By Susi Hately, B.Sc. Kinesiology, C-IAYT Yoga Therapist

The premise behind many of my continuing education training for yoga teachers is that people don’t need to experience pain in their yoga practices…that while many people think that pain with yoga is normal . . .  that their back, si joint, neck, wrist and knee pain is “just the way it is”. . .  it doesn’t have to be a normal part of their life.

As you can imagine, based on my philosophy and what I teach, about 85-90% of teachers who attend my trainings have pain. And quite consistently,  as each hour goes by, participants experience a profound change in their bodies. New sensations arise – sensations other than pain. Often these lead to either ah-ha! experiences  or a look of dumbfoundedness. The feeling of less or no pain is often absurd to them. It is not uncommon for me to hear the disbelief, “this pain has become my friend, it is weird not to have it, I almost want to go looking for it.”

I understand the dumfoundedness and disbelief. I understand the sheer weirdness of moving out of pain and into something more comfortable. It is bizarre…..because it is uncommon.

In Canada there is a commercial for a common pill used as an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant. The premise is – “do you think pain is going to stop me”? There is another ad for competiting product with the premise of “what you do when you don’t have pain is up to you”. What these products are selling is “pop this pill to get rid of your pain, and get on with your life.”

This blends well into our cultural psyche (at least in North America). “Pain can’t be really gotten rid of, so let’s mask it and carry on anyway.” Said another way, “Forget about listening to your body, it isn’t saying anything worthwhile, so suppress any sensation and carry on. This pill is your saviour”.

Not one to mask my emotion…this makes me feel really sad. Sad because there is a wealth of understanding within our body that is trying to make itself heard. Sad because there is a belief that we are pieces of Lego stuck together and if we can’t change out a piece of Lego, there is nothing more that can be done. It is sad, sad, sad. We don’t have to rust and wither away. In my over 20 years of designing therapeutic programs, I have seen peoples’ bodies shift far too far too many times to discount. Older, younger…age doesn’t matter.

If you have read this far, you may be asking “wel…now what”?

Here is what has worked for the thousands of people I have taught.

1.  Try to not “fix” yourself. There is nothing to fix. I know this may sound weird. However, if you think or have been told that your sacrum is torsioned “this way” and your one hip bone is lifted “that way”, and your rib cage is moving “in this direction” and your neck in “that direction”, don’t try to make them go the opposite way. How your sacrum, hip bone or rib cage got to the place it did is often not for the reason expected. As such, the way the body unwinds and unravels tension and awkward holding patterns isn’t often the way we think it will go.

2.  Move in as pure of movement as you can. Each of your joints has an optimum range of motion. You have felt this before – whether post workout or massage – your joint range is different. What is optimum depends on what you have done. Same applies if you are due for a hip replacement, have osteo or rheumatoid arthritis or you are simply darn tight, your joints optimum range is what it is. Move in that available range. Listen and limit your full body motion to accommodate what your joints are saying to you. Time and time again, those folks who move in a purer range of motion, those folks who don’t push beyond what is truly available, improve a lot faster than people who don’t. In fact, the people who don’t….simply don’t improve.

3.  Move in a range that doesn’t increase pain. If you continue to move in pain, your body and particularly your nervous system will see this as an appropriate stimulus and will respond “in kind”. It will give you back tension and pain. If you move in a range that doesn’t increase pain, your body will give you back less pain, more ease and freedom..

4.  Your yoga practice or workout are meant to be enjoyed.  Yes, it may be hard work, there is a difference between being effortful and strain/pain/tension/pain.

5.  And yes, pain does not have to be part of your life. It can reduce, it can be managed, and it can be eliminated.

If you are at all feeling skeptical about what you read above, give it a go anyway and see what happens. Break these ideas into smaller pieces – as in, only when you are on your mat, or doing your workout, keep yourself in a range that doesn’t let your pain symptoms increase. Go about your day as normal.

Also, I used to believe it was just me – my training and my experience – that enabled me to help people get out of pain. Every week I receive emails from teachers I have trained, or who have read my books and who are applying these principles not only in their own practices, but with their students, and they are seeing their bodies change and their students’ bodies change as well. So, I know it isn’t me. It is about using principles that follow Natural Laws – moving well, in a range that doesn’t increase pain, don’t force, find ease, there is nothing to fix, move from your joints.

There is a way to get out of pain and/or to significantly reduce the pain you are experiencing. Just give it a try. Let go of cultural psyche, and trust in your body. Your body is talking to you. Get quiet. Listen to the whispers. If you do, I guarantee that you won’t have to continue to deal with or suppress the screams.

You too can experience less pain.

Yes, even you,

Susi