In this post, we discuss why understanding your body can be the key to recovering from pain and injury.
A few years back, a family situation arose which began affecting my mental health. I was finding it difficult to sleep and found myself endlessly playing out unfavourable scenarios in my head.
It felt like the circumstances had taken control of me. A seemingly innocuous trigger could turn any moment into another doom spiral.
I sought help through a friend and colleague. Among the many helpful things to come out of this stressful period was a regular meditation practice.
We often think of meditation as something which helps us to relax. Whilst that can be a useful byproduct, meditation, done well, is an exploration of how our minds work.
Once you witness the machinations of your mind as a passive observer, and understand what goes on there often bears little relevance to real life, your thoughts lose much of their power to influence your mental state.
This was life changing. My only regret is I didn’t discover it sooner.
Why understanding how your body works can be transformative
Knowing how your body works can have an equally profound benefit.
Pain isn’t always a measure of tissue damage. It’s shaped by how threatening your brain assesses a situation to be. The better you understand what you’re feeling and what it represents, the less threatening it becomes.
My clients broadly fit into two categories: those who’ve exercised all their lives and have trained themselves into a painful state, and those who’ve never had a regular exercise practice and now find themselves in pain as a result.
The first group usually requires guidance on the application of exercise and some gentle reeducation surrounding the myths that are common in both fitness and rehab.
The second category provides a different challenge altogether. This is mainly because they’ve never truly explored this thing that’s now telling them it needs attention.
Many struggle to identify what is a joint, a muscle, or a tendon. And some find it difficult to differentiate between pain that requires attention, and the normal sensations associated with exercise.
Whilst the initial challenge is greater for both of us, the pay off is enormous. If you’ve never felt what good actually feels like, when you get there, it’s a revelation.
Where to start
Learning where your joints are, the directions they move, and broadly which muscles move them, can help aid recovery and make training more effective.
Become curious about the sensations you feel during exercise and learn which you should pay attention to and which are perfectly normal.
Start in the area you feel pain and work outwards.
Summary
With any luck you’ll have many more years to live within this body that enables you to enact your thoughts and dreams in the world.
Educate yourself on how it works and what it needs to thrive because you won’t get another one.
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