Day 90-Dwight is Right

A couple of years ago, a hula hoop student of mine hobbled into hoop class, barely able to walk. When asked 'why?', she replied, "Oh, CrossFit. It's killing me."

I asked, "Um, are you telling your instructor when it hurts?"

To which she replied, "Yeah, once, but he said that 'pain is weakness leaving the body'."

Pain is weakness leaving your body. 

I was floored. Speechless. But, if you know me, you know I spoke anyway. And I said, 

"Bullshit. Pain is your body's warning system."

Pain IS your body's warning system.  

If you place your hand on a hot stove burner, do you leave it there while your skin crisps and sizzles like thin-sliced Canadian bacon? No, you jerk your hand away the second your brain registers the PAIN IN YOUR HAND. If you didn't, then you would burn. A lot. 

Pain would save you from doing this. 

Pain signals us that something is wrong. Emotional and physical. Today, I'm only going to discuss the physical part. Although when dipshits like the CrossFit instructor say things like that, I do get emotionally pained. 

I cried tears of joy when I found this on the IntraWebs this morning.

But I digress. 


If your neck aches, something is wrong. If your hip hurts, something is wrong. If your shoulder pains you, something is wrong. These pains are your body's way of saying, "Hey, man! Knock it off! Do something different and fix this because I'm telling you, it's not working!"

Ignoring these everyday aches and pains is folly, and I frequently see folks who have let those easily ignored warning signs go too far, until they are in serious, acute pain. Usually, they end up twisted in a chiropractor's office or lying on the couch with ice on their backs, their bodies pumped full of anti-inflammatory medicines or pain killers. 

Been there. Done that. It's dumb. 

When, after a day of working, your feet hurt, what goes through your head? Gee, maybe I've got the wrong shoes? Maybe I was standing in poor alignment? Maybe I need to stretch those muscles? 

If your shoulder is bothering you, do you consider examining and changing your daily habits and movements? 

Or do you just look the other way and learn to live with those warning signals? Think about it another way: 

If you were sitting in your house, and the smoke alarms started blaring, would you narrow your focus on the book you're reading and ignore the loud, incessant buzzing?

No, you wouldn't.
 
But some of us do it with our bodies every day. 

For years. Chronic pain is not a birthright, but many carry it as if it were theirs. 

Are you? 

Did you know that it's likely that you can fix/correct/heal/ease what's ailing you, perhaps easier than you may think? 

But first, you have to listen to your warning system, or you won't just burn your hand. You'll burn the whole house down, and then, where would you live?

Listen, 
Dani