A Word About Pain and Recovery
My wrists hurt. They hurt so much that I found myself avoiding doing any extra activity with my hands…if I didn’t have to pick something up, I didn’t. I was walking around with my arms crossed, my hands buried underneath them, to keep them warm and protect them. These protective behaviors were just beneath the surface of my awareness…I “caught” myself avoiding things and cradling my hands.
In my case, it was clear to me that the pain was mechanical. Hours on my road bike and in the yoga studio were affecting my wrists and hands. I stopped cycling and practicing yoga for a few weeks, and the pain subsided.
When I returned to the yoga studio I asked my teacher to observe me during class, because something in my practice was “off” and I was injuring my wrists. Her feedback was that I was sinking my weight into my wrists, rather than using my shoulders and core to support my body weight. Great information, and so far the adjustments I’m making in my practice are working. But these adjustments are new and awkward and difficult. I thought I had attained a certain level of mastery and strength in my practice, and it turns out I hadn’t. I thought I could flow through my practice without having to discern if I was engaging the proper muscles to prevent injury. Now I actually have to think about how I’m practicing. I need to keep my focus on what muscles I’m engaging. It feels more like work, and it’s going to take some time for me to get to the point where I can simply flow through my practice, to move without effort and hard focus.
At this point you may be asking yourself what this has to do with recovering from Chronic Fatigue and Pain. Well, everything, because it’s pretty much the same as with a mechanical injury, and it can be just as straightforward.
Pain and fatigue are symptoms, something is off in your practice of life. An adjustment needs to be made and when you first start making those adjustments it feels awkward and it feels like work. Old habits that aren’t working for you anymore need to be changed, and more often than not those lie beneath the surface of your awareness. In order to heal with Energy Flow Coaching principles, you have to be willing to change how you related to your physical body, your mind, your relationships, and your life. Let your body be your guide. Your fatigue and pain can act as reminders, and your teacher or coach will help you navigate through the choppy waters and encourage you to make the proper adjustments. You are simply following your body. If you do this, if you use how your body feels as your roadmap through life, you can recover from symptoms of pain and fatigue. That’s when interesting things start to happen. You start to flow much more easily through life, and just like in yoga practice, “spiritual growth occurs when one attains a conscious state not controlled by habitual thoughts or behavioral patterns”.