Pain—The Great Communicator

Pain

Jan 25

“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness, and we learn so little from peace.”—Chuck Palahniuk, Diary

Oh man, can my body put me in great pain.

You see, I am generally a very happy, positive, extraverted human, I don’t like to think about stress, or trauma, or the fact that I am starting a major company from scratch, or that my daughter rolls her eyes and buries her head in her phone instead of interacting with her mother. No, I love to think about all the amazing things this world has to offer, whistling through life, pretending that I have no stress. But wait. I do have stress, and my body LOVES to remind me of this.

I watched a 5-minute 20/20 segment on YouTube. It was interviewing a guy named Dr. John E Sarno and as a massage therapist—it blew my mind.

What?

There is more to the body than muscles, nerves, and bones. Can stress really throw my body into debilitating pain? Well, I read three of his books and have lived through many bouts of laying on the couch, and then not being able to get off it. Can’t bend my back, can’t move my neck, and well as of late, apparently, I can’t bend my left knee.

But wait a second, if I am in that much pain, how did I manage to get to the top of my mountain this morning?

*“Thank-you self, you always know what I need.”*

Yep, this is me. It took me a long time to get up here. But I did it, despite the feeling that my knee was in a vice! You see I try my best to understand my pain. Pain has been the focus of my work for 14 years. I thought that I was someone who did massage, but REALLY, what I do is find pain. That’s my Bullseye.

Find the pain, release the pain.

Is it always because I overworked a muscle, pulled a muscle, or under-exercised? Well sometimes, but on the whole, when I have not done a thing, to deserve the pain that myself is put in, it is my body talking to me.

It gives me a gentle nudge, okay, this feels more like a push.

“Hey girl, so I noticed you have gained some weight, that’s okay…Oh, and I noticed you haven’t been exercising as much as you used to…Oh, and I noticed that you haven’t been journalling in the mornings anymore.” That’s okay too, “oh but wait a sec” my little voice whispers,

” I also noticed that you have taken on a major project, started your massage practice, AND dropped all your self-care because you're ‘too busy’, so now I am going to start talking. Here’s some pain, and if you don’t listen and start to care for my mental well-being and my physical state, it might just get worse.” My reply? “Thank you self, you always know what I need.”

Yes. this is how I talk to myself.

You see, I believe that pain is a gift, it is the most effective way the self has of getting our attention. So, I will continue to walk/limp up mountains, because that is how I take care of myself and my two doggos—Molly and Otis.

This is my very first blog post so it may be terrible, and that’s okay. This is my life experience today. This is where I am.

I have a great passion for pain and its amazing ability to let us know what is going on. I love to teach about pain, help one to face the pain, listen to the pain, not to run from the pain, or ignore the pain. But really, try and listen to it, learn from it. Pain is a great teacher.

This blog is for every human out there who has to live in chronic pain, there is never just one answer or way of healing, we ALL have our journey. this is mine.

Share your pain story

I would love to hear your story if you are so inclined to share it with me.

Please write to me at heidi@brokenwingmassageretreat.ca

I would love to anonymously share it or publish it with written permission to encourage others, or just read it privately so that you know at least one person has heard you. It is very healing to share stories together!