brilliant goal, isn'tit?
Patricia Goka (03:11):
It is! it's just well, sort of now I'm past
actually mid 40s. Scratch thehead. And it's also feeling
myself. Yeah. You know, walkingup the stairs, especially during
lockdown. I found myself sort ofdragging myself up, I'm thinking
what is going on here? You know,I'm not exactly quote unquote,
(03:31):
weak. And also looking at myparents, you know, their late
70s, early 80s. I think when didyou get, quote unquote, old? You
know, and it's sort of thinking,yes, my parents are quite
active. They're not moving aswell as they used to, you know,
and it's, it's just looking, andthen you start looking at other
(03:53):
people around and thinking, Whendid this happen? And nobody
really knows when the declineshave started happening. And then
all of a sudden, it's like, allfunctional, everyday moves
become a challenge. Then youstart, you know, and then when
that happens, then you try less,you try less and less. And
before you know it, you needmore help every day. So it's
(04:14):
getting people to sort ofbasically changes the narrative
of getting older, we sort ofgetting weaker, getting more
stiff and more aches and painsin two ways. It's like as long
as we're addressing them, at anearlier age, then it won't
happen. Well, that's my goal,strong and supple at 90.
James Crow (04:33):
Only 90! I'm going for 137! I am going to be one
miserable old man by then butI'm aiming for it
Patricia Goka (04:41):
You're going to be smiling, laughing and joking
forever.
James Crow (04:47):
I do hope so. I do hope so, all right, well, we'd
better move on to threequestions that I do like to pose
in our podcast here and myquestion number one for you
Patricia is really simplequestion. But so many answers to
this question, what is posture?
Patricia Goka (05:04):
Yeah, I knew this one was coming up. And I was
thinking, oh, yeah, he said sucha simple word, but it's just so
complex, but nobody wants tohear that word. It's complex.
But from me, I see posture aswhat are you doing today? And
what position you're mostfrequently adopting today? And
(05:25):
then where? What have you got?
What is your body gone throughto get you to where you are
today? And then we also have aneye on what are we going to do
tomorrow or next 5 - 10 yearsbecause your quote unquote,
posture today could if tomorrow,you decided I'm going to start
playing golf, or tennis or startrunning? How your body is set up
(05:46):
today could increase thelikelihood of you developing an
injury? If you start an activitytomorrow, based on how you're
moving today? Or if yes, wherecertain joints can be quite
restrictive. So you'reincreasing your likelihood of
getting a, you know, jointreplacement, that posture is
(06:09):
always changing. So I'm sittingat the moment, so my posture is
I call it desk body. Yeah, soit's, you know, you know, hip,
flex these legs, try not to sortof fill out at the desk. So this
is my body, this is sort of thisis my posture at the moment and
cause muscles that activemuscles are alive, they just,
(06:29):
they shorten based on whicheverposition they're in. And the
problem is, for every action inthe body, there's a reaction. So
some muscles are getting shorterand tighter, others are getting
longer, and quote unquote,weaker. And so therefore, you're
not able to adequately supportall of the joints and whatever
you want to do. Your posture isconstantly changing, we just
(06:52):
need to make sure we'reconsidering what our next move
will be. And keep moving.
James Crow (07:00):
So that involves a couple of elements, doesn't it
you've got to keep movingelement which is physical, and
then the considering side, whichis mental. And people tend to
ignore the mental side, whenthey think about posture, don't
they. Originally when I'd thinkabout posture, I'd see a sort of
really upright figure of a manwith his chest out and his chin
(07:23):
tucked in, and now almost a sortof army pose or something like
that. And of course, that's,that's not posture. And it's not
necessarily good posture,either. It's certainly a tense
posture. If we were to adoptthat. Yeah, when you were
talking about what you're goingto do the next day, you had me
thinking about someone lying ona sofa, or a setee with their
(07:44):
head craned over the back of thearm for six hours one night and
then jumping out of bed at sixin the morning to go for a 5k
run and how that would impactthem, that's not going to be a
good thing is it?
Patricia Goka (07:57):
100% it, I sort of say you have to undo whatever
posture you've been adopting,and start moving gently in the
position for whichever activityyou're going to adopt, just to
sort of prep your body. So thereis, you know, people just think
of maybe a warm up, but it'slike, no, we have to even take a
(08:19):
step back. And if you've alwaysgot like a dead body. And so
some muscles have tight, hipflexors. So if you're trying to
run, you can't really extendthat thing, which is required,
and who knows what's going ontop of chains from the feet all
the way up to sort of the headand the shoulders. So yes, it's
like I'm doing whatever you'vebeen doing, and then prepping
for the activity you're going todo.
James Crow (08:41):
So this this kind of leads me into my second
question, which is you being agood expert with people's bodies
is how do you help people'sposture? What do you do?
Patricia Goka (08:52):
Yeah, yes. So for me, I'm my focus is on the
muscles, and the tension orimbalances that exist between
front the back left to theright, the above the low. I look
at joints, assembly of thejoints, and you know, are they
actually moving through the fullrange that they're naturally
(09:15):
designed to move? So I mean,when I go through people's
history, sort of understandbecause there might be something
that they're born with as well.
So we have to take all of thatinto consideration. And then all
of how have they lived theirlife up to this point, which is
where you know, their posture ortheir you know, how they're
moving today's been determined.
(09:36):
And one of the most importantone is motor control. So are you
fully in control of yourmovement? If I asked you to move
in a certain direction? Are youdoing something else? Because
yeah, so I find a lot of timesespecially, I actually like this
one for my mum, hope she won'twon't mind me saying this. But
yes, I do some stretching withmy mum and dad. And I just say
(09:58):
okay, so tilt your ear is downto your shoulder, stretch the
other side of the neck. And, andwhat I'll get in response is
sort of a like a rotation ratherthan a lateral flexion. Because
that motor control is not quitethere. And I think it could have
been like previous injuries andprevious issues, your body will
naturally start moving away fromany area of discomfort. But over
(10:22):
time, you just learn to not moveinto those areas. But the
problem is, if you're not movinginto those areas, your body is
not balanced, and you're notmoving correctly. And other
muscles which are supposed to dotheir job are not doing it. So
therefore everything is out ofbalance, then motor control the
mind muscle connection, are youin control of your movement. So
(10:44):
I have inspired all of these foryou something I call a movement
mot. So just like you take yourcar for an MOT and service, you
know, even your boiler getsserviced for crying out loud, we
use our body every single day.
Do we know what's going on? Weknow where any restrictions are?
Do we know? You know how, youknow how supple we are? You
(11:05):
know, our hips? Let a balancecan we move those hips joint
through range of motion throughthe same on left and right,
because the body really doesn'tlike too much imbalance? Yeah,
we're not symmetrical. We allknow that some people have more
imbalance, you know, more, youknow, asymmetry. asymmetry, no
more asymmetry. Yes, thanothers. And so yeah, so it's
(11:28):
just getting back to do youknow, what's going on in your
body, because we tend to havefull shut it all out. And so all
of this information will be usedto design called a corrective
exercise programme to bring youknow, more more function resolve
natural function in the body.
(11:48):
And so hopefully moving awayfrom any joint aches and pains,
and also start thinking about,well, how do you want to live?
How do you want to move in 5,10, 20, 30 years time? Because
there's no point thinking forpeople if you're 70 or 80 years
old, and think it's on I wish Idid something about this 20,30
(12:09):
years ago. So it's a case oflet's start thinking now, just
like you plan for your pension?
How do you want to be movinglater on and enjoy your big pot
of money and your emptyholidays? And what skiing or
whatever you want to do whenyou're in later life? Are you
going to have the body to andthe movement capabilities to, to
you know, support all of thesefantastic things plans you have?
(12:32):
Yes. So that's that's how I workwith people
James Crow (12:38):
on a personalised level, then you're not just
doing a prescribed series ofmovements that is fit for
everybody you're looking at theperson, the individual or
individuals within a group andtailoring a programme for them.
Patricia Goka (12:54):
Absolutely, yeah, because a lot of us, if we're
not paying attention, there willbe imbalances, especially the
hip, especially at the shoulder,and even the ankle. So I mean,
I'm naming some of these becausethese are some of my issues I
had previously. And unlessthings are pretty similar, then
(13:15):
you're gonna put too much weightor pressure on one side of the
body versus the other. So evenif you're quite flexible, if the
imbalance between the left andright is large enough that the
body is going to start overcompensating on one side you
will increase you're likelihoodto get injured you will start
having more wear on one side ofthe body than the other and yes
(13:37):
so it's highlighting this topeople because no one no one
told us how to look after andcare for our joints. And it's
because of modern day living,you know sitting all day, you
know being stressed, musclestightening up, everything's
getting restricted, batteringourselves in the gym or going
(13:59):
running and things like thatwhen we need more calm and more
restorative things to sort ofbalance ourselves that you know
there are a tonne of imbalancesunless you're keeping on top of
it. Then you know things canescalate out of control. So
yeah, so it's an it's anenlightening experience. And
it's also practical as in it'sit is not difficult to read to
(14:23):
restore balance. And also Iencourage, I sort of teach
people this is how you do it soyou can go forth and look after
yourself for life. Which is whatit's all about.
James Crow (14:34):
Brilliant! Whether you are going to be rich and
having all those golfing breaksor whether you're going to be
having having beans on toast andand a trip around the local
budget supermarket you stillneed to keep flexible and
moving.
Patricia Goka (14:46):
Exactly, you want to be able to go shopping, you
know without any aches and painsif you want to walk or drive.
Think about even getting intoyour car, do you want to
struggle and it be painful. Doyou want to drive comfortably in
that position. Do you want to goaround the supermarket with
ease. So even if you don't,you're not having all these
grand plans, you just want tohave a simple life. And you
(15:08):
know, maybe do some gardeningand, you know, look after your
grandkids or great grandkidsfully, you still have to look
after, you know, your muscles,your joints, and how you move in
everything.
James Crow (15:21):
Look after yourself.
And look after number one, Ithink I might have to book in
for one of your MOT's after thissession and see how I am in
terms of any imbalances. Itwould be quite interesting to
have a third party opinion.
Patricia Goka (15:35):
Looking forward to it! So I have completely
diverted a bit I come from sortof a finance background. So risk
management, which is all aboutidentification, assessment,
mitigation and monitoring. Soyou always need to practice
this. So they do this inbanking. You do this in the MOT
(15:56):
why do we take our car for aMOT? I mean, they make it a
legal requirement, because Idon't think people will probably
be as proactive. If it wasn't alegal requirement, because we
want to identify issues early onbefore it comes something quite
major. And that's what we pridethis management's everyday in
life. You stop, look and listenbefore you cross the road,
hopefully, unless you're lookingdown at your phone, which is an
(16:18):
another issue. We do all ofthese things every day. And we
need to apply the same principleto what's going on with our
joints, how we move them, itputs a few corrective actions in
place and
James Crow (16:30):
you want to catch those people before the wheels
fall off, don't you?
Patricia Goka (16:34):
Yes, exactly.
That's a good one. Oh, I likethat.
James Crow (16:37):
You can have that one. Patricia. So if you were
going to give my final questionif you were gonna give one piece
of advice to our listenerstoday, right now to stop their
wheels falling off? What wouldthat be?
Patricia Goka (16:56):
Get curious about what's going on in your body.
It's I think we're too scared toinvestigate. I mean, I put it
the other day my friend wassaying that she's looking at on
YouTube on how to plaster walls.
I mean, we won't investigate,you know, go on YouTube and look
at you know, some you know, someideas or how do I you know,
(17:17):
stretch or how do I, you know,really tension in so and so.
Because we're too scared to getcurious about what's going on in
your body, you know, maintainawareness. Because, I mean,
we're so frightened of pain assoon as there's some sort of
pain or discomfort, it's likeblock it out, block it out. I
don't want to know, but it'sit's just it's just the body's
notification system to say thatthere's something going on and
(17:40):
let's pay you know pay attentionto it. It's not something to be
sort of, you know, blocked outcarry on, because yes, it's not
a 10 out of 10 pain but it'sjust the early warning signs.
Okay, let's address it and thenyou know, we can go on our day
but yes, maintain awareness, getcurious about what's going on.
James Crow (18:01):
Fantastic so those people who are curious and who
don't want to block out the factthat their wheels might shortly
fall off how do they find you,where are you on the worldwide
web?
Patricia Goka (18:16):
Yes, I am active on LinkedIn so under my name
Patricia Goka, I'm on Instagramat holisticptstudio, one word.
Yeah, my websites the same namewww.holisticptstudio.com, I
think that's it. Think if youjust Google my name, something
(18:39):
will come up you know, I didthat a few years ago and there
was some random woman on there Ithink it might I don't have
enough online presence so a lotof information
James Crow (18:50):
That random lady she'll be on Google later going
who's this other Patricia Goka?
She's outfoxed me, why is shemore popular now?
Patricia Goka (18:59):
Well, I thought I was unique, I am unique,
holisticptstudio if you put thatin google you'll come up with a
few things.
James Crow (19:08):
My advice to our listeners is don't go pestering
any other Patricia's, go toholisticptstudio. That's really
useful Patricia, it's a greatinsight into how you work and
there's some good advice therefor people to be curious and to
make sure they're proactive inlooking after themselves so they
can keep stronger for longer.
Thank you very much for comingon. It's been a pleasure to
(19:31):
speak to you
Patricia Goka (19:34):
You're welcome James
So hi everybody.
It's James from Posture Starsand today I am talking to
Patricia Goka from holistic ptstudio. Hi, Patricia.
Patricia Goka (00:10):
James, how are you?
James Crow (00:11):
Yeah, really good thanks. It's great to see and
hear you're down in Croydon inLondon, United Kingdom.
Patricia Goka (00:19):
Yes, Sunny Croydon
James Crow (00:20):
Sunny Croydon, the jewel of the South.
Patricia Goka (00:24):
It really is.
James Crow (00:25):
I'm up here in Stockport, it's great to see
you. I've wanted to speak to youfor ages, because you've been
doing some great stuff,particularly on LinkedIn with
regards to how you're helpingpeople keep stronger for longer.
So I wanted to have a chat withyou about how you're helping
people's posture and how you'rehelping keep them more mobile.
You're generally working witholder people now. Is that right?
Patricia Goka (00:49):
Yes. Although no one really admits they're, quote
unquote, old, but yes, well,generally 50s Plus, is sort of
my is the average age I'mworking with. Yeah.
James Crow (01:02):
Great. I'm one of your ideal clients, then.
Patricia Goka (01:05):
We will have another talk, don't you worry!
I'm here for you.
James Crow (01:09):
Well, I've been doing loads of running recently.
So I probably need a bit ofunwinding. Although my fitness
watch yesterday decided I was 36years old, which I was really
pleased with, there's a result.
I think they need to changetheir algorithms a little bit.
Patricia Goka (01:24):
No, I mean, people are doing more and more
exercise, more intense exerciseat a later age. And so I think
if you were to benchmark theaverage 50 year old today versus
the average 50 year old 20, 30years ago, you would be sort of
the equivalent of mid 30s. Yeah,I think we need to start moving
(01:45):
that benchmark up even further.
So when we're 60 - 70 we havethe fitness, the strength of a
20 year old.
James Crow (01:52):
That's my plan.
That's my plan. I think postureis really important to keep that
going. We're just coming out atthe end of having loads of
lockdowns from Coronavirus, areyou finding that lots of people
are suddenly jumping intoexercise and fitness and
breaking themselves?
Patricia Goka (02:11):
They don't admit that their breaking themselves.
But I think I think people arepeople are still quite stressed.
So they're not doing as muchwell, people aren't willing to
not as much high intensityexercise. So they're doing more
activities. So something alittle bit more therapeutic. So
lots of walking could be stillhiking, some gardening, because
everyone sort of got back togardening and not neglected it
(02:35):
during lockdown. So yes, it'sthings like you know, yoga and
pilates and little bit moreworking from the inside out as
well. I'm finding that yes,there is definitely some aches
and pains that going on, but alot of sorts of denial as well.
James Crow (02:51):
So I will get fit, and I'm going to ignore the fact
that it's causing me discomfort.
Patricia Goka (02:56):
Yeah. We've all been there.
James Crow (02:59):
We've all been there, haven't we? You've got
this, this lovely little phrase,keeping stronger for longer?
That's a brilliant goal, isn'tit?
Patricia Goka (03:11):
It is! it's just well, sort of now I'm past
actually mid 40s. Scratch thehead. And it's also feeling
myself. Yeah. You know, walkingup the stairs, especially during
lockdown. I found myself sort ofdragging myself up, I'm thinking
what is going on here? You know,I'm not exactly quote unquote,
(03:31):
weak. And also looking at myparents, you know, their late
70s, early 80s. I think when didyou get, quote unquote, old? You
know, and it's sort of thinking,yes, my parents are quite
active. They're not moving aswell as they used to, you know,
and it's, it's just looking, andthen you start looking at other
(03:53):
people around and thinking, Whendid this happen? And nobody
really knows when the declineshave started happening. And then
all of a sudden, it's like, allfunctional, everyday moves
become a challenge. Then youstart, you know, and then when
that happens, then you try less,you try less and less. And
before you know it, you needmore help every day. So it's
(04:14):
getting people to sort ofbasically changes the narrative
of getting older, we sort ofgetting weaker, getting more
stiff and more aches and painsin two ways. It's like as long
as we're addressing them, at anearlier age, then it won't
happen. Well, that's my goal,strong and supple at 90.
James Crow (04:33):
Only 90! I'm going for 137! I am going to be one
miserable old man by then butI'm aiming for it
Patricia Goka (04:41):
You're going to be smiling, laughing and joking
forever.
James Crow (04:47):
I do hope so. I do hope so, all right, well, we'd
better move on to threequestions that I do like to pose
in our podcast here and myquestion number one for you
Patricia is really simplequestion. But so many answers to
this question, what is posture?
Patricia Goka (05:04):
Yeah, I knew this one was coming up. And I was
thinking, oh, yeah, he said sucha simple word, but it's just so
complex, but nobody wants tohear that word. It's complex.
But from me, I see posture aswhat are you doing today? And
what position you're mostfrequently adopting today? And
(05:25):
then where? What have you got?
What is your body gone throughto get you to where you are
today? And then we also have aneye on what are we going to do
tomorrow or next 5 - 10 yearsbecause your quote unquote,
posture today could if tomorrow,you decided I'm going to start
playing golf, or tennis or startrunning? How your body is set up
(05:46):
today could increase thelikelihood of you developing an
injury? If you start an activitytomorrow, based on how you're
moving today? Or if yes, wherecertain joints can be quite
restrictive. So you'reincreasing your likelihood of
getting a, you know, jointreplacement, that posture is
(06:09):
always changing. So I'm sittingat the moment, so my posture is
I call it desk body. Yeah, soit's, you know, you know, hip,
flex these legs, try not to sortof fill out at the desk. So this
is my body, this is sort of thisis my posture at the moment and
cause muscles that activemuscles are alive, they just,
(06:29):
they shorten based on whicheverposition they're in. And the
problem is, for every action inthe body, there's a reaction. So
some muscles are getting shorterand tighter, others are getting
longer, and quote unquote,weaker. And so therefore, you're
not able to adequately supportall of the joints and whatever
you want to do. Your posture isconstantly changing, we just
(06:52):
need to make sure we'reconsidering what our next move
will be. And keep moving.
James Crow (07:00):
So that involves a couple of elements, doesn't it
you've got to keep movingelement which is physical, and
then the considering side, whichis mental. And people tend to
ignore the mental side, whenthey think about posture, don't
they. Originally when I'd thinkabout posture, I'd see a sort of
really upright figure of a manwith his chest out and his chin
(07:23):
tucked in, and now almost a sortof army pose or something like
that. And of course, that's,that's not posture. And it's not
necessarily good posture,either. It's certainly a tense
posture. If we were to adoptthat. Yeah, when you were
talking about what you're goingto do the next day, you had me
thinking about someone lying ona sofa, or a setee with their
(07:44):
head craned over the back of thearm for six hours one night and
then jumping out of bed at sixin the morning to go for a 5k
run and how that would impactthem, that's not going to be a
good thing is it?
Patricia Goka (07:57):
100% it, I sort of say you have to undo whatever
posture you've been adopting,and start moving gently in the
position for whichever activityyou're going to adopt, just to
sort of prep your body. So thereis, you know, people just think
of maybe a warm up, but it'slike, no, we have to even take a
(08:19):
step back. And if you've alwaysgot like a dead body. And so
some muscles have tight, hipflexors. So if you're trying to
run, you can't really extendthat thing, which is required,
and who knows what's going ontop of chains from the feet all
the way up to sort of the headand the shoulders. So yes, it's
like I'm doing whatever you'vebeen doing, and then prepping
for the activity you're going todo.
James Crow (08:41):
So this this kind of leads me into my second
question, which is you being agood expert with people's bodies
is how do you help people'sposture? What do you do?
Patricia Goka (08:52):
Yeah, yes. So for me, I'm my focus is on the
muscles, and the tension orimbalances that exist between
front the back left to theright, the above the low. I look
at joints, assembly of thejoints, and you know, are they
actually moving through the fullrange that they're naturally
(09:15):
designed to move? So I mean,when I go through people's
history, sort of understandbecause there might be something
that they're born with as well.
So we have to take all of thatinto consideration. And then all
of how have they lived theirlife up to this point, which is
where you know, their posture ortheir you know, how they're
moving today's been determined.
(09:36):
And one of the most importantone is motor control. So are you
fully in control of yourmovement? If I asked you to move
in a certain direction? Are youdoing something else? Because
yeah, so I find a lot of timesespecially, I actually like this
one for my mum, hope she won'twon't mind me saying this. But
yes, I do some stretching withmy mum and dad. And I just say
(09:58):
okay, so tilt your ear is downto your shoulder, stretch the
other side of the neck. And, andwhat I'll get in response is
sort of a like a rotation ratherthan a lateral flexion. Because
that motor control is not quitethere. And I think it could have
been like previous injuries andprevious issues, your body will
naturally start moving away fromany area of discomfort. But over
(10:22):
time, you just learn to not moveinto those areas. But the
problem is, if you're not movinginto those areas, your body is
not balanced, and you're notmoving correctly. And other
muscles which are supposed to dotheir job are not doing it. So
therefore everything is out ofbalance, then motor control the
mind muscle connection, are youin control of your movement. So
(10:44):
I have inspired all of these foryou something I call a movement
mot. So just like you take yourcar for an MOT and service, you
know, even your boiler getsserviced for crying out loud, we
use our body every single day.
Do we know what's going on? Weknow where any restrictions are?
Do we know? You know how, youknow how supple we are? You
(11:05):
know, our hips? Let a balancecan we move those hips joint
through range of motion throughthe same on left and right,
because the body really doesn'tlike too much imbalance? Yeah,
we're not symmetrical. We allknow that some people have more
imbalance, you know, more, youknow, asymmetry. asymmetry, no
more asymmetry. Yes, thanothers. And so yeah, so it's
(11:28):
just getting back to do youknow, what's going on in your
body, because we tend to havefull shut it all out. And so all
of this information will be usedto design called a corrective
exercise programme to bring youknow, more more function resolve
natural function in the body.
(11:48):
And so hopefully moving awayfrom any joint aches and pains,
and also start thinking about,well, how do you want to live?
How do you want to move in 5,10, 20, 30 years time? Because
there's no point thinking forpeople if you're 70 or 80 years
old, and think it's on I wish Idid something about this 20,30
(12:09):
years ago. So it's a case oflet's start thinking now, just
like you plan for your pension?
How do you want to be movinglater on and enjoy your big pot
of money and your emptyholidays? And what skiing or
whatever you want to do whenyou're in later life? Are you
going to have the body to andthe movement capabilities to, to
you know, support all of thesefantastic things plans you have?
(12:32):
Yes. So that's that's how I workwith people
James Crow (12:38):
on a personalised level, then you're not just
doing a prescribed series ofmovements that is fit for
everybody you're looking at theperson, the individual or
individuals within a group andtailoring a programme for them.
Patricia Goka (12:54):
Absolutely, yeah, because a lot of us, if we're
not paying attention, there willbe imbalances, especially the
hip, especially at the shoulder,and even the ankle. So I mean,
I'm naming some of these becausethese are some of my issues I
had previously. And unlessthings are pretty similar, then
(13:15):
you're gonna put too much weightor pressure on one side of the
body versus the other. So evenif you're quite flexible, if the
imbalance between the left andright is large enough that the
body is going to start overcompensating on one side you
will increase you're likelihoodto get injured you will start
having more wear on one side ofthe body than the other and yes
(13:37):
so it's highlighting this topeople because no one no one
told us how to look after andcare for our joints. And it's
because of modern day living,you know sitting all day, you
know being stressed, musclestightening up, everything's
getting restricted, batteringourselves in the gym or going
(13:59):
running and things like thatwhen we need more calm and more
restorative things to sort ofbalance ourselves that you know
there are a tonne of imbalancesunless you're keeping on top of
it. Then you know things canescalate out of control. So
yeah, so it's an it's anenlightening experience. And
it's also practical as in it'sit is not difficult to read to
(14:23):
restore balance. And also Iencourage, I sort of teach
people this is how you do it soyou can go forth and look after
yourself for life. Which is whatit's all about.
James Crow (14:34):
Brilliant! Whether you are going to be rich and
having all those golfing breaksor whether you're going to be
having having beans on toast andand a trip around the local
budget supermarket you stillneed to keep flexible and
moving.
Patricia Goka (14:46):
Exactly, you want to be able to go shopping, you
know without any aches and painsif you want to walk or drive.
Think about even getting intoyour car, do you want to
struggle and it be painful. Doyou want to drive comfortably in
that position. Do you want to goaround the supermarket with
ease. So even if you don't,you're not having all these
grand plans, you just want tohave a simple life. And you
(15:08):
know, maybe do some gardeningand, you know, look after your
grandkids or great grandkidsfully, you still have to look
after, you know, your muscles,your joints, and how you move in
everything.
James Crow (15:21):
Look after yourself.
And look after number one, Ithink I might have to book in
for one of your MOT's after thissession and see how I am in
terms of any imbalances. Itwould be quite interesting to
have a third party opinion.
Patricia Goka (15:35):
Looking forward to it! So I have completely
diverted a bit I come from sortof a finance background. So risk
management, which is all aboutidentification, assessment,
mitigation and monitoring. Soyou always need to practice
this. So they do this inbanking. You do this in the MOT
(15:56):
why do we take our car for aMOT? I mean, they make it a
legal requirement, because Idon't think people will probably
be as proactive. If it wasn't alegal requirement, because we
want to identify issues early onbefore it comes something quite
major. And that's what we pridethis management's everyday in
life. You stop, look and listenbefore you cross the road,
hopefully, unless you're lookingdown at your phone, which is an
(16:18):
another issue. We do all ofthese things every day. And we
need to apply the same principleto what's going on with our
joints, how we move them, itputs a few corrective actions in
place and
James Crow (16:30):
you want to catch those people before the wheels
fall off, don't you?
Patricia Goka (16:34):
Yes, exactly.
That's a good one. Oh, I likethat.
James Crow (16:37):
You can have that one. Patricia. So if you were
going to give my final questionif you were gonna give one piece
of advice to our listenerstoday, right now to stop their
wheels falling off? What wouldthat be?
Patricia Goka (16:56):
Get curious about what's going on in your body.
It's I think we're too scared toinvestigate. I mean, I put it
the other day my friend wassaying that she's looking at on
YouTube on how to plaster walls.
I mean, we won't investigate,you know, go on YouTube and look
at you know, some you know, someideas or how do I you know,
(17:17):
stretch or how do I, you know,really tension in so and so.
Because we're too scared to getcurious about what's going on in
your body, you know, maintainawareness. Because, I mean,
we're so frightened of pain assoon as there's some sort of
pain or discomfort, it's likeblock it out, block it out. I
don't want to know, but it'sit's just it's just the body's
notification system to say thatthere's something going on and
(17:40):
let's pay you know pay attentionto it. It's not something to be
sort of, you know, blocked outcarry on, because yes, it's not
a 10 out of 10 pain but it'sjust the early warning signs.
Okay, let's address it and thenyou know, we can go on our day
but yes, maintain awareness, getcurious about what's going on.
James Crow (18:01):
Fantastic so those people who are curious and who
don't want to block out the factthat their wheels might shortly
fall off how do they find you,where are you on the worldwide
web?
Patricia Goka (18:16):
Yes, I am active on LinkedIn so under my name
Patricia Goka, I'm on Instagramat holisticptstudio, one word.
Yeah, my websites the same namewww.holisticptstudio.com, I
think that's it. Think if youjust Google my name, something
(18:39):
will come up you know, I didthat a few years ago and there
was some random woman on there Ithink it might I don't have
enough online presence so a lotof information
James Crow (18:50):
That random lady she'll be on Google later going
who's this other Patricia Goka?
She's outfoxed me, why is shemore popular now?
Patricia Goka (18:59):
Well, I thought I was unique, I am unique,
holisticptstudio if you put thatin google you'll come up with a
few things.
James Crow (19:08):
My advice to our listeners is don't go pestering
any other Patricia's, go toholisticptstudio. That's really
useful Patricia, it's a greatinsight into how you work and
there's some good advice therefor people to be curious and to
make sure they're proactive inlooking after themselves so they
can keep stronger for longer.
Thank you very much for comingon. It's been a pleasure to
(19:31):
speak to you
Patricia Goka (19:34):
You're welcome James
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