Greetings All. It’s my intention with this article to teach people how they can work with, understand and overcome painful conditions of the body. The first and most important thing to understand is creating an attitude of non-judgement, as frustration and attachment to your pain can encourage a very short-lived support process. You should look at your pain as something that is temporary as all things in life change. The only question is how will you care for your pain and assist with its graceful and timely transformation. To jump right in there are, at the very least, a handful of very helpful and practical ways of you dealing with your pain whether it is from muscular, tendinous, ligamentous, or bony origins. These most effective methods that should be taken seriously, continuously, and consistently are soaking, massaging, stretching, using, resting, acupuncture, chiropractic, reiki, and many other body works.
– Soaking –
When I say soaking, I mean once or twice a week in an Epson salt or Himalayan salt bath with 10 or 15 minutes of soaking your entire body. This can be highly effective to soften tissue relax tightness and Infuse cells with minerals.
– Massage –
Massaging means self-massage and therapeutic massage by a practitioner. There are many forms out there. Thai massage, Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, tui na massage. Exploration is encouraged don’t just try one method or one person but explore to find what feels best to you.
– Stretching –
Stretching is a thing that even the healthiest of us need to do every day or our body will slowly tighten and lose range of motion, thus being vulnerable to injury. This is one of the Yogis secrets to the fountain of youth. You must learn to stretch the injured area as well as your whole body every day maybe even more so when there is an acute problem. I recommend taking at the bare minimum some beginner yoga classes so that you can learn and incorporate stretching into your daily life at home or in the office.
– Using –
Using, I mean USE the area that is painful. One of the most common mistakes is that when something hurts people stop using it, and this is a mistake. If there is extreme pain with the possibility of further injury then by all means use it less so and more gently, but we need to keep moving otherwise stuck-ness will just keep being stuck and worsen. So, injured or painful areas should be used but maybe just to the level that you are able. Do not avoid completely using them otherwise acute conditions may become chronic and chronic conditions may worsen.
-Rest –
On the reverse side of the coin one should balance using with adequate rest for maybe 24 to 48 hours at a time. BUT!!!! rest should NOT be the primary way of looking for relief over any one of the other methods. During yoga class we may do some very intense exercises but those are always followed by one to several minutes of relaxation. It is the balance of Yin and Yang, all aspects of life.
– Acupuncture –
For pain acupuncture is one of the best modalities out there that is Acutually Healthy for you! For some it might work quickly getting 70 to 90% relief within three or four treatments while others it might be a stepwise slower process. However with consistent regular acupuncture treatment I am completely confident that you will be on the path of improving, growing and being healthier.
These are some very basic and great examples of primary, necessary and unavoidable ways of caring, nourishing and working with your pain. But it is not at all all encompassing. There are many other methods such as reflexology, chiropractic, cranial sacral, reiki, and other energy work personal and professional, but these are some great starts. No one of the above methods should be solely relied upon. Rather they should all be used in a cyclical manner. Maybe twice a week you massage the affected area, maybe 1 to 2 times a week you doing an Epsom salts bath, maybe twice a week to once every two weeks or even monthly you get acupuncture and massage treatments. You constantly use the affected area testing the limits and checking your improvement as well as resting it for one or two days in a row at a time with not doing anything.
To emphasize again one of the most important ideas is to use all these tools we know to heal ourselves, but without being attached to your pain as something that you cannot deal with, work through, or even use as a life lesson for growth. Do not be discouraged or encouraged by the rate and levels of improvement possibilities, and don’t let that affect your continuous work that you’re going to do and the work that you’ve already done. Just trust that healing will happen in its own time. Some things are very quick to change other things very slow, some things randomly and spontaneous. We cant always know, rather, just keep doing the work, trying same things and new things and walk your path. Be neutral, continue to use these ideas as well as others and in the right amount of time for you I’m certain you’ll start to improve and eventually overcome some life limiting or uncomfortable states. Please let me know any questions or further exploration you may have on the matter, and know that you’re always healthy and always exactly were you need to be. Be Happy and Peaceful, and Smart with caring for yourself, as well as each other. Many blessings.
