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The instinct to be liked runs deep. It’s a quiet, constant hum beneath our choices, guiding us to be agreeable, to smooth things over, to avoid making waves. We learn to edit ourselves for an audience, hoping for approval as a sign of safety.
But this performance is exhausting. Your body, in its profound honesty, often pays the price.
At Ground Chiropractic, we see the physical toll of people-pleasing. It shows up as chronic tension in the shoulders of the person who never says no, and as persistent headaches in the one who always puts others first.
This pain is not a flaw; it’s a sign that your internal compass is pointing toward a truth you may have been taught to ignore.
When your primary goal is to manage how others perceive you, your nervous system enters a state of quiet vigilance.
There is a constant, low-level monitoring of reactions, a subtle bracing for judgment. You hold your breath waiting for a response. You clench your jaw through a difficult conversation.
This state is the opposite of rest. It keeps your body simmering in a fight-or-flight response, never allowing it to enter the state of repair and recovery it so desperately needs.
The energy it takes to be constantly agreeable is the very energy your body needs to heal.
Healing is not a linear or predictable process. It has its own rhythm, its own timeline. But when you are worried about what others will think – “Are you still in pain? Shouldn’t you be better by now?” – it adds a layer of pressure that can become a silent obstacle.
This fear can cause you to push through pain when your body is asking for rest. It can make you feel like a burden for asking for help. It can lead to a sense of shame around your own physical experience.
This emotional stress keeps the nervous system on high alert, creating a physiological environment where true recovery struggles to take root.
Choosing to honour your body’s needs is a radical act of self-respect. It is not selfish to cancel plans when you are exhausted. It is not unkind to set a boundary around your time and energy.
These choices are the necessary groundwork for authentic connection. When you show up for others from a place of genuine capacity, rather than resentful obligation, the quality of that connection is profoundly different. You are offering your presence, not your performance.
Your body does not care about being popular. It cares about balance, safety, and integrity. Its signals – pain, fatigue, tension – are not designed to win anyone’s approval. They are designed to guide you back to yourself.
In our practice, we create a space where your body doesn’t have to perform. The adjustment is a moment of pure, non-judgmental feedback. It’s a conversation between our hands and your nervous system, free from the noise of external expectations.
Letting go of the need to be liked by everyone is liberating. It frees up an immense amount of energy. It gives your nervous system permission to stand down. And in that quiet, unapologetic space, your body is finally allowed to do what it knows how to do best: heal.
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