In this testimonial interview, therapist Ekemba Sooh talks with client Maria about her multi‑year recovery journey. Maria first sought fitness classes after a wrist surgery and later experienced severe osteoporosis that led to a fractured vertebra and chronic back pain. When a doctor suggested spinal surgery, Maria turned to SolCore Fitness, where Ekemba provided osteopathic manual therapy combined with a brain‑body connection exercise program. The early months were physically and mentally demanding, but after about three months Maria reported significant pain reduction, increased energy, and restored functional abilities such as gardening and longer activity periods. She emphasizes the importance of mental engagement in the training, the personalized adjustments for her condition, and the empowerment to self‑manage her health. The interview concludes with Maria preparing to move to Oregon, reflecting on the improved quality of life she now enjoys thanks to the program.
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Hello, welcome to our little testimonial interview here with Maria. So I met Maria, or met, and I think like 20, 15, 14 15. Yep. She reached out via email, inquired about my classes, and we went back and forth. She finally joined us for one of our free classes we do once a month on a Saturday. It went well for her. She decided to do the two week trial. It went well for her, and then she joined our classes and made great success up until she had some injuries in her spine. I'll let her tell you about it. But then we had a big break in between. And she came back, what, two years.
Ago after my surgery, after the surgery on my wrist, I had to stop because I had surgery on my wrist for a year. But I've been back before.
Yeah. So she came back and she came back because she went to the doctor because she was having a little back pain and the doctor wanted to do surgery. And I told her, I don't think you need surgery. After talking to her, she came and got some treatment. I gave her some exercises and the back pain went away pretty quickly. She rejoined classes and has been with us ever since and has made amazing progress. So we're gonna go back and forth some questions to find out how Maria so successful. So, Maria, before you started with us, what were you doing? Different practitioners and exercise programs that you were doing?
Yeah, I actually worked with a trainer for probably six years before that, and she stopped because of injuries that she had gotten while marathon running. It was a combination of Pilates and yoga, and I did pretty well with that. But then after I stopped, it was not a good thing. So I heard about soulcore and emailed with Ikemba and did the trial class, which was incredibly hard because I also have severe osteoporosis, which is why I broke through vertebrae. And Ikemba in the recovery process has been incredibly helpful in accommodating that to the point where now after how many years? Three full years after that, I am without pain. I can do a lot of things that I wasn't able to do before. So it's been an incredible program for me.
How did you. How did you find me? How did you find SoCal Fitness?
I think I found it on the Internet. Yeah. And I was looking for somebody after my trainer stopped. And so I did some research on the Internet and found you. But I had some questions because it was very different kind of training than I had done before. And so I wanted to make sure, with the condition that I had, that I was not going to injure myself. Further. And that hasn't happened? No.
So was that the defining factor in joining us? Like the fact that you went through the free trial and through the two week trial and then you felt pretty decent?
I felt, yeah, I felt definitely better and the pain was less. So I thought, you know, I'm gaining and I'll just try it and see what happens. Because I'm not a fan of taking a lot of pain medication. So.
So here's a fun question, because what we do is very different. It's quite challenging physically, mentally, little emotionally too. What were your struggles and your challenges as you went through the program?
Well, I thought the first three, four months were really hard. I could see progress, but it came at a price. But after about three months, things started to. To feel a lot better. I mean, no pain, I had more energy. The challenges are the brain body connection, which we did not do in training before. Anything I've done before, there isn't that brain body connection, which at my age I think is incredibly important.
Typical time, like being present in this routine is huge because if you just blindly follow what I say, you won't get it. But if you think and try, like any skill, eventually you become your best therapist and trainer. Because now I give you an exercise that's good for you. Super confusing in the beginning. Don't know what you're doing. After practicing for a while and listen to me blabble on, eventually you get an aha. Then once you get that aha, now you don't need to listen to me. You go back to your reservoir of what you know, and now you can take care of yourself. So after all this time, what type of results have you gotten?
I have definitely diminished the pain that I had before because of the broken vertebrae. I still have occasional lapses and ikenba is supremely helpful in doing. Do you call it physical therapy or osteopathic adjustments?
Osteopathic manual therapy.
Manual therapy, which has been incredibly helpful. And usually one or two treatments send me right on my way to feeling good. The increased energy. And I say it again, you know, when you get older, your brain is not necessarily connected to your big toe. And that is incredibly helpful.
Awesome.
Yeah.
So how has this improved your life? What's your life like now?
That's an incredible question considering that I'm trying to pack up my house and moving. But, you know, I function better. I have stamina that I did not have before. After the breaks in my back, I could not do any gardening, which is one of my favorite pastimes. And I still have to pace myself, but I can do an hour or an hour and a half at a time. Well, before that, I could not do any. So it has improved my quality of life to a large degree.
Wow. I know you've got a lot of results here, but I want to thank you for being you. It has been a joy to get to know you, to talk to you, to interact with you. As she mentioned, she's packing up. Unfortunately, she has to move to Oregon. We're gonna miss her dearly. I'm gonna miss you dearly. And I wanna say thank you so much for trusting me and for sticking with it. It's been an amazing ride for myself as well. So thank you so much. You're welcome.
