Welcome to Sunday Round-up.
This week's PAIN CARE theme:
thought viruses and muscle guarding
Start by watching
this video on chronic back pain; pay particular attention at about 4:14 into the video when
Jack says " I literally noticed the difference overnight."
Look
through this paper that describes the
common myths and misconceptions on physio. Here is my favorite quote from the article:
Myth: Pain is complicated
Explanation: Pain isn’t complicated, like a machine, where causation is predictable and knowable; it’s complex, like a city or an ecosystem, where causation is unpredictable and hard to trace. If one thing changes we don’t know what else will change and
in what way. This means often we are fooling ourselves when we identify one or two original causes.
On - The - Mat Pain Care
challenge:
Body mapping - this week try an unguided detailed body scan:
- what sensations / feelings can you pick out?
- which part of your body is the easiest to connect with?
- more difficult to find?
- are your two legs of the same length, shape and volume?
- how about your arms?
- do you get lost in your fingers or toes?
- are
there any "black holes" - areas where you have no awareness and no way of connecting? hint: post surgical areas are often "black hole-y."
- do you get bored or annoyed with a body scan?
- do you fall asleep - always at a certain area of the body?
Busting THOUGHT VIRUSES:
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.
Can you relate?
Whether or not you
have this particular "thought virus," we all have thoughts, notions and belief patterns, and as in the above video - muscle guarding - 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.
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 she carries herself and her breathing patterns. Add to
it daily stresses of living…
How do we challenge THOUGHT VIRUS status quo?
Off - The - Mat Pain Care challenge:
- examine your thought patterns and become aware of "thought viruses"
- re-frame rest and relaxation as "recovery time" - I found this to provide an
invaluable shift in my attitude toward rest
- 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 weeks, yet highlights it in a different way: sometimes it takes a few attempts before a new idea becomes native to our bodies and minds.
This week's breathing
practices:
3-part Exhale
Breath:
Purpose: this breath tricks the body into lengthening the exhalation by dividing the exhalation into three parts, pausing briefly between each successive exhalation. The combination of the staggered exhalation and the pauses in between create a longer exhalation that you might normally take. This lengthened exhalation in turn stimulates the deepening of the inhalation.
This is an especially useful practice to
do if you have difficulty falling asleep. It is also a very effective technique for diminishing anxiety that doesn't seem to have any particular source, and for those times when there's a buildup of tension in the body - especially during periods of hormonal changes.
How: in a comfortable position, take a normal breath in and then divide your exhalation into three equal parts, pausing very briefly between each part.
Inhale
Exhale => pause
Exhale => pause
Exhale
=> pause
Inhale
If you have a week respiratory capacity, you may need to take some normal breaths in and out between each cycle; take as many as you need, and then repeat the 3-part exhale process again, letting each part of the exhalation be the same length as others. The pause is a moment of suspension rather than a feeling of contraction and holding the breath.
Continue for a total of up to 10 cycles of 3-part exhalation and then completely relax. Take a few moments
to notice the effects of the practice before you continue on with your day or drift off to sleep.
Movement focus:
