Almost everyone who suffers with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome wonders about stopping muscle pain quickly. How do you do it? Today on the Health Matters Show, I’ll give you 3 tricks that work for me and some examples of how to do them yourself.
Since I’ve healed, I don’t have the tremendous, ongoing volume of muscle pain like I used to experience. Thank God, it’s not there anymore.
That does not mean that I don’t have pain. Because I’m still a bit physically de-conditioned, I am overweight for my body size, I have two slightly bulging spinal discs and I don’t have all the energy that I need when I get ready to do something really physical, I still experience some pain.
Now, of course, being inspired and motivated to engage in a physical activity helps, so that leads me to explain my first example today about stopping muscle pain quickly. This last Monday night I had my first Tai Chi session in over twenty years. I still remembered some things, but I could tell that my body was older and not in as good a shape as before.
The instructor had us warm up with some energy enhancing stretches, one of which he described as hugging a tree. (Sorry I don’t remember the specific name of the posture… .) We were told to stand tall in a good, straight stance. Imagine a string being attached to the top of my head near the back portion. As that string was gently pulled upward to the ceiling, I was to straighten and lengthen my spine with my shoulders back. As I breathed in deeply, I was to imagine energy coming up from the earth and through my feet, the energy rising to the top of my head and then settling back down into my hands which I held out in front of me hugging that imaginary tree.
Now this exercise was wonderful, exciting, and energizing for about two minutes. As I stood there, my back began to ache and my energy waned. I noticed these symptoms, but instead of panicking, I decided to practice mindfulness and be proactive. I had the intention of stopping my pain before it got worse.
(Audio podcast is 14 minutes 32 seconds)
Here’s what happened…
As the sensation of pain increased, I moved my hands from in front of me and placed them behind me, gently touching the place where I felt the most pain. I breathed the energy in through my feet, let it rise to my head and then imagined it going out through my arms and fingers into my back. In about two breaths, my pain began to subside. I kept doing this until I felt substantial relief.
Now there is no magic to these concepts called mindfulness and intention. I simply concentrated on and intended what I wanted to happen. In my mind’s eye, I saw it happening. My (and your) muscles are smart. They contain lots of intrinsic knowledge and history in the form of cellular memory. They know when and how you love them and how you’re paying attention. Skin and muscle cells like attention!
Taking the time to show this type of attention is better than simply throwing drugs at your body or reaching for the heating pad and trying to melt the pain away. All I can say is it works for me and it seems pretty harmless, however, if you have any questions or health concerns, ask your doctor or physical therapist first before trying a technique like this.
The second thing that works for me is to notice my posture throughout the day. As my energy begins to wane, I slump and I can have absolutely terrible posture if I’m not paying attention. Poor posture is almost an absolute given when I’m working at the computer for 6, 8 or 10 hours at the time! I don’t recommend subjecting your body to that much strain.
As you’re sitting at your computer, I encourage you to notice everything about your posture. Are you slumping? Is your chin jutted forward like a chicken? (Sometimes this happens because of eye strain.) Are you sitting on one leg all lop-sided in your chair?
Does your chair support you well? Is it the right height from the floor? Are your feet planted firmly so that your weight is evenly distributed? Is your computer screen at the right height for reading comfortably? Do you have one leg at an odd angle underneath you with a leg muscle or foot cramped up? Are you leaning to one side, slightly off-center, constantly reaching for and using your mouse?
Yes there are tons of possibilies where posture can go wrong. Corresting your posture can add many minutes and hours to your being more functional every day. At some point, I’ll try to make a complete video about all of this, but for today I simply encourage you to notice these things and one more in particular. If your head is not sitting squarely and perfectly balanced on top of your neck and shoulders (*if you’re leaning over reading this message right now!), you’re putting a tremendous strain on your entire spine and every muscle and fiber that support it.
HINT: For every 5 degrees that your head leans forward and is not “on center” with your spine, I’ve heard that you put 15 pounds of pressure or so on your spine and the supporting muscles. That’s only leaning forward 5 degrees.
If you don’t think that is hurting you, place a sturdy stick inside a bowling ball. Holding the stick, tilt the bowling ball slightly forward, like you would do your head if you were reading a book. Do you feel how difficult that is? Do you feel how much strain that puts on your hand, wrist and arm? Now imagine doing that to your head and spine over a several hour period of time. Yikes!
My third suggestion is a stretching combo. Before you give completely out of energy, before you get in such terrible pain, try gentle stretching. Now you may need a medical person to help you with this, but if you want to investigate some stretching on your own, I advise you to get a copy of Stretching, the 20th Anniversary Edition by Bob Anderson. Easily pick up your copy today in my Amazon store on the right side of this website inside of the Cinda Recommends column or click the link below.
For me I can practice stretching while I’m washing dishes or putting clothes in the washer. I can take a moment out while vacumming to give my back a little TLC, tender loving care. And when I want it to be particularly effective, I’ll combine some mindfulness, intention, deep breathing, touching and maybe even massage with a Young Living essential oils combination.
All of these help because it is my intention to stay well, live healthfully and happy and stay out of pain. Your intentions for your health and the new year make all the difference between fleeting thoughts, achievement and feeling well.
I wish you good health and pain-free living. For more tips on mindfulness, put the term in the search box here and find more posts. Also for fantastic information on the power of intention, check out all of author Wayne Dyer’s work in the Cinda Recommends section.
Thanks for dropping by today. Feel free to comment and leave your helpful “muscle” and “pain” hints here on the blog.
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }