How To Work With Your Pain? Know Your Pain - Leslie Kaminoff [YogaAnatom...

It always seems to come around to the "sthira" and "sukha" conversation ("sthira" = strong; steady; stable; motionless; "sukha" = comfortable; ease filled; happy; light; relaxed). When we start to destabilize the joints that should be stable, and over stabilize on the joints that should be mobile, and we do that consistently over a long period of time, the body runs out of its ability to adapt to that, and it tells you that it is loosing that ability to adapt, by sending you messages of discomfort. Now, it's really important to say that not all discomfort we experience in yoga practice is telling us to stop doing what we are doing. In fact we have to lear how to discriminate between the messages that say: "Oh, I can't take this for another second, and you actually can, and you can safely, because that's the barrier that holding that resistance that the practice is showing you about yourself. So there is a difference of those kind of signals of discomfort, and the one we should pain attention to. So I think the real question is how can we learn to discriminate more between the messages that say "Stop!", and you should stop, and the ones that say "Stop" and you go "No, I can keep going". The general overall rule of thumb I start the conversation with at least is if you are getting the pain signals from inside the joint structure, I would take that as a message to stop doing what you are doing. There are some exceptions that pertain more in a physical therapy conversation. I am talking about taking yoga class in a group situation. So if you are getting pain from inside a joint structure: there is nothing in there that you want to stretch really, because then you are violating the sthira element of what keeps that joint together. There is a difference between flexibility and instability, just as there is a difference between strength and rigidity. And that's what this great definition of asana that we get from Patanjaly is telling us: "Sthira sukham asanam" , there can be strength without rigidity and there can be flexibility without instability. There can be, as Desikachar likes to say alertness without tension and relaxation without dulness. There can be all of these things, but it requires attention, it requires discrimination, and it also requires to never put ourselves on automatic pilot and think that we know, because our body as everything else in the universe are constantly changing. So what may have been safe yesterday to do, for whatever reason today may not be safe. Especially as you get older, and you know what? we are all getting older.





Thank you Leslie for sharing such precious informations.

LUV
ssc