How do we deal to and overcome injury? Now this could easily be a post with physio advise about training intervals, activating the core and moving well bio-mechanically. And these things do help, don’t get me wrong. However, practicing as a clinical physiotherapist for 10 years has given me a rather different perspective on this question, that goes beyond what happens in muscles, bones and joints.
Presence & intuition
Pacing ourselves in our activities greatly reduces our chances of sustaining injury. This sounds simple, and it really is. Rushing reduces our ability to tune in and take notice. Being present in what we are doing enables us to pick up on our body’s signals, and take the appropriate next steps, which will be different for each person. For some this means reducing speed, for some it means changing a movement pattern, for some it means stopping to become aware of something that is not quite right for them, for some it means taking rest.
Most people don’t have a well-developed ability to feel in to their bodies like this. Our western culture glorifies ‘powering through’, most often leading to people missing the subtle language of the body. It is not in our culture to teach our kids to attune to the body, and so most of us move on to adulthood not really knowing how our bodies work.
(Feeling overwhelmed by health choices? Check out my blog post Drowning in Health?)
Most of us move on to adulthood not really knowing how our bodies work
Even as a physio, I don’t have this ability super-developed. I was brought up in the same system as everyone else, and so my tuning-in skills have been just as lacking in that regard. Somewhere along the line though, I realized that none of this is only about the mechanics. That the body is ‘talking’ to us all the time, through the vast network of neural activity, hormonal activity, neuro-chemical activity, and highly likely from our inner self, our spirit.
Going beyond traditionally accepted views
Despite a health science degree and years of clinical practice as a health professional, I had to really go out of my way to learn to understand the body on a deeper, more holistic level. Speaking the word ‘intuition’ in modern health care will most often land you a lot of blank stares, and for a health professional: even ridicule. Modern health care is still far from breaking with old habits, but if we want to really understand our bodies and our existence as a whole, the only way is to look beyond the conventional way of practice. (Check out my blog post It’s Time We Talk about Spirituality in Health Care.)
Despite a health science degree and years of clinical practice as a health professional, I had to really go out of my way to learn to understand the body on a deeper, more holistic level
If we continue to regard ourselves primarily from a mechanistic view point, and keep waiting for conventional science to catch up with ‘acceptable evidence’, well then we are going to continue to miss stuff – and likely wait a very long time. I decided some time ago, that I no longer wanted to wait for proof for something I felt was already adequately demonstrated in the vast body of knowledge, wisdom and natural science available worldwide.
If we continue to regard ourselves primarily from a mechanistic view point, and keep waiting for conventional science to catch up with ‘acceptable evidence’, well then we are going to continue to miss stuff – and likely wait a very long time
Mind body connection
Sensing from the body, and not just making decisions from the level of the mind, will greatly help in avoiding injury. Yet, most of us in the west make decisions purely from the mind. We decide on something based on what we think we want, which is usually filtered by expectations, peer opinions, social norm, trends etc.
Rarely do we consult our spirit on these matters, or tune in to our body to feel what truth is for us. We are simply not accustomed to functioning like this. This has created a pandemic of people with a mind-body dissociation, unable to ‘feel’ their bodies. As a physio I often thought to myself: if people were better able to consult themselves, and really tune in to their bodies – there would be little need for what I do.
(Perhaps 10 Brilliant Reasons to Do Yoga will inspire you?)
Most of us in the west make decisions purely from the mind
Self-love & a calm mind
Overcoming injury successfully, requires the acceptance that our body is communicating with us. There is no fast way, or quick fix that will make you learn this. But it begins with the desire to learn. It requires us to practice openness, respect, kindness and patience towards ourselves. It requires us to practice self-love.
This is a biggie. Of all the people that I have treated over the years, the ones constantly going through some rehabilitation process (of any kind), with one problem seemingly cropping up after the next – have almost always got issues revolving around lack of self-love, in my experience. So take a long, kind, honest look at yourself and your situation.
Take a long, kind, honest look at yourself and your situation
Stop wasting your time and energy distracting yourself with the shallow and insignificant issues, and get to the core of it. From a place of a quiet and calm mind, dive deep to see what issues really lie at the base of it all. Look for the patterns. Look for the common denominators. Make it a priority to attend to the deeper issues first, with kindness in your heart, and I assure you, you will experience a natural resolving of the more shallow, secondary problems that ail you.
When we sit in stillness or meditation, the chances of the truth dropping in is greater. Hence the reason so many people run away from it! So, making active choices not to always be busying, numbing and distracting ourselves, our ability to listen in can greatly improve. Thereby our ability to avoid or overcome injury in a balanced and intuitive way, will greatly improve.
(Check out my blog post The Power of Peace.)
When we sit in stillness or meditation, the chances of the truth dropping in is greater
One of the greatest acts of self-love is what we choose to put into our physical bodies. If you want good quality recovery of your physical cells, then feed your body the best that you can afford. You cannot have a million dollar machine running on cheap, dirty oil. Feed the body fresh, natural, unprocessed foods. Also, if you are recovering from an injury, avoid ‘liver loaders’ like alcohol, which we know taxes the system hard, markedly reducing the speed and quality of overall recovery.
Drop the illusion of perfection
Sometimes we just need a wake up call about something in life, and a physical injury can be the body’s way of communicating that call. I believe this is a natural part of life, and I think it is important to understand that injuries, like other sources of pain, are a natural part of living. It is how we deal and react to them, that is important.
(You may wish to check out my post The Downside of Busy, or The Yoga Teacher Burnout.)
In this world of perceived perfection, people have become obsessed with being 100% all the time. No one and no thing is 100% all the time. Sometimes we might even need a small injury to really understand or experience the meaning of rest and recovery. We haven’t “failed” if we sustain an injury. We have just been given a little shoulder tap by life. If we learn to not fear injuries, not panic about them, respect them when they occur, and see them as little nudges from our greater selves, and learn to tune in with kindness – I believe the injuries will become less severe, less chronic and occur less often.
Happy intuitive health everyone!
Kirsten Louise