Find What Works and Keep Doing it – A Guest Post by Banna Skidmore
I was about a decade into my own recovery when I made an appointment with an acupuncturist. I didn’t make the appointment because I was in an acute health crisis. I made the appointment more from a nagging sense of things could be better, more whole though I could not have told you what more whole looked like.
The question that surprised me and helped empower me to take charge of my own mental and physical health was the following,
“What’s working for you?” It was the first question the acupuncturist posed after taking down my name, age and date of birth.
In his asking the question, “What is working for you?” He helped me shift my own paradigm. For years I had shown up in psychiatrist’s offices, the offices of internists and psychotherapists. Those appointments all began with those same soul sucking questions, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you here?” And being the dutiful patient I would list every health crisis and diagnosis I could remember. The list at that point had been cultivated for over twenty years and I did not realize there was another way to proceed.
Yet by showing up in the office of the acupuncturist I had an inkling that there must be some other path, some other way to frame my experiences. And so, when he asked, “What’s working for you? I realized in a thunderstruck kind of way, Oh, I have a choice in the matter. I have a choice in how this story gets written.
His question was a tremendous gift. It enabled me to take stock of my successes and ongoing stability. When I met him I was in the early stages of my training as a Pilates teacher. I am now a veteran teacher and have taught in the field of mind/body education for the last fourteen years. I continue to identify and focus on “What Works” and I bring that intention to every Pilates class I teach.
About the Author
Banna Skidmore has lived in the Washington area for more than twenty years. In the mid- nineties she experienced an acute health crisis of postpartum depression and psychosis. As part of her journey in healing she discovered Pilates. Pilates offered her a way to integrate her love of movement and enthusiasm for healing and transformation. She is now a full time Pilates teacher and currently offers classes in Arlington, Va. As a long time practitioner of mindfulness modalities she believes healing and recovery are possible. She is currently pursing training to become a Certified Peer Specialist in the state of Virginia. In that role she plans to integrate mind-body classes in mental health recovery programs.
