How practising somatic exercises integrated in my Yoga practise resolved my neck and shoulder pain.

Do you suffer from pain? 
For how long? Have you already given up and told yourself that this will be the state you are in for the rest of your life?

The list of conditions that are connected with pain or chronic pain is long. Almost every 2nd person has either experienced some pain within their lives, or is still suffering from chronic pain.
I am a health practitioner (therapist) and come across people who suffer from pain all the time through my work.
Often those people are energetically drained, sometimes depressed and have lost their quality of life as everything is controlled by the pain.
They gave up, as nothing seems to help longer than just a few days and they seem to have tried everything that doctors, therapists and coaches have to offer.
Most of them have either never tried breathing practise  (or tried just one type and it did not work for them) , mindfulness ( because they thought it sounds like a religion or something weird)  or movements that focus on awareness rather than the outcome, because we are all conditioned to "reach the goal" "get results" and focus on the outcome rather than  the experience.
Clients are often very surprised how much "a little change" can actually help them, when it works on the root cause ( the nervous system), not on the symptoms. It also often makes a difference, if people are supported in trying a variety of exercises, movements, breathing techniques, meditations and give them a choice to select what works best for them.
Treating everyone as a unique person with unique needs, wishes, beliefs and habits is the key in providing successful treatment, coaching or therapy. This is what I do at "rebalance mind & body"

holistic pain and stress relief

My own pain story and the important detail that I realized:

I would like to share my own " pain journey" here and how a certain type of lessons helped me resolve it. I am not saying this is the cure or approach for everyone, but it is certainly worth trying if you are looking for other ways to address and manage or even resolve your pain.
My pain started when my dad passed away 2 years ago. It triggered a big stress response in me because I was very close to my dad, he was my "lighthouse" in life. I was lucky enough to be with him the last 2 weeks of his life to support him on his last journey. My mum has already passed 30 years ago and my brother is in a permanent care home after a severe brain injury. I live on the other side of the world 26hours flight time away, but I was the only one left in our family to do this , so all the "weight was on my shoulders" to be at his side before he passed, then organising the funeral and all that comes with it.
I noticed the pain in my left shoulder first ("the weight on my shoulders"), then in the arm and shoulder blade area. I could not raise my arm anymore, brush my hair or getting my Bra on without pain. I tried massages, Physiotherapy, Osteopathy which was all great, but it did not help long term. As soon as I was under pressure, felt emotional or had to deal with a stressful issue , the pain was back.
So, I was looking for something else to address my pain.
It felt weird that I could not resolve my pain, because I am Yoga teacher & therapist myself. I am teaching & practise Yoga all the time to keep me mobile. I use massage mats and do relaxation practises but the pain always came back.
That made me wonder and I looked for something that finds the root cause of the tension and I found somatic exercises. This approach was developed from the Feldenkrais method which I learned within my training to become an Occupational therapist. Awareness through movements, gentle slow exercises focussing on the awareness what is actually happening in the body. So, I already knew this approach, but haven't practised it in that way for years. Time to get back into it, to try if it makes a difference to my pain, as I did not want to start pain killers and depend on them by supressing the signals of my body.
But this is just my personal attitude and belief and not a recommendation to everyone. Everyone has to find their own way to address and manage their pain in alignment with their own beliefs and attitude.

The key is to go back to basics:

It was very eye opening for me. I re-learned how muscle memory works, movement patterns in each person develop, how "vulnerable" areas of the body get triggered by stress overload, why it can take decades until we notice pain or discomfort or "wear and tear" will be discovered, and how it all starts.
Now after learning all of those details and more, it made sense why Yoga and the massages and therapies etc could not solve my pain. It was not addressing the root cause of my pain, just fixing the symptoms short term.

​I needed to help my muscles to lengthen again, getting out of old patterns how I move and hold my body and find alignment again from the INSIDE, by retraining my nervous system response.
The key with this approach is to slow down, and really FEEL and be AWARE again, listen to the sensations of the body.
It seemed like I have neglected that over the years and got stuck in my own habits and not truly listening what my body was trying to tell me. With developing the the pain , my body basically yelled at me, so I could not ignore it anymore.
It certainly was a big lightbulb moment for me.
It makes totally sense to me, that I am moving in my own restricted patterns. I am also doing my Yoga practise this way, getting out of ned the same way, walk the same way and brush my teeth the same way each day. I realized, I need to retrain my muscle memory as I obviously stored a lot of tension in several areas of my body.
Starting with those somatic exercises help me realize that. The journey of change has begun.

My somatic exercise practise & the amazing outcome:

When I started my practised I noticed tension in areas of my body that I haven't noticed before.
It was not just my shoulder, arm and the shoulder blade area on the left side, it turned out that even the smallest movement of my leg was very hard, that I could not turn my head without feeling discomfort and that I was arching my lower back when I thought I sit and stand in a "neutral" position.
WOW! I did not expect that. I keep doing the practice how it worked for my body. After 5 days of of practising, I noticed the tension started to melt away and movements became easier and more fluid. I also was more aware of the other parts of my body that stored tension.
My awareness was shifting in my daily movements and tasks too.
I was more present and therefore aware of my posture, how I stood when doing the dishes, how I sat on the couch, how I held my toothbrush, how I got in and out of the car etc.
I realized that I could change my postures and movements and try how it feels and what effect it has on my posture and alignment. After 10 days, my pain was gone. I could move my arm properly, no more shoulder pain and my body looked more upright and evened out when I looked in the mirror.
My pain that has been a "pain in the a..." for so long, is gone now.
And all of that in just 10 days. Since then I keep doing my daily practise, feeling better and enjoy it more each time.
It really is my "self care time" each day. It makes sense to me to keep doing it, because each day I develop tension due to what I am doing and just because life has his tasks and challenges.
With these effective & enjoyable exercises, I am able to stay on top if it before I develop new pain, it makes me self sufficient!
For me it is important to be able to help & heal myself, not relying on the already underfunded and overloaded health system, if possible.
When I practise and teach Yoga these days I integrate those exercises into my sessions. I also slow the practise down even more, to help people reconnecting to their own awareness. By getting a sense of what muscles they tense up when, and how gives them more control and they can change and adapt a posture or movement to make it easier on their body. 
People experience less pain, less stress, they enjoy moving their body in a caring and supportive way and most of them find it very "refreshing" and beneficial not to focus on the outcome or goals.
The goal here  is to FEEL and be AWARE, re- connecting to yourself.

Summary:
The solution of pain and stress relief lays most of the time within us.
We need to become aware of our bodies and its signals again. By changing our movement and posture habits, we are able to create length in our muscles, less wear and tear on our joints and overall a better awareness and feeling for our bodies.
This is challenging in our fast paced world as it forces us to SLOW DOWN and LISTEN. This approach does not fit in with the " get stuff done", "bring results" and " I don't have time for this".

Overuse, wear and tear and stiffness stays unnoticed until we experience pain or discomfort. We often blame it on the age, which is easy but not true. If it was an age thing, why do even children develop pain conditions?
Returning to body awareness and feeling our muscles from the inside is the key for prevention in the first place by re-learning when there is already pain, stiffness or discomfort. and become able to manage and change it. 
And this is important for everybody, no matter if athlete, office worker or couch potato. Everyone moves in a certain way, trains and performs a certain way and stands + sits in a certain way.
The best example are professional sports people who need to retire when they are 35 or 40 (soccer, rugby, gymnastics, ballet dancer etc), because they all have their dominant side they use to kick, throw, turn, jump on etc. and they are seen as "fit" and "mobile". They have developed their movement patterns and postures just like everyone else. They have worn out their bodies as most of the time they were focused on the outcome how to perform, how to build up strength and coordination etc. Fulfilling their demands. But a lot of trainings are changing their approach already, and integrating the somatic aspect in their trainings. It still is a relatively new approach, but there is more and more scientific proof available these days than 10 or even 20 ago that it works and makes a difference.

Final thought:
I certainly have learned a big lesson and am very glad about that. I have experienced the great effect myself, and can recommend it to others. Now I can offer better support for people in pain or how to prevent pain and discomfort in their bodies in the first place. Re-training the nervous system and creating new awareness and presence for the body and therefore healthier posture and effective movement patterns with joints in alignment and muscles flexible and strong. All resulting in better life quality, mobility and resilience. And all with a practise that is " self sufficient"  and enables people to help themselves.
​Worth a try, don't you think?

Contact Britta

The exercises I was practising were developed by Moshe Feldenkrais & later modified by Dr. Thomas Hanna.
If you would like to try somatic exercises and Yoga, please get in touch with Britta and have a FREE chat with her to learn more.
​www.rebalancemindandbody.com