Does it mean to be fit or healthy? To be able to chase your dreams? Wake up rested in the morning? To express yourself and to connect with others?
Can you live well when you have persistent pain? Is that even possible?
Lately I have been wondering if so many of us, pain warriors, are struggling because we just don't know what it looks like to live well when you have pain.
There are no role models out there showing us how it is done, no pain mentors that say "do this, avoid that, keep your hopes up, this too shall pass," definitely no media coverage or pain education team ready to jump in and fill in the gaps and misconceptions in our pain knowledge. There are no cheerleaders waving pom-poms in the air whenever we are gaining ground; there's often barely a safety net when we are falling 10 steps back yet again.
I want to open a conversation to share the knowledge and the tools out there that could make living with pain more bearable, more hopeful, and maybe - just maybe! - more well. Maybe together we can paint a picture of what it looks like to live with pain and still live well, so we all can see it - and eventually become it.
How about we start with healthy linguistics?
The reason that I wanted to start here is because oftentimes the first thing I hear from folk at the beginning of their yoga practice is:
My doctor / surgeon / physio says I have {insert the condition label} and that I should avoid doing {insert types of movements}. What do you think?
In what usually is a very short conversation with our care providers we learn that our bodies are broken and / or fragile, and that we shouldn't move in certain ways to protect us from being more broken. Most of us have neither the time nor the energy to investigate the matter any further. If the doctor says it is, it must be true... Right?
Think back of the conversations you've had with your health care team, the thoughts and the feelings those conversations evoked, and then watch this video from the team that started the Explain Pain Revolution. This is a training video to help medical professionals to develop healthy + positive language skills.
Healthy + positive - what a concept!
Watch the video and let me know how the language here compares to what you've heard from your care providers. I wonder if we can change our own pain related language to a one that inspires courage, agency and a sense of hope.
We all have wisdom and knowledge to share - let's make this a conversation that benefits our entire pain warrior community.
