Pain has big shoulders and deep roots. Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects all influence pain. Yoga practitioners believe that all pain is rooted in spiritual discord.
It is common for patients with persistent pain to make statements like:
“I have always had tight shoulders.”
“My pain worsens when I am stressed.”
“My elbow gets sore after I golf, so I ice it after I play.”
“Do you think there is a connection between the loss of my late wife and the pain I am experiencing all over my body?”
In response, the questions that need to be asked include:
“WHY is this pain showing up?”
Why is society not taught about how unaddressed traumas, emotions, and belief systems cause pain?
Why are we frequently taught to look outside ourselves for the solution?
“What is the underlying pattern that is creating that tension/pain?”
Qualified Somatic Educators and SomaYoga Therapists can put on the hat of Sherlock Holmes and piece together the clues to helping that person escape from their pain.
Society teaches us through manipulative advertising to always look externally for pain solutions.
We spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on pain medications. We roll out tight muscles with a foam roller to have to do it again the next day. We poke and prod ourselves in every which way, hoping for lasting results.
Perhaps a better alternative is recognizing the healing power of your own body and mind – to acknowledge that you are the guru of your own healing process. Read on to learn about powerful somatic and parasympathetic nervous systems techniques to create lasting change.
As a society, we have been indoctrinated to look in the wrong direction – Out instead of In.
THE BRILLIANCE OF OUR SOMAS
We, as humans, are amazing creatures that have a brain and free will. We also can self-regulate and self-correct to change the story of our pain. Of course, there are exceptions. A cancerous tumor or an acute injury such as stepping on a nail is not the subject of this article. What we are talking about is nagging, chronic, emotional, neuromuscular, and spiritual pain.
PAIN AS A MESSAGE
Think about pain as a warning call, a message, or an alarm for us to pay attention. Our bodies try to tell us to stop, take a moment, and put conscious attention on what is going on.
Unfortunately, we often choose to wait until we are in crisis before we address our pain.
SELF HEALING MIRACLES
By simply changing their mindset and looking through a different lens, those that have practiced SomaYoga have realized that their bodies held the potential to heal themselves. As they learned to reconnect with their somas, they learned to listen to and nourish their roots – the body, mind, emotions, and spirit.
As practitioners have learned to be quiet and listen to their bodies' wisdom, they could sense and tend to the root cause that needed their care and attention. As a result, they began to improve. And their health and lives began to change.
While the experience of pain has big shoulders and deep roots, it responds well to care and attention. Much the same way, a garden will flourish with water and fertilizer.