Pain takes a lot of attention and energy from our everyday lives.
Often someone comes in suffering from a very painful shoulder or neck. They want relief and release from the pain, discomfort and distraction this causes. Pain takes a lot of attention and energy from our everyday lives. Compare a day you are relatively pain free to one where you are constantly rubbing and icing that shoulder that aches. That day your shoulder is driving you crazy is not such a good day.
The first thing I do is look to see what that body is doing. I observe the body standing, sitting and walking. That local spasm is there for a reason. It is being pulled on, misused or compromised by the way the body is put together (structure) or by something that is being done to that shoulder (function). In other words the pain does not live in a vacuum. I want to work locally on that painful spasm and look globally to what may be causing the pain. Is it all that computer work and mousing? Then in addition to SI bodywork, I want to work with changing the way you work at your computer and desk. Perhaps the cause is what is commonly called ‘bad posture’. The head is forward, the chest is closed, breathing is shallow. In this case, I want to work on the front of the torso, first to open the chest and diaphragm, then to help lift the head and balance it once again on those lovely shoulders it is meant to live above. Visualizing this, I feel I am breathing better already.
I want to work locally on that painful spasm and look globally to what may be causing the pain.
If we look too narrowly and just address the pain then we have missed an opportunity to really change the way we function in our bodies everyday. Changing the way we move and perform our everyday tasks creates more pain free days. And that sounds good to me.
Be well.
