The Secret Formula To Relieve Chronic Pain, Shh!
16/07/2023
You've got a chronic injury or pain that won't go away. You feel trapped by your pain, and it's controlling your life, dictating what you can do.
You're stressed, frustrated and anxious, wondering if life will always be this way or whether you'll ever feel like the old you before you got injured ever again.
In my personal and professional experience there is a formula to successfully find relief from chronic pain, and the good news is that everyone is capable of applying it.
Here are the 4x things you need to resolve chronic pain and return to living your best life:
- Self awareness
- Boundaries
- Practice
- Patience
Before we dive deeper into this success formula, let's look at the 3x common problems that keep so many people stuck in the cycle of chronic pain and injury.
Problem 1: No one knows WHY you're constantly in pain!
Yes, you might have a diagnosis like a 'slipped disc', plantar fasciitis, hip impingement or 'frozen shoulder'. But these are just names or labels, they're often NOT the ROOT driver of the dysfunction that led to the diagnosed injury.
Usually there will have been warning signs, like a niggle here or an ache there, that you took a pill for, got a massage and it went away. Sorted, or so you thought.
But actually the source of those warning signs is still there, and numbing your symptoms with medications, injections and other treatments is just causing more stress and tension to accumulate.....until it's big or painful enough to be diagnosed.
The modern Western way of treating systems and numbing symptoms makes you feel better for a while, but because these are rarely the root driver of your pain you often end up back at square one again.
Problem 2: You've done all the things!
You've tried everything, maybe even done your homework.
Pills that gave you tummy ache, the chiropractor who eased your back for a few days, expensive physiotherapy, massage, acupuncture, foam roller and the latest fad on Facebook that promised to fix your pain in 7 days or your money back.
Yep, you've tried everything, and you get some relief but the pain always comes back. So you move onto the next miracle cure or TikTok tip - more money, more time wasted and you're still in too much pain to get on with living your best life.
Problem 3: You're told that you have to live with the pain!
Things I've heard from my members are that they have to live with their pain, it's just their age or that they need to have invasive surgery to cure the problem.
Sometimes surgery is required to repair a fracture, badly torn ligament or tidy up a damaged joint to prevent further inflammation.
But in many cases, surgery for mild to moderate musculoskeletal injuries is risky and carries a similar long-term outcome as less invasive, conservative methods.
For back pain in the absence of red flags spinal surgery is now not recommended and doctors have been advised to look at other avenues of treatment wherever possible.
Did any of these 3x common problems hit home for you?
The Success Formula To Relieve Chronic Pain
Now let's dive into the 4x things you need to resolve your pain:
1) Self Awareness
This could also be called self knowledge or education.
Those who successfully find relief from their pain commit to becoming a lifelong student of their body and mind.
They learn therapeutic movement practices, healing techniques and gain an understanding of their body's biomechanics and physiology. They're not afraid to meet and explore their emotions and thoughts.
In other words, they write a manual of how THEIR body works and mind operates by listening with curiosity to the messages from their body.
They're then able to use this wisdom to find freedom from pain, or they know what will help them and can find the right support.
2) Boundaries
Boundaries demand respect and love for ourselves.
Caring enough for your health and wellbeing to be able to say no to anything that will cause long-term damage or worsen an existing injury.
That doesn't mean wrapping yourself up in cotton wool and never having fun.
It's simply acknowledging that you can do ANYTHING you want, just not EVERYTHING!
Sometimes it's necessary to say no in the short-term in order to heal, so that you can say yes in the future to the things that bring you joy.
3) Practice
What the brain does a lot the brain gets really good at.
Think about when you learned a new skill, like driving a car or playing a new sport. Initially it's an uphill struggle but, with time and practice, things get easier and you become more proficient.
Your muscles don't misbehave on their own! They take instructions from the brain and nervous system so getting control of these is key to relieving chronic pain and tension in your body.
Changes from reprogramming the nervous system and retraining habitual movement patterns are temporary and short lived at first. They require regular practice and repetition to become imprinted and long-lasting in your body.
This leads us nicely to number 4.
4) Patience
In a modern society conditioned to expect convenience in one click - lights, heating, TV, Amazon home shopping - having to wait for a result seems foreign and frustrating.
We constantly look for the easiest route and the quickest fix to our problems, including our health and injuries.
Unfortunately human physiology often doesn't change like flicking a switch to turn your lights.
Sometimes it's possible to get quick relief from a technique, and then we expect the same rapid results every time. We get disappointed and disillusioned when it's not repeated and either give up or move onto another treatment.
The result is intermittent relief followed by a relapse into pain, repeated over and over no matter what tricks you try.
Find a holistic technique that reconnects you back to your body and mind. Learn to listen to the messages from your body, how to move to heal the body and re-programme your nervous system back into safety to resolve chronic pain.
Then be patient, keep practicing regularly, rinse and repeat.
If it took years for your body to breakdown, it'll take longer than a few days to repair.
The BYB (Befriend Your Body) Method is a holistic process that will help you to heal and reconnect back into the inner wisdom of your body. The 4x pillars of the BYB Method are:
- Body
- Breath
- Be
- Bond
These 4x pillars show you where you hold stress in your body, how to release those patterns of tension through gentle movement explorations, re-programme your brain and nervous system to regain control of your muscles, and find safety in a supportive community.
You can get a taster of the Body, Breath and Be elements in my mind-body classes. The Body element is covered in more depth in the 2 hour workshop "Moving Away From Pain With The BYB Method" - the next workshop is on Sunday 3rd September (3x spaces left).
I use all 4x elements in my half-day retreats to create a social yet also deeply mindful and relaxing experience for attendees. The next retreat will be on Sunday 3rd December.
NEXT STEPS
- Come to a Stretch, Yoga or Pilates class with me - be a student of your body and learn how to regain conscious control of your muscles again.
- Book into the "Moving Away From Pain With The BYB Method", a 2 hour workshop showing you how to reduce chronic pain and release muscle tension using somatic movements and pandiculation techniques so you can move with ease and joy again. Sunday 3rd September, 1pm to 3pm - click HERE for all the info (3x spaces left).
- Attend a half-day mind-body retreat - these are deeply relaxing, fun, social small group experiences typically held in various locations within easy reach of Worthing, West Sussex. The next one is on Sunday 3rd December,
- Subscribe HERE to receive "The Movement Chronicle", a weekly e-newsletter delivering mobility and pain reduction tips directly into your inbox every Monday morning,
To find out more about my classes and retreats, or to join my email list you can contact me via any of these channels:
- Email at norma.pearson1@ntlworld.com
- DM me on Facebook Messenger
- WhatsApp message to 07801 867361.