Here is this week's PAIN CARE YOGA MISSION POSSIBLE:
Health-wise I wasn't feeling so hot this week.
It took me a good - sweet - long time to shift to what I call "safe mode
operation" - that is to prioritize and focus only on the most important things, and also to give myself permission to rest + couch surf.
I actually had to call my friend Niki who literally walked me through writing myself a rest permission slip.
In fact, the whole notion of "hard work till your nose bleeds" is drilled so deep into my head that even writing about rest and couch-surfing gives me hibby - jibbies.
Can you
relate?
Whether or not you have this particular "thought virus," we all have thoughts, notions and belief patterns that contribute to pain.
Like any constant pressure, daily pain alters our physical structure, our nervous system, and our thought process. Not just focus and clarity are muddled; the very fabric of our thinking becomes infected (figuratively speaking) with un-examined, fearful thoughts - THOUGHT
VIRUSES.
Ruth, one of my private clients, says: “ I worry day and night about how this pain would affect everyday life and just existing; I’m afraid I might end up in a wheelchair. I’m not even that old yet, what will become of me?”
This pain-induced worry thinking produces enough stress to create adrenal fatigue and lock her in the vicious circle of self-perpetuating pain by affecting the way Ruth carries herself and her breathing patterns.
Add to it daily stresses of living…
How do we challenge THOUGHT VIRUS status quo?
Try this:
1. examine your thought patterns and become aware of "thought viruses"
2. re-frame rest and relaxation as "recovery time" - I found this to provide an invaluable shift in my attitude toward rest
3. find your "safe mode of operation." One of my
teachers says this: "practice at 60 - 70% of your maximum because this is the only way to improve and grow. If you always give it your 100%, there's no more room for improvement. You will end up being stuck in break-down - recuperate cycle, and that is not really conducive for growth." Not really conducive for solid pain management, either. How did I forget this?
This loops back onto finding the baseline topic from the previous week, yet highlights it
in a different way: sometimes it takes a few attempts before a new idea becomes native to our bodies and minds.