I know from my own experience, as well as from what my clients relay to me about theirs, that overcoming chronic pain can seem impossible.
Some muscles are always so tight you'd think they were bones.
Or a movement you do umpteen times in a day falters each time you do it. Or it gives you pain. Or results in joint buckling.
Worse, the pain may bring on new pain you hadn't dealt with before and don't know how to get rid of.
Don't Believe You Have to Stay in Pain Forever
I've been through this!
The belief that chronic pain can never be resolved happens when you don’t know “what’s under the hood."
Knowing how to own and operate this human body of yours can help melt away long-standing muscle tension, sometime instantly. I've seen this happen many times.
When hard-as-rocks muscles soften, joints may feel like they are gliding easily as you walk, bend, reach and get up and down from chairs.
It's no wonder that many people who live with pain are yearning for a fix.
Who can blame them? I can't!
This long-term yearning leads people in pain to chiropractic, physical therapy and even shots or surgery.
Such treatments, while they have their place, for a lot of people either don't work, work just a little, or for only a little while, or they lead to a new problem elsewhere in the body.
The "Fix Me" Attitude
This is because the "fix me" attitude - seeking total relief as of yesterday - is one that ignores the role movement can play in restoring a pain free, functional body. (My opinion.)
The fact is, we humans are always in movement, even when we don't notice it.
Sometimes that movement is large and obvious; other times, it's much more subtle, like micro-movements. BTW, micro-movements are highly recommended in an office setting for keeping the aches, pains and brain fog away.
Our movements shape the way our tissues - muscles, tendons, fascia and even bones - will perform for us in the future.
This shaping process is like geology - it takes time but is very impactful overall.
So when we choose a treatment that is supposed to fix the pain once and for all, it's just that - a static fix, limited to this moment in time.
Pain Relief as a Movement Skill
For many people, a more effective way to release chronic pain for the long term is to approach pain relief as a movement skill.
It starts with body alignment and goes from there. The process is gentle and subtle, but also very powerful.
Establishing good body alignment fosters spring back, flexibility and resilience - the stuff successful injury prevention and body healing are made of.
In fact, it's really hard to disrupt the functionality of a balanced, well-aligned body.
If you'd like a low-cost deep dive into how this can work, check out my book.
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This book will get you started rebalancing your muscles.
— Your body with thank you for it!
E-book form only. Available through:
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Anne Asher is certified by American Council on Exercise as a personal trainer and health coach, and certified at the 200 hour level as a yoga instructor. She has 25+ years experience using movement and body alignment techniques to help people feel better both physically and mentally.
For over a decade, Anne was also an award winning health journalist for a large website owned and operated by the New York Times Company. Her "beat" was spine and chronic pain management.
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