So I tweaked my shoulder. It might've been that sneezing fit the other night, when I sneezed approximately 50,000 times in a row. Whatever the cause, physical pain is no joke. My body has been good to me and I'm usually injury and pain free, but it's tweaks like this that make me want to curl up in bed and shut down. It's been making me think about my clients and how lots of them deal with chronic pain on a daily basis. People come to me broken and begging for relief. I do my best but sometimes the cause of the pain just doesn't want to budge.
But pain can be a teacher if we allow it.
Wait, what? It's not easy. My temptation is to try to fix it, and fast. Slathering on oils, balms, stretching...anything that will make the pain disappear. But what if there was something else that could facilitate the healing? Healing from the inside out?
Which brings me to my point----breath. I've been thinking so much about deep breathing lately and while laying in bed with the heating pad on my neck and shoulders, I read this quote::
"Put your hand on the affected area, take a few breaths while you let your hand warm up, and ask for focus: What do you need from me now? What step can I take to help? Let the pain speak. You might get an odd little flash: Rest. Stretch. Stop sitting with your legs crossed. When I first started doing this, my self-talk would get in the way-- I can't do this; it's delusional talking to myself--but when I'd shut up and listen, I'd usually hear something. Keep asking: What do you need? Get quiet and listen for a response. It might take a minute or two, or five or six days, but if you start to ask, you can regain that natural, healthy internal communication.
Get curious about what you can learn from your pain. A plant has a taproot--one primary, big deep root--and lots of secondary roots. You don't have to find all those smaller roots, but you do need to find the taproot of your pain. Discover, go deep, and shift. What does the area in pain need? How can you give your pain a voice, and then offer it what it needs?"
-- Ana T. Forrest, Fierce Medicine
So instead of fighting against the pain, I've been trying to ask my body what it needs. I've been working hard to send the whole area deep, cleansing breaths. Instead of pushing the pain away, I've been welcoming it in and seeing where it takes me.
Let's be clear...I still think pain is a giant pain in the ass, but until I'm 100% cool with the lessons it has to teach me, I'm just going to keep sending it breaths.
xo
