Relief from Chronic Pain with Yoga Therapy

Jul 11

“Pain is not an accurate indication of what is happening in your body.”
- Neil Pearson, MSc, BScPT, BA-BPHE, C-IAYT, RYT-500

Thing “thing” isn’t necessarily the thing…meaning that simply because we have an experience of pain or dis-ease in certain physical or mental spaces, it doesn’t mean that the root of that pain is in the same space.

In Western medicine, pain is seen as an indication of tissue damage, irritated tissue, imminent damage, and/or unhealed or poorly healed tissue. But, what about when there is no indication of the above? What about those moments when we’ve had every kind of scan, zero diagnosis, and yet the pain still persists?

Pain isn’t just a biomedical concern.

It also isn’t an indication of any sort of actual damage (although of course that could be true, particularly with acute pain). For example, what about chronic headaches?

Chronic low back pain?

Chronic foot pain?

Chronic hip pain?

Chronic pelvic pain?

Chronic neck and shoulder pain?

Chronic joint pain?

According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), pain is an unpleasant sensory AND emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.

It’s why when you treat the headache itself and not the root, it persists or comes back.

It’s why when you intensely stretch your sore hip or receive deep tissue massage there, the pain resurfaces.

It’s why when you “target” the muscles of the core and back, your low back pain continues.

It’s why some women don’t perceive childbirth to be as painful as others.

Because physical pain itself, particularly chronic pain, is not only a physical experience. It has emotional, social, environmental factors, too.

And of course, physical pain can also lead to mental health and emotional states of unrest, dis-ease. It’s all a circle. It’s all connected.

In the realm of yoga therapy, to heal the root cause of your chronic pain, we’re looking at the physical body as well as the emotional body, energetic state, breath, connection with your intuitive and instinctual body, and your relationship with joy, life’s pleasures, love. All parts are connected. And, healing takes time (not hours or even weeks). Sometimes it’s months, years, or perhaps something to cope with for a lifetime, depending on what is revealed to you as the source of pain.

The brain and the nervous system are very much connected to pain.

In very simplistic terms, a nerve in the body (with its receptors and sensors) sends signals to the nerves of your spinal cord, which then communicate with your brain. It’s a messenger system. Like a relay race. These messengers can warn the brain of damage, approaching damage, OR that you are in a situation similar to another where you have experienced pain.

The beauty is that the brain’s perception of pain can change through new patterning within the nervous system. Fact: The brain can send messages DOWN the spinal cord that can change the message going UP the spinal cord from those messengers in the body.

Which means that by utilizing the tools of yoga therapy, we can significantly reduce your experience of pain and help the body/being re-learn ways of being and functioning within the world. Yes?

I made this FREE 3-Part Guide to get Relief from Hip and Pelvic Pain during pregnancy and postpartum. I talk a lot about perinatal care in these videos, but this guide would help anyone experiencing hip and pelvic pain in general. There is a video tutorial about pain (please listen to it FIRST) followed by two (2) 18 minute yoga movement practices with journaling prompts.

Please let me know how it goes! And, if you’d like support via one on one yoga therapy to support you in alleviating chronic pain, please schedule a 20 minute Clarity Call here to talk about your needs. I have space for a small number of private yoga therapy clients right now.

Jai Ma.
With love,
Leanne