“There is something different about this place”
“There is something special about the environment in here”
“There is a serenity and a peace in this place that’s very special”
Each of these three comments were made by clients at Holistic Wellness Physiotherapy in Barrhaven during our first week of operation in 2019. While these three stick out in our minds, they are not unique or outlying. In fact, nearly everyone that walks into our space for the first time shares a similar sentiment. Many attribute our unique environment to our interior designer. Others credit the architects for the layout they have created. In all fairness, the physical space is beautiful and it helps create the environment we had envisioned. However, make no mistake about it, the HW difference has nothing to do with white walls, trendy designs or our many succulents. The HW difference is about people. It’s about a group of people who have a shared conviction and commitment to care first.
In a moment of brilliance, Heather Wing (partner) proposed “care first” as a mantra that would drive the design, development and fabric of our company. Care First, as a mantra, has evolved into a personal and corporate philosophy across every aspect of our company. We’ve built our team and designed our clinic around Care First. That being said, this dynamic, catchy phrase sometimes feels a little bit like a unicorn; beautiful, mystical, utopian, unattainable. That is, until we really start to pull “Care First” apart and to understand what it means to us. In essence, Care First is equal parts a posture, a priority and a prerequisite to everything we endeavor to do at HW Physio.
Care as Posture
On any given day, each of us is bound to have hundreds of human interactions. Some casual, some professional, some platonic; but each of them important and meaningful. In fact, we have so many daily interactions that we can often find ourselves falling into indifference. Over time, an apathetic mindset driven by self centeredness, self preservation or self exaltation can manifest itself in our way of life. Sometimes, we can’t even recognize it. This reminds me of my personal posture (as in the way I literally struggle to stand up straight). A perfect posture is characterized by a proper alignment of the body that is supported by a healthy balance of muscle tension. My posture is not very aligned nor is there any semblance of a healthy balance. My posture has gotten to the point where I have to be extremely intentional about standing up straight. I even have to undergo physical exercises and get professional help to make sure I can stand up straight. Just like my physical posture, the team at HW are determined to maintain a perfect posture of caring when they engage in personal interaction. A posture that has a healthy alignment of community values, the intrinsic value of each and every individual person and a genuine interest in bringing out the best in each person we meet. Even when life tries to get in the way, we will stand in a posture of caring because, above all else, people matter to us.
Care as Priority
In our industry, quality of care is paramount. We have the privilege of being entrusted with the management of people’s physical, wellness. As such, we take on the responsibility of this dependency with reverence. So much reverence that the quality of care that we provide to each of our clients takes precedence over every other aspect of our business.
At HW, we choose to offer increased one on one treatment time, a hands-on treatment philosophy and the full attention of your physiotherapist during your scheduled session. In our minds, this is the only way to offer premium quality of care. Our approach is focused on providing the best possible care for our patients, period. This means more hands on time with our physiotherapists. This will be our approach everyday, all day, without compromise.
Care as Prerequisite
In our minds, the first prerequisite to any healthy relationship is caring. It’s not simple mutual interest, it’s not based on personality profiles or enneagrams, its squarely rooted in the understanding that each of the people in the relationship actually cares for the well-being and happiness of the other. At HW, we have developed friendships with people from every walk of life and every corner of the earth. We’ve made friends and built relationships in this industry through our willingness to care for each and every person that crosses our path. We unapologetically seek to build relationships every day, because we feel each person and each relationship has value. We feel that when we express our caring first, people are eager to reciprocate. Reciprocated caring is an automatic catalyst for relationship. Its as simple as this, when we care first, healthy things follow.
You might notice care first t-shirts starting to emerge in our community. You may notice an obnoxious emphasis of our care first mantra or the overuse of #carefirst on our social media content. If you are wondering why we are so intentional about that phrase, it’s because care first isn’t just what we believe in, it’s who we are. It’s who we endeavor to be and it’s a vision for the communities that we call home. We invite you to walk into our practice to experience #carefirst for yourself. We also invite you to adopt care first for yourself so you can feel its transformational power in your life and community.
