You sit for a living,
It’s part of your life
PAIN SUCKS
But your life doesn’t have to.
Now that you’re familiar with some of the most popular advice that still keeps you struggling (How to Treat Back Pain with Posture: Therapeutic Sitting – part 1), maybe it brings temporary superficial relief, or in the worst case increases the pain, you now have the background to understand what can help your back pain..
If you’re like me, especially when it comes to the body (and maybe only then), you’re a problem solver. When problem solvers are stuck, they appreciate new and novel information. Here are the three body hacking tips that I have found to work, again and again, when treating my clients. I specialize in those who like to work hard, play hard: amateur athletes and extreme sports enthusiasts, as well as those working in very physically demanding professions. I also work with engineers who sit at desks all day, or sales people who are in the car all the time. These techniques are the best foundation to create optimal daily habits.
Three tips to stop back pain – and keep it away!
- Engage the medicine cabinet in your brain.
- Make sitting, and even slouching, beneficial.
- Restore spinal mobility.
Move the Medicine Within.
Deep within your brain are pain relieving chemicals – opioids such as – endorphins, seratonins, and morphine (the most powerful man made analgesic) – and you can trigger them into action! Get those chemicals cascading through your brain and body through varied experiences. You might cringe at some of these things but they make your body react, respond, and experience. They make you live! Some will appeal to your comfort zone and others will challenge it. Without challenges, you can’t grow and your body requires challenges in order to trigger the intelligent internal pharmacy of pain relieving ‘feel-good’ chemicals. Go down the list, imagine your day, your week, your life objectively and ask yourself what things you routinely do and those you rarely or never do. Explore them and how you could add them to your life. Rigidity isn’t always simply a physical reality, but also a metaphorical one.
- Sleep (if you aren’t getting enough, put it in your schedule)
- High Intensity Exercise
- A Warm Shower
- A Cold Shower
- A Massage
- Stress
- Fall in Love
- Hold Your Breath
Do you get my point?
Movement isn’t your only medicine,
But experience is too!
Get out of your comfort zone and get back in it.
Move
Live
GET OPEN!!!
MOVE, GROOVE, MOVE AGAIN. Big movements, micro movements, new novel movements, basic movements, complex movements, things that jailbreak your cyber cage of comfort. When in pain, we’ll gingerly and cautiously move – anticipating pain, avoiding it at any cost. Change your mindset and embody some neuroplasticity; go into those places. Move and gently stretch into the pain.
I used to teach elaborate patterns of posture because that’s what I learned and read. Big names in the industry were being crowned the “king of posture,” but I gave it up because for me it didn’t work! You’ve probably tried it, good posture helps for a bit then you forget it – it’s so unnatural to hold! It’s more natural is to move. Call it restlessness, who cares?! Your body is now in less pain.
Slouch less,
unless it’s an
Intentional slouch,
Then,
Slouch more
Here’s a true story. One day my colleague walked into my office, he caught and called me out for slumping over my laptop. Ha! It was my intentional therapeutic slouch. I used to be so rigid about posture because that’s what I learned. If you work at a big company you may have even had coaching by an ergonomic consultant. Maybe you got the posture/stability talk. That didn’t work for me; but I’ll share with you what I did do to get out of pain. If you want me to be honest:
I live with pain
BUT
I don’t live in pain
Here are my principles for slouching:
- Explore a dynamic, more movement based intentional slouch.
- A moment of good posture is great for a gravitational reference point reset.
- Don’t forget to discover the extreme opposite movement of your slouch (to exercise the full range of spinal motions and trigger chemical flow).
Try these out, see how they fit: next time you find yourself slouching, instead of beating yourself up about it, use it. It’s right there for a reason. If you realize you’re in it, make use of it: deepen into your slouch.
Using your common sense,
Think about this,
Was your spine created
For
Stability
Or
Mobility?
Truthfully, a bit of both but what I see in biomechanical issues is that people will tend to weigh heavier to one side or the other, forward or backward, etc. With imbalances, problems are always around the corner.
Notice that I’m ending this 2 part blog with spinal mobility, not because it’s the most unique info I’ve shared, but because it’s the most important and helpful tip that I can provide. I hope this stays in your mind and you deepen in your exploration of what mobility means.
Let a mental exploration come before a physical one
Visualize the reality of your spine
Often the vision of the spine in our minds is one dimensional. When you think of your back, your spine what are you visualizing? If you’re like me you’re probably thinking of the back part of your spine, but do you ever think in terms of the FRONT of your spine? Or the sides? or the fact that the ribs are simply an extension of your thoracic spine? Now, can you better visualize the entire reality of your spine?
Remember this:
THE FRONT OF YOUR SPINE IS
The Most Important Part Of Your Spine
IT’S THE SUPER HIGHWAY TO YOUR VITALITY!!
Next time you think spinal motions envision your whole spine.
Sitting doesn’t have to be painful. It can be therapeutic. If it’s painful, look at it as a sign that you need to get moving. Expand the boundaries of your comfort zone and create more life experiences. Get your body to react, respond, and produce.
That’s it for now. If you have further questions, contact me. I offer complimentary client-centered consultations. There’s no better way to get insight and deeply understand not only what’s going on, but how you can feel and perform your best.
Now go out and live
Be Body/Brain Brilliant!
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