Awareness

Is it a double edged sword?

In this day and age it is the “in thing” to be more attune to your body.  

Do yoga

Eat healthy

Listen to your body

Meditate

Be present

This list can keep going.  I totally support all this!  One theme that keeps coming up with clients lately is awareness.

I had one client say to me,”I’ve become so aware of my body by meditating.  It is actually annoying because all those aches and pains I didn’t use to feel, I can feel them now.  I know in the end it is a good thing, right?”

I feel like I say this in almost every blog post I write, THE BODY IS AN AMAZING THING! In order to survive, the aches and pains can get “turned off” so to speak.  How often do I put my elbow in someone’s gluts and they comment on how they did not even realize they were sore.

Stress can play a big role in the “turning off” of pain.  When life gets really stressful our bodies are in the sympathetic nervous system.  This is the fight or flight response we used way back in the day when we needed to escape from predators.  Even though a work deadline is not a predator (it can sometimes feel like it is!) our bodies respond the same way.  When adrenaline and other hormones are running through our bodies we do not feel pains that would slow us down from getting away.

We can also get use to everyday aches and pains.  When people deal with pain on a day to day basis, their body will get use to it to a certain extent.  It definitely does not go away, and living with chronic pain is a very real thing.  I’ve heard many clients that deal with pain everyday talk about it like it is part of their daily routine.  How else do you deal with it?  Anyone who experiences this and wants to chime in, please do.

Ok, back to awareness

When people start paying attention to their bodies and allowing themselves to drop into parasympathetic nervous system, they start feeling those aches and pains that have been hiding in our bodies.

It can be annoying to finally be aware, but it is good because your body is telling you that you need to address an issue.  Dealing with physical or emotional discomfort that has been stored in the body can be challenging.  If you are on the path of awareness it is almost guaranteed that you will run into those aches and pains.

Change is never easy.  Even if it is good change.

Ultimately work will be needed to address the aches and pains that have come up because of your new awareness, and in the end your body will be much happier for it.  It won’t be an ache or pain hiding in your body, but an ache or pain that is gone!

So, yay to awareness!

The path to awareness is not always easy. And it really depends on your goals in life.  If you just do not have the energy to deal with these aches and pain in your life, that is a good thing to know.  And it is ok, you can start the path whenever you are ready.  If you are ready, awesome!

Some wholistic ways to deal with aches and pains

Massage (of course I would say this!)

Acupuncture

Stretching/self-care

Chiropractic

Energy work (So many modalities exist)

Talk Therapy

Nutritional support

Mix and match, use all of the above, and if you feel like something warrants a medical doctor listen to your body (and go).

If you have any questions or want to talk about awareness please feel free to email me at nicole@greenskymassage.com. If you are looking for any support around this issue, we have amazing people at Healing Village that can help.