Are you forgetting something? Your pain perhaps?

By Sam Belyea a.k.a. The Foot Whisperer

My clients teach me so many things. One of these things inspired me to write a blog post today. A client who came in with aches and pains described in detail where the pain was, what it felt like, and when it was at its worst during the day. After we got that out of the way, my client relayed all of the fun things they have been doing recently. When they described the events and activities they were involved in my client was positively glowing with joy.

During a pause, I asked: “While you were doing all of those wonderful things, where was your pain?”

A pause, then a shocked look, and finally my client exclaims “It was gone!”

This happens all the time. Because pain is ruled by your nervous system (not the muscles and bones) when you are enjoying yourself, your body will literally ‘forget’ to hurt. We use this same procedure during a Reflexology session by stimulating sensitive hand and foot nerve endings, causing the body to divert its attention from the ‘ouch’ to the ‘Ooooooo, that’s nice!’

During full body massage, the nerves can become hyper-aware of painful areas because pressure is applied to them. When the nerves feel an increase in pain they immediately tell the muscles to protect the area with layers of tightness. Even if a bodyworker successfully beats a muscle into submission, by the next morning you will have a freshly guarded area filled with deeper knots and stronger tension.

So, why should you forget about your pain on a regular basis to aid recovery?

Have you ever gotten injured and realize that you are contorting your entire body to protect the injury? This is actually very helpful for immediate injuries to prevent additional damage. Unfortunately, if your body still thinks you’re injured the nerves will tell the muscles to continually contort the surrounding muscles and bones to protect. Recovery then becomes very, very slow.

When you let your nerves become distracted during a bubble bath, a great meal, a fun event, or a Reflexology session, your body gets to re-evaluate what is needed at that moment. If you are fully healed, need a little more time, or if the body needs any additional support your nerves will be able to realize that they need to stop guarding and start helping.

Today’s Lesson: “Forget about your pain.”