The Benefits in Planning Ahead for your Health
What is it that keeps you from taking care of yourself? Is it your busy work schedule? Do you tend to take care of others before yourself? Do you simply need help with time management or planning? Or do you tend to ignore the little aches and pains of your body and push through - because you’re a warrior like that!? Yeah, I get that. Me too.
I understand what it is like to feel run around by a busy schedule or have the things I want to do be undermined by my fears around budgeting. I, too, have been there and even now I continue to work through old patterns of pushing through, ignoring the lines of communication between my body and mind, and getting distracted. A big wake up call for me was the painful and unavoidable experience of living and working with a slipped disc in my Lumbar.
I was teaching 30 classes a month, seeing multiple Reiki clients, healing from my “server’s body” having retired from my serving career 6 months prior, sustaining my own yoga practice, biking to and from work, parenting, and then doing all the other crazy things that - at the time - seemed more important than the pain and irritation showing up in my body. Shortly after calming a severe shoulder injury, my left Lumbar fell through and slipped my L4-L5 discs. Let me tell you, not being able to bend over or round my spine for 2 months was a task - my legs got real tired of lunging every time I needed to get something lower than knee level.
This experience, although painful and scary, was apparently needed for me to wake up and listen to the dialogue my body had been trying to communicate. Where had I gone astray? When had I not heard my body reaching out, calling out, warning me not to do that? Insert self compassion* I know, it’s a journey and injuries don’t always have to be bad and experienced as negative. This was my second reminder to LISTEN and if I can’t hear anything then I need to PRACTICE activities where I can learn how to listen better. My Osteopath was a major support in not only rehabilitating my back into wellness once more, but also holding me accountable to exercises and sharing long conversations over functional anatomy and yoga. I began to shift my teaching and practice in yoga and started to see where I was bypassing my own insight and wisdom because of a conditioned shape or position I thought I had to or could fulfill. But this is a whole other post, I digress...
This experience made me grateful to have access to my partner’s benefits. Even if everything wasn’t completely covered, when I was dealing with a major acute injury any help counted! I pulled out my benefits plan and starting skimming through all the areas, professions, and percentages of coverage. Woah, I was entitled to Reflexology and Reiki coverage, and in other benefits plans there was even coverage for gym memberships, yoga classes, personal trainers, and even nutritionists! This was great information that I had no idea about before!
And I thought to myself, I wonder how many other people bother reading through the detailed lines of their own benefit plans? With this in mind, I want to write to you and ask some questions for your own reflection. If you have Health Benefits, do you know what your coverage entails? And if you don’t have benefits, do you know that for costs as little as $300 dollars a year, you can help support your health and be proactive in case something does happen and you need more service?
Most individuals who experience a serious health event, encounter a financial impact as a result. Have you thought about how changes in your health can affect your financial plans and limit your choices? Do you feel like you have the tools to plan ahead for your health and put away savings for a monthly massage or Reiki healing session? Have you considered looking into food sensitivities with a Nutritional Coach or Naturopathic Doctor, and then lost track of time? A large portion of Canadians pay for private health insurance, however many of the services that are covered go unused and are lost after the annual renewal.
At Hands of Fire, we don’t want you to feel stuck in the dark - please do not let financial worries complicate a difficult situation or limit your options. If you would like to receive aid in planning for sessions ahead of time, creating a savings plan, or making sure you know what your coverage entails, please reach out to us and we will do our best to meet your needs. Together, we can budget your benefits to maximize the value of your insurance plan and your overall health.
In booking an Initial or Follow Up Session with Natasha, we can go over the following:
An in-depth review of your Extended Health Benefits plan. A copy of the plan must be provided by the student. Your health Benefits provider may have given you a detailed booklet, or you can print off your plan coverage from your provider’s website.
Consult with Natasha about the services that interest you (ie: Intuitive Reiki Healing, Yoga Classes or Movement Coaching) and together we will develop a visit plan that addresses your health concerns and fits within your benefits.
Lastly, we will book the appointments for you in advance, to ensure that they fit your schedule and to make sure that you can take advantage of your benefits before they run out at the end of the term or year. Appointments can be changed with a minimum 48 hours notice prior to your appointment time.
Whatever barriers you may be experiencing, know that where there is a will there is a way. Even if we work on a savings plan of $20 a month, that works out to be three Reiki sessions a year! Hands of Fire also offers a Resiliency Scholarship to 5 individuals a year, and Natasha has access to many communities within KW where exchanges are available for service and many events and workshops are offered for free or on a Pay What You Can basis.