Yoga & Pain - A Love Story…?
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ~B. Franklin
Your yoga practice. Your favorite moment of the day.
As the class starts, you take it slow, you know the flow, you are familiar with the movements. But something during that first plank pose catches your attention. That nagging sensation in your wrist. Some kind of discomfort that builds into pain for the second, third, fourth - oh, damn, a fifth plank to hold?! How are you going to get through this class? Oh, handstands as well? Alright, I’ll just meditate…
But the pain subsides, and savasana is here, thank the deities. Maybe the next class will be less painful, or I just have to get used to it…
Is this something that you can relate to? Feeling some form of pain throughout your practice? Something that becomes so annoyingly familiar, that you just accept it to be part of everything you do? I say it shouldn’t.
First off, pain is complex (like a lot). So how do we know what pain is and what it tells us?
Because it isn’t easy to diagnose, or even to pinpoint it, nor does it have a specific answer, so instead we learn to ask and explore interesting questions.
Pain runs deep, but thankfully the layers of physical pain are very approachable. It isn’t something we should get used to, nor think it will always be there. You have the immediate power to change it right here and right now. And thus with consistency, you can enhance your yoga practice to new levels.
Instead of avoiding pain, we need to address it. We need to look at our internal environment, meaning our joint health, or in other words - mobility - our capacity to move our body with control in wide ranges of motion.
Pain often occurs in areas where the neuromuscular control - how your nervous system is sending signals to the connective tissue to perform an action - is lacking, is underused, or is infrequent. In simple terms, the less we move, the more our bodies will complain and signal to us that something isn’t alright. Thus, pain is a reaction to physical inactivity, letting us know that we need to move more - and with more variation.
One thing that is included more often in the realm of modern yoga is active and dynamic joint health. Thankfully, today, this is something that is growing and helping people attain a more sustainable practice both on and off the mat.
By giving your internal environment attention, especially in the areas where you feel pain, we can reduce and remove it, and then your international environment is ready for external demand. Now, who doesn’t want to live a pain-free life?
Here Are 3 Great Tips for Assessing, Reducing, & Potentially Removing Pain in Your Joints
… so that you can move better and feel better and really dive deep fully into your love story with yoga!
1. Preparation is key, tend to your internal environment by moving your joints actively in their full rotational capacity, also known as CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations). Moving our joints on a daily basis in a controlled way is the best anti-inflammatory treatment we can give ourselves.
2. The more awareness your joints have individually, the more they can collaborate and communicate with each other, instead of compensating where it isn’t needed. This helps locate pain, address it, reduce it and possibly remove it together!
3. Learning how to create, hold, move, and increase tension is vital! Tension is what guides us, holds us up, protects us, and so the more we utilize it, we connect more to our body and how it works. Make tension your friend! In other words, we aim to create a foundation of a strong internal environment NOW so that we don't have to pay for it later in life.
If you want to enhance your yoga practice and your daily life by reducing and removing pain, you can join my Mobility Beyond Mini-Series , a 9-part exploration of joint health, movement, and how to apply these sustainable concepts into your yoga practice. And if you have any further questions about anything regarding pain or your practice, don’t hesitate to contact me directly, I will gladly help you out!
Move better, feel better
Chris Fox
About the Author
Chris Fox is a mobility specialist and movement coach focusing on joint health, body awareness, and how to reduce pain with active bodywork. With the Fox Method, he helps people to get a stronger connection to their body, by isolating joint awareness, activating body control, and integrating healthier movement habits.
If you want to work on your mobility and stability, increase more body awareness and reduce pain to feel more light and alive, you can contact Chris for a session: thisischrisfox@gmail.com
Other topics that could interest you:
