Is This Pain I’m Feeling?
By Theresa Shay
This is the first in a three-part series.
The body speaks in sensations. Just like immersing yourself in a new language, learning to listen to the body begins with general comprehension which gradually becomes refined the better communicator you become.
To establish a profound and rich connection to your physical form, begin by moving past initial reaction to sensation that might sound like, “I feel something. I’d better back off.” Not every sensation is pain. Being able to sift through the phenomena of physical experience will help you learn to converse with your Self through the body’s language. Fluency in this language supports a responsive relationship with the vehicle that carries your soul through life.
Here are some different ways the body speaks.
Sensation – When you move your body into new shapes, you will feel it in new ways and new areas. When you do a twist, you feel your back muscles. When you stretch your legs, you feel your posterior thigh muscles. When you enter Extended Penguin, you become aware of your inner thighs. This is your body communicating from the inside, and these sensations are a way to assess how far to go, how quickly or slowly to move, and what props might be helpful. Sensations are the call to listen up: you’re moving, and that’s what the body was built to do.
Soreness – When you strengthen your body or go further in a stretch than you have before, you might feel sore the next day. Soreness is the echo of physical work. It usually dissipates in a day or two. The further you go building your strength and flexibility, the less frequently your activity will make you sore. Three decades into my yoga journey, I get excited when I feel sore muscles because I know I’ve accessed something new. Drink lots of water. Consider repeating the move(s) that made you sore to bring familiarity to the body in its new capacity. Nutritional supplements might also help. Ask your doctor or nutritionist for recommendations.
Stiffness – There are days the body wakes up cranky. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe what you ate the day before (sugar and alcohol are big contributors), maybe how you slept. Sometimes you’re stiff and it seems to have come from nowhere. Like oiling up a rusty hinge, your morning yoga practice, walking, and simply moving into the day often resolves much of the stiffness. If the body were to speak from stiffness, it might sound like a whining teenager who doesn’t want to get out of bed. Then the next time you look, she’s laughing with friends and asking for a ride to town.
Tightness – Tightness is deeply rooted tension. Most of us have some area of the body that feels it was born tight. All the yoga practice, all the massage, all the conscious food choices don’t seem to touch the tightness. The body seems determined to hold on. Trust that freedom from this tightness can emerge over the months, years and decades of steady commitment to addressing the area. In my experience, as I feel one layer of tightness releasing, I meet a new layer. The exploration becomes more nuanced, but I treat tightness with the same love: “Hi there, friend. Hey, let’s try something new and see about letting go here. I think you might like the ease we find.” Even when it seems I cannot dissolve my tightness, I work with my tight areas consciously and diligently so that I don’t become tighter as I continue my journey under the force of gravity.
Pain –While not every sensation is pain, when pain appears the body is demanding attention. Pain might ache, throb, radiate, stab, sting, pinch or pound. Pain invades daily life. Pain consumes energy faster than a black hole. Pain diminishes optimal functioning and can wear on the mind and spirit. Sometimes you may be able to identify the cause of the pain, and sometimes you cannot. Just as mysterious, two people may have the same physical reality, while only one identifies the experience as “pain”. We each have our journey to take.
Working with pain begins and continues with breathing and relaxing into the reality you face. This generates enough energy to enter self-inquiry, to seek help, and to take actions that support. While pain can feel strong enough to overcome, you are still responsible to take care of the basic foundations of your life: healthy food choices/plant-based whole foods, movement/exercise as able, sleep/rest, social and spiritual connections, and managing your stress. You cannot give up on these pillars because relieving pain requires huge support, and these lifestyle areas bring support. Your journey with the pain is simply your journey, moment by moment, entering a place you’ve never been before. Though your mind may say you’re stuck, energy is always flowing. Your work is to direct that energy to the places of tension that are causing the pain, whether in body or mind.
Look to pain with clear and honest integrity. “I see you, Pain, and I am willing to learn from you. Please, teach me. I am present, and I am ready.” This is the surrender that the body and mind need to find softening, release and transformation. Greater ease will come. There is no guarantee that your pain will disappear, but you are transforming through it. Let your willingness to change and your commitment to remaining in the Flow be your guide.
Theresa Shay is the founding director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, where she teaches weekly yoga and meditation online and trains others to teach TriYoga®. Each week, she shares wisdom cultivated from decades of TriYoga study and practice.
Learn more about her here. Theresa can be reached at Theresa@PennsylvaniaYoga.com. Find her on Instagram @theresa_of_triyoga for more inspiration and light.