Episode 89
Futurize Yourself: How to Find Your Inner Compass in a Chaotic World, with Tom Meyers
What if the chaos of our times isn’t just something to survive, but a doorway into your own growth? In this week's episode, I talk with Tom Meyers, osteopath, futurist, musician (!), and author of Futurize Yourself and The Future's Effect.
Tom shares how his personal journey - from suicidal burnout to finding a future-focused mission - led him to develop a unique method for helping people reset their nervous systems, reconnect with their inner compass, and thrive through transition. We explore:
- Why your personal “DNA for the future” matters more than any job title
- How stress shows up in the body (and what to do about it)
- The future mindset that helps you adapt without burning out
- Practical tips for calming your nervous system—plus how partners can support each other in the process
Whether you're mid-pivot, feeling overwhelmed, or just craving a more grounded way to face the future, this one's for you.
🔗 Connect with Tom Meyers:
🌍 Website: www.futurizeyourself.com
🌐 Therapy site: https://meyerstom.weebly.com/
🎵 Music project (Fitfull): Search “Fitfull” on your favorite music platform
📱LinkedIn: Tom Meyers
🧰 Want support for your own pivot?
Alongside my new podcast mini-series (released every Monday), I’ve created the Quiet Pivot Companion Pack - a gentle, practical tool to help you reflect, realign, and take the next steps in your own career or identity shift.
💌 Get it as a bonus when you become a paying subscriber at vklavenes.substack.com, or buy it directly here.
🌿 More from me:
Website: www.storiesforthefuture.com
Substack: vklavenes.substack.com
Let me know what resonated, or share your own story. I always love hearing from you.
Want to be a guest on Stories for the future: Beyond the Bubble? Send Veslemoy Klavenes-Berge a message on PodMatch.
You can always find more information about the podcast and my work on storiesforthefuture.com
Transcript
Hey, friends, and welcome back to Stories for the Future.
Speaker A:Today's guest is someone I've been really excited to speak with.
Speaker A:His name is Tom Myers.
Speaker A:He's an osteopath, futurist, and author of two books, Futurize Yourself and the Future's Effect.
Speaker A:And you can see why he had to be a guest on Stories for the Future.
Speaker A:Tom's whole mission is about helping people not just navigate the chaos of our times, but actually grow through it.
Speaker A:To step into their potential and live more purposefully, even when the world feels a bit upside down.
Speaker A:In this conversation, we talk about reinventing the stories we tell ourselves, tapping into what he calls the future's mindset and small doable steps we can all take to feel more hopeful and grounded right now.
Speaker A:So if you've been feeling a little bit overwhelmed by, well, everything these days, you should absolutely prioritize this episode.
Speaker A:Let's dive in.
Speaker A:So welcome so much to Stories for the Future.
Speaker A:Tom, it's so great to have you here finally.
Speaker B:Thank you very much.
Speaker B:And let's create a story for the future, right?
Speaker A:Yes, exactly.
Speaker A:So before we dive into the big topics that we're going to talk about, I'd love to hear a little bit about your journey.
Speaker A:What led you to combine osteopathy, futurism and personal development?
Speaker A:It's quite a unique mix, I think.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And since a couple of weeks I can act musician on there as well.
Speaker A:Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You can find me now on all the platforms on the name Fitful.
Speaker B:Fitful with double L.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's another story.
Speaker A:But is it singing or is it some kind of.
Speaker B:I write lyrics of songs and then, you know that what I cannot do, I get AI to generate it for me and it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker B:You will not be able to hear the difference from a, you know, from a professional to what I've created on that.
Speaker B:So you can check that out.
Speaker A:You know, I will definitely do that.
Speaker B:But you know, from all of these things, let's say that there is a main theme.
Speaker B:I want to help humanity transition this difficult times and flourish and thrive and what I call to be fitful, Fitful.
Speaker B:So I call myself the Fitful Futures Explorer.
Speaker B:And everything I do is based on that from different perspectives.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But know that I was trained as a chef, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's a very surprising start.
Speaker B:So when my, my first year, so for in the secondary school was trained as a chef because I had no idea what I was doing, you know, what I was good at except for being good at nothing, because that's what I was considered.
Speaker B:And so I just followed into footsteps that were somewhere already.
Speaker B:How do you say that?
Speaker B:Predestined by others, right?
Speaker B:And so I ended up into catering.
Speaker B:I ended up never working in a kitchen, but in the restaurant overseas, in England, in.
Speaker B:On the.
Speaker B:On a cruise ship, the Queen Elizabeth II.
Speaker B: nd that was somewhere between: Speaker B:I went some wandering years working in catering in hotels, then traveling around the world, then working in hotels again, then on a cruise ship and so forth.
Speaker B: And then I came back in: Speaker B:Everything socially became back into Belgium.
Speaker B:And a good friend of mine called me to say from okay, Tom, what are you doing?
Speaker B:And at that moment, I had no idea.
Speaker B:And he says from well, we are looking for somebody to open a charcuterie deli.
Speaker B:So selling charcuterie cheese, wine.
Speaker B:Because in the eight years that I had been away, he had created a very successful business and wanted to expand.
Speaker B:And I was the ideal candidate.
Speaker B:And they had a shop and they said from we were going to help you if you want to do this.
Speaker B:And I thought from this is a gift from the heavens, right?
Speaker B:Because I was thinking from the rest of my life to be a waiter because management hadn't worked for me.
Speaker B:You know, every time I entered into management, two months later was depressive.
Speaker B:And something happened that, you know, that I had to stop mentally, physically unwell.
Speaker B:And so this came as a surprise.
Speaker B:And at the same time, so from this is it, you know, this is going to bring me the success, the everything he had, basically, because, you know, he had a big house, a nice car, nice motorbike, a successful business and so forth.
Speaker B:And on 99, 99, I opened my own deli.
Speaker B:And two months later, I was suicidal depressive.
Speaker B:And so it looked like a great idea.
Speaker B:It was a gift from the heavens.
Speaker B:But it turned out that I was not made for that.
Speaker B:From traveling around the world to be imprisoned into between four walls was for me, devastating.
Speaker B:But it was the greatest moment also, because everything from that moment onward changed.
Speaker B:I had some coaching.
Speaker B:And through this coaching, there is four steps that actually I went through.
Speaker B:And it's only recently, that rewriting my first book, that I actually saw that the four steps are very distinctive.
Speaker B:And these four steps, the first one is introspection.
Speaker B:First of all, my coach said, from what are you doing here, Tom?
Speaker B:So I had to describe.
Speaker B:And I didn't actually really think about it, I had to describe what did I needed Help with, right?
Speaker B:And it was like this.
Speaker B:I felt this personality and this individuality of me, inside of me was conflicting.
Speaker B:And after that I was also thinking from okay, this is what is going wrong with me.
Speaker B:This is what I need help with.
Speaker B:And I want to have harmony.
Speaker B:And I want these two parts of me becoming back into balance.
Speaker B:So that was introspection, defining what is the problem?
Speaker B:What do you want?
Speaker B:Then she said, okay, now tell me your story.
Speaker B:So not the future story, but the past story.
Speaker B:So retrospection, because I had over the lifetime created some limiting beliefs, metaphors.
Speaker B:I'm good for nothing.
Speaker B:I will always be good for nothing.
Speaker B:The future is que sera sera, whatever will be, will be.
Speaker B:And there are situations in my past that were just blown out of proportion.
Speaker B:And I did not see that.
Speaker B:But she helped me change my perspective on past experiences.
Speaker B:And then the third step was, was, okay, she gave me homework, three questions.
Speaker B:And at the end, when these were discussed in the second session, turned out that it was to find my potential.
Speaker B:And turns out there was a therapist, communicator, teacher, researcher and traveler in me.
Speaker B:That's the potential I am born with.
Speaker B:So there is this introspection, finding that there is this inside of me.
Speaker B:And then she asked me, okay, now imagine an ideal day in 10 years time.
Speaker B:And you start with, I wake up in the morning, end, okay, I didn't have the guidelines that just gave me that question.
Speaker B:And I thought is the most ridiculous thing in the world because I have a shop that's not working.
Speaker B:I'm personally not well physically, not well mentally, and you want me to think about the future.
Speaker B:But this is completely bonkers, right in that moment.
Speaker B:But I was scared of her.
Speaker B:She was quite intimidating and I was easily intimidated.
Speaker B:And so I thought from okay, if this is my potential, if this is what I'm born with, so I have this conflict.
Speaker B:I want harmony.
Speaker B:Would harmony not exist if I start to put my potential into action?
Speaker B:Because why else would I have this potential?
Speaker B:Why else do we have different potential of each person has a different potential set.
Speaker B:So if it was not important, would it have been phased out into our evolution?
Speaker B:So I started to imagine what could a therapist, etc.
Speaker B:Be in 10 years time.
Speaker B:So I created a story and the phrase that entered from that was, I'm a therapist who has developed his own approach, who has written a book about it and is asked around the world to give presentations and workshops.
Speaker B:And from that moment onwards, I had a focal point.
Speaker B:And the things just happened after that, you know, I started, I went to a workshop or like a presentation on kinesiology, which is a muscle testing, manual therapy technique.
Speaker B:And when I saw this, I.
Speaker B:But I can do this.
Speaker B:I started this course.
Speaker B:And then the teacher said, have you done this before?
Speaker B:No, this is the first time.
Speaker B:But I feel so in my element doing this.
Speaker B:Like I've always done that.
Speaker B:And that is how I entered into manual therapy.
Speaker B:And then the choices was, okay, I want something more professional.
Speaker B:Osteopathy came.
Speaker B: And then in: Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:I did in.
Speaker B:So what was it?
Speaker B:2001.
Speaker B:I was 31 at the time.
Speaker B:2007, I started my practice.
Speaker B:And then soon as I started to work as a practitioner, people were saying, from Tom, you're doing something different.
Speaker B:And I was, you know, I was having behavioral changes in people by physical treatment.
Speaker B:You know, less stress, more focus, better decision making, changes in temporality.
Speaker B:People had more time.
Speaker B:And, you know, here we are, this is like 25 years later.
Speaker B:And now I'm teaching and I'm actually that therapist, communicator, teacher, researcher and traveler or.
Speaker B:And, you know, I cannot see my future any be different than just doing that.
Speaker A:It's fantastic.
Speaker A:It's a great story.
Speaker A:And I think that so many people have a kind of a similar thing that they go into something because of their background or the stories they tell themselves.
Speaker A:But you had this episode when you got suicidal that woke you up in a way.
Speaker A:And so looking back at that, I guess you're happy about that moment today.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm happy about everything.
Speaker B:All my difficult moments, actually, because even the ones before which was like, you know, there have been difficult moments, like everybody has them and, you know, but I've created them all, all into something, you know, like a source.
Speaker B:And I say sometimes to my patients, you know, that what we go through, and definitely personally that what we go through has now is helping me understand my patients better, have more empathy for them, and also that they resonate more with me because they feel, you know, that there is a kind of understanding because of experience.
Speaker B:Not of books, not of writing, not of something that you've heard, but really live and on a subconscious level, people connect with that.
Speaker A:Yeah, interesting.
Speaker A:So let's go on to the big one that I'm thinking a lot about these days.
Speaker A:So because the world today, now it's April when we record this, the world feels not only a bit, but quite chaotic, you might say.
Speaker A:We have all the political issues, we have climate crisis, we have like big changes happening so fast.
Speaker A:So how do we not just survive this, but actually find a way to, to thrive, to grow.
Speaker B:So I think that three steps will be important into that, right?
Speaker B:First of all is at this moment, we are very much evolutionary wise trying to control our environment, right?
Speaker B:So for 12,000 years we tried and we adapted our environment so that we would have it easier and fit into it.
Speaker B:Now when we are seeing what is happening outside of us, it's like a wild horse running away from us.
Speaker B:And we are running after it, still trying to catch up with it.
Speaker B:And that is, is that on the political side or is that on the technological side?
Speaker B:We are trying to run after it and we are depleting our energies, resources, and we are just getting tired and tired running because if we try to run, it seems to be running faster.
Speaker B:So what we need to do is to stop, stop trying to control that environment, but focus on ourselves and start to change our perspective on that environment.
Speaker B:So instead of controlling everything on the outside, it's controlling ourselves and our perspective on it, how we react onto it.
Speaker B:That is very important that we do that today because at the moment we seem to be lost in control because we put the control outside of us, not inside us.
Speaker B:Then the second step is also that at this moment, when we look at the future, it's a big void and a very unknown area.
Speaker B:What is going to change?
Speaker B:Everything is going to change.
Speaker B:And there is like this.
Speaker B:Whatever is going to happen, we don't know.
Speaker B:But in fact, that's also an illusion because there are many things that don't change or as I call them, do not alter.
Speaker B:And so DNA does not alter.
Speaker B:Create a DNA for your future.
Speaker B:Find the things that do not alter on which you can build, because that gives you security, safety.
Speaker B:If something happens, you can fall back onto that.
Speaker B:So no matter what the scenario of the future plays out, you have to have a DNA for your future so that you can go back to that.
Speaker B:And that again is not on the outside, but it's from within you.
Speaker B:My DNA for the future exists out of three elements, like a DNA helix.
Speaker B:You have strands and you have bonds that connect them.
Speaker B:The strands are subjective.
Speaker B:For me, it is.
Speaker B:What do I want to feel?
Speaker B:I want to feel content, fulfilled and healthy.
Speaker B:I ask many of my patients, how do you want to feel?
Speaker B:I don't want to feel this, I don't want to feel that.
Speaker B:I said that's not my question.
Speaker B:How do you want to feel if you don't, you know, if you don't know what you want, how can you get it what you want?
Speaker B:Because we create avoidance behavior by not knowing what we want, but by knowing what we don't want.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So what do you want to feel?
Speaker B:The second part, subjective, is what are your aspirations?
Speaker B:What do you want from life?
Speaker B:Doing the things you do, what does that have to, you know, what do you want from that?
Speaker B:I want to have a great future.
Speaker B:And future is life.
Speaker B:And great is an acronym for good, resilient, evolvable, actionable and transcendent.
Speaker B:So this is the elements that I want in my life.
Speaker B:This is what I want to be able to create.
Speaker B:But it's subjective.
Speaker B:What is my objective part is my bonds and that we come back to what I said before.
Speaker B:My potential.
Speaker B:I'm born with it, I will die with it.
Speaker B:Even if I'm a thousand years old, I still will have that therapy.
Speaker B:Communication, teaching, research and travel.
Speaker B:That is my, that is my objective part that I can develop and express in different ways.
Speaker B:Because today I'm an osteopath specialized in stress related ailments.
Speaker B:At 80, I still be a therapist, maybe in a retirement home, listening to the nurses.
Speaker B:I still be a therapist.
Speaker B:It will be expressed in different ways.
Speaker B:So my DNA is something that will, does not alter, but will be expressed in different ways.
Speaker B:No matter the circumstances of my environment and myself.
Speaker B:Most people don't have a DNA.
Speaker B:Most people don't have this basis on which they can build.
Speaker B:And it's actually Jeff Bezos from Amazon who uses this.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:It's not what will change, that's the most important question.
Speaker B:But find what does not change.
Speaker B:Like for him, reading, people will continue to read.
Speaker B:Tingle was created from that Shopping.
Speaker B:People will continue shopping, but we can change how they shop.
Speaker B:And that will always change in time, of over time.
Speaker B:You see how that works also on a business level, the third part that I would say from do less, enjoy more.
Speaker B:Our biological footprint, like the ecological footprint, if you're used to many resources from Earth that Earth can replenish in a year, you get trouble.
Speaker B:The biological footprint is your footprint.
Speaker B:How many of the demands you have and resources.
Speaker B:Many people are having too many demands on them for the resources they have.
Speaker B:You're not a robot, your energies is limited.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:So these are the three elements that I think are essential to start the process of, you know, transitioning in this change.
Speaker B:Because it's all done from within, on purpose.
Speaker B:While life before is being by accident, natural selection, mutation, everything is like que sera sera.
Speaker B:Whatever will be, will be.
Speaker B:We will see.
Speaker B:And this has to change now.
Speaker B:We have to have A purpose to our lives.
Speaker B:We have to add that, have a direction so we can change our behavior and our environment.
Speaker B:And this is how within a generation we will be able to transition and flourish and thrive.
Speaker A:So I was thinking about the DNA that you mentioned.
Speaker A:That would mean I'm thinking about all the people losing their jobs these days, for instance.
Speaker A:So having a DNA, something that does not change, does not alter, would make you resilient towards all the external, like losing that job or losing your identity as something within a job.
Speaker A:Because you already have that, your personal DNA within.
Speaker A:Right, exactly.
Speaker B:Also, so you have upskilling and reskilling.
Speaker B:So I think it's the World Economic Forum that said some 1 billion people need to upskill and reskill within the next five years or something like that.
Speaker B:Okay, but if you don't know your potential, then what am I going to do?
Speaker B:But if you know your potential and then you are more proactive, you can think ahead.
Speaker B:You're probably already preparing for the eventuality that something is going to change and you evolve or you develop your skills to what is going to be needed.
Speaker B:Or when something unexpected happens and you're going to look from, okay, these are my skill sets, this is my potential.
Speaker B:How can I express that in a different way that is needed today?
Speaker B:And then that change is part of your evolution as something that brings you what you want to feel and your aspirations.
Speaker B:Because it doesn't mean that it's easier.
Speaker B:I have my DNA for the future, but does that make my life easier?
Speaker B:Not necessarily.
Speaker B:I still have a lot of conflicts.
Speaker B:I still have moments where I think, why is this happening?
Speaker B:But I can refocus always take an overview, perspective.
Speaker B:What is happening?
Speaker B:Where am I going?
Speaker B:Where am I going?
Speaker B:What is happening in this moment?
Speaker B:Am I deviated from my path?
Speaker B:Or is this because I have to learn something?
Speaker B:While in the beginning it was a lot of deviation of the path, today it's more from I'm getting resistance to grow, to learn.
Speaker B:And it's like a bodybuilder, a bodybuilder, he wants to create muscles.
Speaker B:He's not going to do that with something that weighs 10 grams a pen.
Speaker B:No, he has resistance, yes, because.
Speaker B:And that resistance is not going, oh, no, it's too heavy.
Speaker B:So he builds it up, builds it up.
Speaker B:But he knows from if I need this resistance because I want to have muscles.
Speaker B:Well, the same is when you have your DNA for the future.
Speaker B:Sometimes the resistance is increasing because you need to transition, you need to grow, you need to elevate.
Speaker B:But if you don't know where you're going if you don't know your DNA for the future.
Speaker B:How can you make that distinction between something that is for you or if you deviate it?
Speaker B:With these challenges that we're getting now with upskilling and reskilling also here, if we can find again our center from which we can act and proact, the story changes and the story of the future changes.
Speaker A:I wonder, because I can understand what you mean.
Speaker A:And I see like looking back at my own journey when I went from one career or industry and trying to, okay, where do I go now?
Speaker A:I don't have any idea.
Speaker A:And what I did was to look at the kind of the market, what was needed at the moment.
Speaker A:And I went in that direction.
Speaker A:But I didn't, I didn't think about having a DNA or what's my potential.
Speaker A:So I went in a direction where, okay, I see that there's a demand for this.
Speaker A:And then ending up just hating was not for me.
Speaker A:So how do you kind of find the balance or the match then between what you see as your potential and what the world needs, how to merge them in a way?
Speaker B:I can only say this retrospectively of course.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because of going through that.
Speaker B:It's a very strange thing, is that I never really had to think about, just gradually made itself known.
Speaker B:It's like if I see where I am today, specialized in stress related ailments.
Speaker B: een specialized in that since: Speaker B:Anyway, you have to trust the process, that you are here for a reason.
Speaker B:And once you start developing your DNA for the future and when you start from your source, then when you are in contact with something like a hand that is given to you, then you can say from yes or no or maybe better.
Speaker B:You probably see things already happening before they happen because you know where you're going and because okay, one thing to maybe to specific, specific, say specifically with that DNA for the future.
Speaker B:You need to create an image of the future.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:It's not just enough, you know how to see what you're.
Speaker B:You have to have a goal somewhere.
Speaker B:And so as I had my.
Speaker B:I'm a therapist who has developed his own approach and so forth.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And but from Then onwards you can make better decisions and choices and actions.
Speaker B:And so what you're saying, if you don't have it, then of course we might find ourselves again on a stray.
Speaker B:And we are always finding this like a cycle of I am again where I was.
Speaker B:And by doing this you break through that.
Speaker B:You let your future pull you forward instead of the back pushing you into direction unknown.
Speaker A:True.
Speaker A:So you are more following the stream just like where it goes, pulled in.
Speaker B:Hundreds of different directions at the moment.
Speaker B:That is wearing us out.
Speaker B:It's physically wearing us out, mentally wearing us out.
Speaker B:But if you have this kind of focal point, and remember that focal point is somewhere fixed.
Speaker B:But it can be expressed in different ways.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's adaptable.
Speaker B:So you create stability through change.
Speaker B:What do you think is happening in the body and our homeostasis or that's small changes to keep the stability through change allostasis, with adrenaline and cortisols and muscle tension tensing up and relaxing, that's allostasis.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it is also creating stability through change.
Speaker B:That is what health is all about within the body.
Speaker B:Now I'm creating the idea of eustasis, the good balance between us and our environment, which also needs stability through change.
Speaker B:It's not fixed because fixation is a problem, that's a dysfunction.
Speaker B:And what we need is to be able to cope and manage change not by controlling, again, not by controlling that environment, but by controlling how we react to that environment by our primitive brain, but somewhere by a rational brain and by making that, by repeating it over and over again, creating a behavioral change that is actually a routine.
Speaker B:And if you go back into, you know, neurology and DNA, you have the DNA, the, the biological DNA, and you have what is called epigenetics.
Speaker B:So you have the gene and epigenetics and genetics is actually from that what is going to stimulate the gene to be expressed in different ways.
Speaker B:And the DNA is not fixed either.
Speaker B:It can be expressed in different ways.
Speaker A:Yeah, you can turn it on and off, right?
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Through what behavior in an environment.
Speaker B:And you can see that in the astronauts are going to the space station, within a couple of months, their epigenetic expression is changing and their DNA expression is changing through epigenetic stimuli.
Speaker B:So the environment is changing, that changes the epigenetic expression.
Speaker B:Or I don't know, I need to look it up, how it's exactly formulated.
Speaker B:But actually they have epigenetic changes that they can measure when they come back to Earth.
Speaker B:So if they can do that within a couple of months or when they have that within a couple of months, imagine what we can do.
Speaker B:But we need a focal point on which we can create those behavioral and environmental changes.
Speaker B:That is what I call a DNA for your future.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I'm really curious because, like, just a coincidence, I started going to a manual therapist or an osteopath.
Speaker A:No, manual therapist and physiotherapist.
Speaker A:He is last week because of some back issues.
Speaker A:And I'm really curious about what you see in your patients and what you do to kind of make it better.
Speaker A:And what do you see due to all the things that we've been talking about with all the, like, all the pulling we have in all different directions.
Speaker A:And I'm also.
Speaker A:I don't know how young people you have in your clinic, but also for the young people that I see are even more pulled in all different directions and.
Speaker A:Or pressured into a specific type, you know?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:What can you tell me about that?
Speaker A:What do you see and what you do?
Speaker B:So manual therapy.
Speaker B:So is basically based on developments of the 19th and 20th century, which were at the time with a lot of problems due to physical trauma or overuse.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So repetition.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:That created musculoskeletal problems.
Speaker B:Neck, shoulder, back pain.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Acute.
Speaker B:And when the patient came, they said to the.
Speaker B:To the therapist or the practitioner, when he asked what happened, he said, I fell, I had an accident.
Speaker B:You know, I'm working in the industry and so forth.
Speaker B: So you could say that until: Speaker B:Today, it's a different story.
Speaker B:Today I asked my patients what happened.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I woke up with it.
Speaker B:I just moved a little bit forward and every day move and I was stuck.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Okay, so pain area, pain intensity, the same.
Speaker B:Dorrigin.
Speaker B:Different.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So what most manual therapies are or manual therapists are doing today is treating it with the 19th and 20th century treatment protocols.
Speaker B:But it's not a biomechanical problem.
Speaker B:It's an autonomic problem.
Speaker B:Stress over time has created an autonomic dysfunction or an autonomic lesion where that sympathetic nervous system is fixed into a state, and when you rest, it doesn't come down.
Speaker B:Because normally sympathetic and parasympathetic is like moving synchronously, but one goes up, the other one goes down, and then the one goes up and goes up.
Speaker B:So it's always moving up and down.
Speaker B:Now what you get is it's sympathetic, is stuck.
Speaker B:Parasympathetic is low, so no recuperation regeneration, and then body starts to compensate and compensate and compensate.
Speaker B:And then one day I'm stuck.
Speaker B:Yeah, okay.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B: big difference between before: Speaker B:And for some reason I attracted them.
Speaker B:But today it's increasingly relevant.
Speaker B:More and more patients are coming with that and more patients are saying, I went to my osteopath, went to my physio, but it did not work.
Speaker B:And then they come to me and then one session might be enough because I'm building in the autonomic resetting before my treatment, before my symptom treatment.
Speaker B: at I've been developing since: Speaker B:Reset is R E a S E T to return to ease approach, which is like a protocol that when you do that first and then build in the symptomatic, so the treatment of the physical symptom at the end.
Speaker B:But it's like, you know when you're in a house and you have a switchboard, right?
Speaker B:You know, the, how do you call it?
Speaker B:The, you know, for the electricity.
Speaker B:You know, when there is, you know, when you have a flashbang storm outside and suddenly your switch is tripped, okay, you just put that back, no problem.
Speaker B:But what if there is somewhere in your house, somewhere, an over current, you're going to switch it back and it will always come back, Will always come back.
Speaker B:So we need to fix the overcurrent, the sympathetic nervous system.
Speaker B:We have to bring that down, we have to push that parasympathetic so there is back balance so the body can again create autonomic balance.
Speaker B:And then we're going to treat the overcompensations that have been created so that when we come to the symptom that it is free from influences and we can just work on it specifically at the end of one treatment.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So, but what the question was, what are we seeing differently?
Speaker B:So people get far more musculoskeletal problems, just tensioning neck, shoulder and lower back, not from a physical trauma, but from unknown origin.
Speaker B:They also start to complain more at the same time of mental health, like moodiness being more reactive, changes in memory, and also what's called multimodal disorders.
Speaker B:Then they have some problem here and there and you know, in different systems in the body as well, digestive problems.
Speaker B:Some people, they have like sort of, you know, paresthesis in the leg so they're just so tingling sensations and no, nobody knows what it is about.
Speaker B:And all of that can be related to that autonomic nervous system.
Speaker B:It's a very, it's a big change today.
Speaker B:And when you say about young people, yeah, it's the same thing.
Speaker B:So when I believe and I, I asked my father, so it's.
Speaker B:I'm not free of problems, right.
Speaker B:I'm 55 years old soon, I'm not free of any problems, age related or not.
Speaker B:And I asked my father, did you have these problems already when you were 50?
Speaker B:And he said, no, 70.
Speaker B:But what I'm seeing today is that the younger people of 30 are having the same issues as I have now.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Which I did not have when I was 30.
Speaker A:That's a bit scary.
Speaker B:And so how does this all relate with each other?
Speaker B:I have some inklings, I have some ideas about that.
Speaker B:Of course it's not proven, but it's all related also with maybe, you know, wi fi, radiation, GS that maybe are.
Speaker B:Or just by the stress that we have in our lives that is accelerating cellular aging.
Speaker A:But I'm curious, could you just, how do you do that, reset then before you do the treatment?
Speaker B:Okay, it's a full body treatment, right?
Speaker B:Because the autonomic nervous system, so the parasympathetic, so the relaxation, recuperation, regeneration, the source of that is within the back of the head and in your sacrum and the sympathetic is in your spine.
Speaker B:So we need to do what's called craniosacral therapy first.
Speaker B:So when you start working on the head first, because on the head there you have the biggest influence on calming the body.
Speaker B:If you have children.
Speaker B:And for the listeners who have children, when a child is in distress, what do you do?
Speaker B:You put it in the corner and start screaming at it.
Speaker B:Or what would work better is to take it in your arms.
Speaker B:Not squeezing too hard, not too loose either.
Speaker B:So there is a zone in which you hold them in security.
Speaker B:And then you rub the head, right?
Speaker B:And you rub the head and you, or you touch and you rub until the, you feel that the respiration is, you know, the breathing is going down again, that snottering becomes calmer again.
Speaker B:And then you say from, okay, what happened?
Speaker B:Also when you forget a name, what was that again?
Speaker B:Did that person.
Speaker B:When you have something done, you shouldn't have that.
Speaker B:Oh, I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker B:Tension, stress, you touch your head.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So what I'm doing, when the person is lying down, this is what I discovered.
Speaker B:So I was doing this instinctively, I was holding the head safely here on the occiput until it calmed, released.
Speaker B:It's like, you know, from butter that came out of the deep freeze to butter that was left outside for a couple of hours.
Speaker B:You know, that's that, that feeling of suddenly you just go into it, but no massage, no pulling, no, you know, nothing strenuous or nothing too active really, waiting for the body to come under my hand, then do that also behind here, you know, that's the mastoid bone because the vagus nerve, very important parasympathetic nerve, comes out here.
Speaker B:Then you do it on the temples again, 2cm inside is the amygdala.
Speaker B:Inside the bone you have the pituitary gland, all related to stress response.
Speaker B:By touching the head, it's like giving a signal to that brain part that has no language, verbal language, but can react to touch, say from you're okay, you're safe.
Speaker B:There is no saber toothed tiger running after you.
Speaker B:And you really feel that melting sensation.
Speaker B:So that's the first thing.
Speaker B:So once you've done that and feel that the body starts to relax, well then also neural hormonal changes are happening because otherwise you would not feel that or I would not feel that.
Speaker B:And then you go to the left side of the body, like you, you're going to release the tensions in the arm, in the thorax, in the leg, the first left side, right side.
Speaker B:You touch the sacrum, the lumbar spine and you do the same thing, always accompanying until you feel there is this easiness coming back into the body.
Speaker B:After that, some spinal decoactive manipulation, really light pressure onto the spine to release the pressure on the sympathetic nervous system.
Speaker B:Because it's not.
Speaker B:Because you push parasympathetic nervous system, push the relaxation recuperation regeneration button, buttons that you lower the sympathetic, so you also need to inhibit sympathetic.
Speaker B:Okay, so that is all I do.
Speaker B:And that takes about 15 minutes.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:You know, I've been doing this for a long time.
Speaker B:So there is some kind of, you know, the more you do it, the more it works.
Speaker B:And I'm teaching others to do this right in the reset approach is a four day workshop.
Speaker B:I'm teaching manual therapists to do this.
Speaker B:I go to India, I've been to Dubai, I've been here doing this in Belgium.
Speaker B:And so in four days I can transmit all that they need to know to do this and build this into their practice.
Speaker B:And from then onwards they get, then the message is Tom, you know, it's, it's changed my practice, my Patients are so happy, they're really seeing the difference, they're feeling it.
Speaker B:So it is transmittable.
Speaker B:It's not me.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:Yes, but then have you been to Norway?
Speaker B:No, but I love, you know, manual therapies like physiotherapy schools and osteopathy schools.
Speaker B:Please invite me to get in contact with me because this is what I want to do.
Speaker B:Because it's what we need to do also.
Speaker B:It's not, you know, we are too focused on changing the mindset, you know, through coaching.
Speaker B:But the body, what about that?
Speaker B:You know, the body changes the mind.
Speaker B:If your body's in the stress response, you can do all the talking you want, you can do all the coaching you want.
Speaker B:But if that stress response stays active, it's very difficult to implement.
Speaker B:Also, for a tip, for people that are listening, if you feel that, for example, your mindfulness exercises or your yoga exercises is creating more anxiety, that is when that autonomic nervous system has become a lesion, that is when the body's stress response cannot recover and back to balance.
Speaker B:And it's very logical because your body is saying, I need to fight, I need to flee.
Speaker B:And you're going to sit down and say, while your body thinks you're in danger.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's going to create anxiety.
Speaker B:Just increasing your activity in the amygdala to, to.
Speaker B:For you to not do that.
Speaker A:Is it, does it the same go for like, you know, breathing exercises?
Speaker A:Because I can see I have this, this watch, you know, that measures everything and if I do some breathing, I can see that helps directly on my, what they call the HRV and heart rate before I.
Speaker A:How does that work?
Speaker A:Is breathing different than, for instance, yoga or meditation?
Speaker B:When you're in a, when the autonomic lesion is present or stress related dysautonomia has led to autonomic lesion, then even the breathing exercises will probably get you more anxious.
Speaker B:But if you're capable to balance still, if your body has still the capacity to adapt, then all of that becomes a tool to keep it that way.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a tool for you to recreate balance and create resilience.
Speaker B:But it's like once you have a, in an injury, and once you have an injury, then it's a different story.
Speaker B:Or once you have a lesion and because an autonomic nervous system, okay, huge accident, it can, you know, parts of it can be severed, but most of the time it's a functional problem.
Speaker B:All right?
Speaker B:And once that has, when you enter that stage, then all of these things feel more anxious.
Speaker B:While before that it did not.
Speaker B:Also, for example, when some people say, okay, go running.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:If you're stressed.
Speaker B:Well, in fact, that's the worst thing you can do if you're really chronically stressed.
Speaker B:Your heart rate, your breath rate have already been increased and then they go running and they get an aneurysm.
Speaker A:But that's if they're really stressed, like.
Speaker B:For a long time.
Speaker B:It's not, that doesn't happen within a week or a month or something like that.
Speaker B:It's a long time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Stress response increases your heart rate, breath rate, muscles tense up.
Speaker B:Let's.
Speaker B:Yeah, so let's say that's the focal point or many other things.
Speaker B:So when you do relaxation, it has to, you know, decrease your heart rate, your breath rate and your muscle muscular tension.
Speaker B:So when you're thinking about, oh, what, I'm going to do something to relax and people say, I'm going to watch a horror movie and say from I'm going to do sauna.
Speaker B:Right, I know, because in the sauna your heart rate goes up, your breath rate goes up.
Speaker B:You see?
Speaker B:So yes, do things where these three things come down.
Speaker B:Those are essential.
Speaker B:It doesn't matter what you do, but please do them.
Speaker A:So to be practical then if people aren't close to a therapist, that can help them.
Speaker A:So in these days, when people are feeling overwhelmed, really stressed by the news, their job, the state of the world, everything, are there a couple of simple things that people can do?
Speaker A:Like instead of them trying to do yoga or meditate or go for a run, what should they do if they don't have access to a therapist?
Speaker B:Sometimes we overestimate our own, you know, what we can do.
Speaker B:And then we delay and delay and delay and procrastinate to go and seek help, please.
Speaker B:I, I'm not, I'm here because of help by other people when you need help.
Speaker B:Even, even they are not 100% trained into 21st century, you know, manual therapy.
Speaker B:Please do go and see them.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:Because again, I can say from do this breathing exercise, but when that breathing, when they're stuck in the autonomic lesion, then it's not going to work.
Speaker B:The things we can do is definitely give each other.
Speaker B:It might be strange if we have a partner or a good friend.
Speaker B:Sometimes what we need is a hug.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:A hug and, and not just a short hug, but a hug where you feel there is connection, where in a way where you allow yourself and your body to calm down.
Speaker B:So if you have a Partner create this kind of hug moments.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sometimes I say to couples, okay, I'm gonna show you a few things that you can do on the head.
Speaker B:You know, partner lies down on the.
Speaker B:On the bed or in the sofa.
Speaker B:And touch here, the back.
Speaker B:Back of the head.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And also the frontal area, so you can do it like this.
Speaker B:And also the temples, so that you're.
Speaker B:You're behind them.
Speaker B:Person is lying in front of you.
Speaker B:And you just hold your hands under that, you know, at the end of the neck, beginning of the head.
Speaker B:And then your index fingers behind your ears is a hard bone.
Speaker B:So put your hands.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Onto that and allow it to unwind.
Speaker B:So no massage, just holding it lightly.
Speaker B:No pressure.
Speaker B:Breathe.
Speaker B:So let your partner breathe.
Speaker B:You breathe calmly and just allow it to unwind and stimulate with an intention and attention to say, from any.
Speaker B:Relax.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:It's in your mind.
Speaker B:It's a stimulation that you want to give.
Speaker B:I want you to bring back, you know, I want to stimulate, ease.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I want us to return to peace.
Speaker B:Also here on the temples, it's a little bit of a convex area.
Speaker B:So when you feel this is concave, and then you have a part where it's convex.
Speaker B:That's the part.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And then like this also.
Speaker B:And most of the time, not more than five minutes.
Speaker B:And do that with the breathing exercise.
Speaker B:So you ask, you know, your partner or your friend, you know, five seconds in, five seconds out.
Speaker B:Do it yourself while you're doing it so that you focus on your breathing, not on doing.
Speaker B:Synchronized.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's practical advice.
Speaker A:I like that.
Speaker B:And for those who have tried it, for those who've tried it, please send us a message.
Speaker A:Yes, yes, send us a message from.
Speaker B:How was that experience?
Speaker B:Please, this is a call to action.
Speaker B:Do this to your partner.
Speaker B:If you need to know how exactly, if you can't remember, just send me a message and I will write a little document that I can send to you or maybe a little video that I can make, you know, for people that say from.
Speaker B:Okay, what do I need to do again?
Speaker B:You know, and let's try this out.
Speaker B:Let's see how this works.
Speaker B:Well, I've done it with people, I've done it with patients, so I know it works.
Speaker B:But I want to know from.
Speaker B:From you now that I first.
Speaker B:The first time, I think somebody asked me on a podcast to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:To explain this, what to do.
Speaker B:So let's do this.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And yes.
Speaker A:Do.
Speaker A:Do send us a message.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's very interesting, but.
Speaker A:So one final Question.
Speaker A:Because this podcast is.
Speaker A:It's all about how to find a balance between purposeful and exciting job, career and a good life in a world now that which is more divided than ever and also changing really fast.
Speaker A:As we talked about, if you could leave the listeners with one thought or practice apart from in addition to what we talked about now or mindset shift perhaps to bring with them into the future, what would that be?
Speaker A:You talk also about like this future mindset in your book.
Speaker A:So what you would you say to people?
Speaker B:It's definitely to futurize yourself, right?
Speaker B:So it's to have that DNA so that you create a future where you feel in your element, right.
Speaker B:And then start working towards that.
Speaker B:It's important to, as we said before, to start controlling ourselves and give ourselves a destination, a purpose from, with and on purpose.
Speaker B:Because when everything changes, what is the one element that will be there for the rest of the time you're alive?
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:It's more about this change and this chaos is about.
Speaker B:You know, it might be strange to say, but put yourself back into the center.
Speaker B:But never forget that what you do influences others.
Speaker B:It's your future, your and our future.
Speaker B:So what you do, you know, don't be the egoistic person because that is going to create a lot of strife around you.
Speaker B:We are a community.
Speaker B:We are a society.
Speaker B:We are on.
Speaker B:We are on this planet together.
Speaker B:Get help if you need it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But know that, you know, centering on yourself, become the center of the universe.
Speaker B:You are the center of your universe.
Speaker B:But never forget that you are in a community.
Speaker B:So I believe that while the chaos is going on, while you may be losing your job or you need to upskill and reskill yourself, find the center within that what you can develop.
Speaker B:Know that there is a place for you.
Speaker B:There is a place for your skills.
Speaker B:They will need to transition.
Speaker B:But we are in this life and we're in this part.
Speaker B:And you're not alone experiencing this.
Speaker B:But it will have to come from you.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:So the center of your own universe, but not forgetting about the people around you.
Speaker A:I think that's.
Speaker B:We are, you know, this body is made of trillions of cells working together.
Speaker B:We are 8 billion on the body Earth.
Speaker B:When you're in space on the ESS station, you can't even see the individual.
Speaker B:And I think that's a very.
Speaker B:We have to remember that.
Speaker B:When I look at my body, I can't see my individual cells either, but they are all working together.
Speaker A:True.
Speaker A:I mentioned you have written two books and you do a lot of interesting work.
Speaker A:So where do people find your books, your work or like a way to get in touch with you?
Speaker B:So futurizeyourself.com it's one side, myerstom.com is the other one.
Speaker B:And find me on LinkedIn, that is my main, let's say social media platform where you can find me, where you can connect with me.
Speaker A:I'll share everything in the show notes so that people can get in touch.
Speaker B:And find my music as well.
Speaker A:Check out your work.
Speaker A:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:And I will do that right away now afterwards.
Speaker A:That's very exciting.
Speaker A:Looking forward to that.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker A:Tom.
Speaker A:It's been really interesting.
Speaker A:A different episode but I think so important one.
Speaker A:So yes, I can't wait to share it with people.
Speaker A:So thank you so much.
Speaker B:It is about energy transition.
Speaker A:Yes, it is.
Speaker A:In a different way.
Speaker A:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:You're welcome.
Speaker A:And that's a wrap on today's episode with a wise and wonderful Tom Myers.
Speaker A:I hope this gave you some new ways to think about stress, potential and that all important inner compass or as Tom calls it, your DNA for the future.
Speaker A:If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like something that I have recently put out there into the world.
Speaker A:It's called the Quiet Pivot Companion Pack and it goes with the short solo episodes I have started to publish every Monday.
Speaker A:This set of practical tools are there to help you navigate identity shifts and career transitions with more clarity, calm and self trust.
Speaker A:They're exactly what I would have wanted to have myself back then when I was changing careers myself.
Speaker A:So you'll get them on my substack or on my website storiesforthefuture.com and of course I would always like to hear from you, reach out, share what resonated from this episode or from the companion pack or let me know if you tried the partner reset exercise.
Speaker A:I'm sure that Tom would also really like to hear that.
Speaker A:Until next time, stay curious, be kind to each other and keep imagining better futures.
Speaker A:Torchtisen.
