“Don’t twist, it’s bad for your back.”
“Keep your abdominals pulled in and tight all the time.”
“Don’t arch your back.”
“Don’t lie on your stomach.”
I was talking with a client, who has an arthritic hip (she’d been told she’s getting closer to a hip replacement), a “natural fusion” of C3-7 along with arthritis in her neck, shoulder pain, numbness down into her arm and hand, knee pain, and pain and bone spurs in her thoracic spine. She has done a lot of massage, chiropractic, and physical therapy and had cortisone shots. Over the years dealing with her pain and seeking treatments she had been told all of the above statements.
You might be saying to yourself, “what’s wrong with that, I’ve been told the same thing by my _______.”
Yes, I believe you...because this problem is widespread and not showing any signs of changing.
“But,” you say, “Isn’t it true? Isn’t twisting bad for your back? Aren’t we supposed to keep our abs tight to protect our back? Most expects would agree with these recommendations.”
No and yes. No they are not true and yes most expects would agree with those statements. And that’s a huge problem….unless you listen to your intuition and trust that inner voice that is telling you not to listen to those recommendations. If you do that, you maintain your freedom and peace of mind. If you ignore your intuition and buy into the limiting thoughts above, you will live in fear of making your condition worse, which ironically will in fact make your condition worse. Let me explain.
The client I talked about earlier had been told all of the above and had believed them and followed the experts advice to a T. And her pain had not gone away, and much of it had become worse and worse until it was “chronic” and “degenerative.” I challenged those limiting beliefs she had adopted and during our session she broke all of them.
She let her stomach relax…and her pain decreased!
She arched her back…and her pain decreased!
She lied on her stomach…and well, you get the point!
She did everything she had been told not to do, and her pain decreased!
(Why and how? You ask. The reason why she had all the pain and degeneration going on is because her motion had become limited enough that her body, on a daily basis, did not get enough motion to “fill up her tank” as we say. Our bodies are dependent on motion. Motion maintains our health because our muscles, bones, nerves, digestive system, etc. all need movement to work optimally. Use it or lose it. When she stopped doing enough daily motion her muscles weakened, causing changes in joint position, and negatively affecting her joint mechanics. These altered joint mechanics increased wear and tear in joints throughout her body causing joint damage and the pain set in. As “experts” told her to move less, the problem only got worse.)
At the end of her posture therapy session she burst into tears. Tears were running down her smiling face. These tears were from joy, freedom from limitation, a weight coming off her shoulders, and not only hope, but a knowing she could get better. Those are the most beautiful tears.
If you are in pain – especially chronic pain – examine your thoughts, beliefs, and habits surrounding your body and health. See if there are any you’ve adopted from someone else that are not serving you. If you find any, I encourage you to challenge them and see what happens. You never know, you might have the most beautiful tears running down your smiling face too.
Related Articles:
3 Things You Must Do To Be Pain Free For Life
New Beliefs About Pain
Could a Simple Misunderstanding Really Cause All My Pain?
Pain Free Convictions