Pain and Pitfalls

Have you ever suffered with pain? Was it physical? Emotional? Intellectual? Spiritual? Or a bit of all of them? Was the pain short-term or chronic? 

I remember saying to a yoga class many years ago, “Do this if it doesn’t hurt”. One of my students spoke up and said, “What do I do if it always hurts?” That was an ‘a-ha’ moment for me, as someone who only intermittently had physical pain, I never considered those who were in constant pain. This was both humbling and intriguing for me. 

This changed something for me and my perspective. My curiosity was piqued as I hadn’t considered someone in constant pain. I began to dive into more research and information about pain and our relationship to it. The gates of curiosity were opened.

Everyone’s relationship to pain is different as it is an individual experience and our tolerance for pain is unique. What can be easy for some people to take and deal with, can be debilitating for others. 

It’s easy to judge the reactions of others while they are enduring challenges but it’s not helpful to them or you.

Sometimes we try to help others with their pain while distracting ourselves in our own pain. Perhaps, deep down, we feel that if we can help another person work on their pain, it will help mitigate our discomfort or situation. We unconsciously believe that we can heal through the work of others. This is simply not a wise choice in our own healing journey. While we may gain some insight, information, and tools, it won’t heal our own pain. We must do our inner work – our deep dives into the darkness to find some answers, some relief, some light. 

If your pain is mainly physical (from your perspective), you will need to find ways to realign your body, understand how it works, and find tools and help (such as professionals PTs, Osteopaths, Bodyworkers, Naturopaths, Homeopaths, Doctors, etc.). These assistants on our healing journey can help us become more aware of what is not working 100%, stretch what is tight, strengthen what is weak, and learn to destress.

I believe that every emotional pain has a physical component, every physical pain has some emotion attached to it. 

There are many systems called ‘body mapping’ that connect various parts of our body with certain emotions, etc. For instance, in Yoga, the left side of your body is the feminine and the right side is the masculine (understand that the divine balance of both in our physical form, is something we naturally, innately strive towards unconsciously and hopefully consciously as well). Our hips represent our ‘emotional melting pot’, wherein all emotions gather. The flexibility in our hips represents our ability to be fluid, to flow in life and with life. It is our unresolved feelings all intertwined with our physical hips. For things not addressed, our body can help remind us that there are internal things to work on. Our backs represent support in life. How we feel supported or not supported in life by ourselves, by others, and by Life itself. 

In our pain, when we can get to a place of reflection, we can begin to acquaint ourselves with the discomfort and be with it – instead of running from it. We then can get comfortable with asking tough questions to ourselves.

Can you be still, quiet the mind and see what the body is trying to tell you? Can you listen with more than your ears? Can you feel your way through a possibility? Can you be present with an inner truth that may be painful, unresolved, and uncomfortable? Can you be patient and loving with yourself, as you navigate new territory on your healing journey?

In order to heal ourselves fully, to let go of the physical hold some things have over us, we need to address our health on all levels of our being. We must address our beautiful emotional selves – our needs and our beliefs. We must dive into the abyss, the dark and dense internal landscape to feel what is missing – what is wrong – what is left unhealed. I believe, only then, can we move through the pain, feel it to heal it, and set ourselves free into greater health and vitality.

Are you ready to fully address all aspects of who you are – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual? Are you ready to be the best you can be every day in every way possible? Are you ready to take back your life? 

Just take one step inward – one baby step into the truth of who you are? Know Thyself better!