I am a psychotherapist, a middle-aged woman. I have many work hours behind me and am generally happy with my life. I really enjoy my work. This might be why I worked so much; going to extremes was very common. My body began warning me about this a few years ago; pain appeared in my shoulders and hips. Occasionally I stopped completely and went to the doctor so that he could “figure out” what was wrong with me. No concrete diagnosis was given outside of muscle tension. And when my burnout, about a year ago, reached, I don’t know what to say, the peak or the bottom, among all the other symptoms, the pain, especially in the shoulders, was so severe that I could no longer raise my arms, I could no longer put on my t-shirt over my head, I could no longer do my daily tasks because my mobility was quite limited. I was forced to stop, which is very difficult for me, and because I don’t like medicine and like to get to the bottom of things, I began researching how I could help myself and what I could do myself to improve my health.

I went to a physiotherapist for help. This was the first step on this new path. She showed me some rather strange and insufficiently intensive exercises for my shoulder. Then she explained to me the purpose of the exercises. I also found out that she completed the first level education of AEQ exercises in clinical somatics. At first, I was quite skeptical, because for me, only “concrete”, intensive exercises have always meant something that can help. Since I had nothing to lose, I started researching, first with the physiotherapist and with the literature she advised me to read. All this time I was determined in performing the exercises and my mobility gradually began to improve. That’s how I got in contact with Aleš. With his recommendation I joined his 30-day breathing programs and then another 30-day program for the upper body. Since I am a psychotherapist and have some knowledge, I may have more easily began to connect the situation with my way of life, my behavioral patterns, and at the same time I was thinking about what I could do differently, so that I would really be able to breathe with full lungs, that my shoulders would become mobile and flexible again, so that hip pain will become reduced. Then I visited Aleš several times, individually.

All of the steps that I have taken with the support of AEQ exercises have taken me in the desired direction. I know that I haven’t reached my goal, but as Nejc Zaplotnik said, the path we take is the most important one.

I admit that it is not easy; exercises are one thing, and the other is the way of life we live and how to take steps towards improvement. I am grateful to Aleš that he stepped into my path to help guide me at this point in my life. Unfortunately, I have to work on it and change it myself.

Jerica Penko, psychotherapist