Three Ways to Move with Less Pain and More Joy
Photo by Maria
If you live with persistent pain, I’m gonna bet movement has felt tough, frustrating/anger-inducing, or downright impossible.
Maybe you’ve thought about giving up on movement altogether.
Or maybe you grit your teeth and push through the pain.
I think there’s a middle path to explore.
I’m a movement optimist, and believe that movement is available to all of us, regardless of our physical limitations. Breathing is movement. We can move our eyes, our fingers … and if that’s too painful, we can imagine movement. It all counts.
Here are three game-changing principles that’ve helped me and my clients move with less pain and more joy.
#1. Keep moving, but move in a smaller range of motion.
I recently worked with a private client with knee pain. She loved how strong she felt when she did squats like Chair Pose (Utkatasana), but she was pushing through pain to get there. She knew this wasn’t ideal, but didn’t know what to change.
There’s a big misperception that being able to move further or stretch more means we’ll have less pain.
I haven’t found this to be true.
Rather, I’ve experienced and seen positive changes in myself and my clients when we explore moving well in a smaller range of motion, in a range that doesn’t increase pain. If we can’t move well in a small range, how will we move well in a bigger range?
Moving in a smaller range of motion that doesn’t increase pain is a way to retrain your nervous system and teach it that movement doesn’t equal pain.
Here’s how to practice:
Pick a movement you want to do but where there’s some pain, tension, or just general icky-ness. Notice at what point in the movement you start to feel pain, or your pain levels increase.
Try the movement again, but move only so far as there’s no increase in pain (Warning: you might not move as far as you’d like)
Assess: how do you feel? If it feels weirdly easy and/or you feel all sorts of muscles you haven’t felt before, you’re likely on the right track.
Don’t be surprised if your range of motion is small (or even imperceptible!), or you’re not feeling a lot of stretch. That’s ok! This small range of motion isn’t forever.
You can apply this idea to any movement or yoga pose. If you like, try it for awhile next time you’re on your mat or doing your favourite exercise, and see what happens.
And as for my client, her pain-free range of motion started to increase on its own, her movement felt smoother, and she enjoyed her Chair pose a whole lot more.
#2. Keep moving, but do less.
I’ve found one of the hardest things about living with persistent pain is the cycle of getting a burst of energy, doing a bunch of stuff, and then needing a long recovery period (days or even weeks or months). I had long periods of time when I couldn’t seem to stick with an activity consistently and still feel good. It seemed easier to throw in the towel altogether.
I got out of this cycle by moving more consistently, but for less time.
Want to experiment with this principle? You could:
Reduce the quantity: spend less time in a yoga pose or do less repetitions of an exercise. Or, instead of a 75-minute yoga class, do a 15- or 30- minute one (you can check out my free mini classes here)
Intersperse mini movement breaks throughout your day: break up your activities into smaller chunks. Move a little and then rest.
Focus on the quality of your movement rather than the quantity: once you start feeling depleted, hold your breath, feel pain levels go up, or you think you “should” be doing whatever you’re doing (even though you feel icky), use those messages as an indication to adjust. Adjusting could mean doing a little less, taking a break, or stopping altogether.
Moving for less time, but more consistently, has been my secret sauce to improving my sleep, boosting my mood and energy, and reducing my pain levels. I know it’s possible for you too. (Oh, and over time I’ve been able to move more, consistently…without the highs and lows).
#3. Move in a way that feels fun or playful.
Our nervous system looovveeees play. Think about the last time you had a good belly laugh. Didn’t your body feel so great?
When we move in a way that feels fun, playful, joyful (or whatever word that fits for you), we’re training our nervous system to associate movement with enjoyment. With ease. We’re creating new pathways in our brain and are literally rewiring our nervous system. Cool, hey?
Yes, alignment and moving with integrity matters…and, if it’s all we’re focused on, I think we’re doing ourselves a disservice. Sometimes we just need to move for the pure joy of moving.
Here are a few ways how:
Play your favourite song and move to the music: this song (and the music video!) is one of my perennial faves
Explore: is there a way to let go of the rules in how you move today?
And consider: can you move the way you want to feel?
Some fun practices I like include:
Shaking: sitting or standing, shake out your arms, your legs, your whole body. Enjoy this anytime you need an energy pick-up, or want to move some energy out.
The toe dance: click here to listen to a short audio guiding you through this
Happy Honey Bee Breath (Bhramari in Sanskrit): I teach this humming breath in my yoga classes and with my 1-1 clients and it’s a really lovely way to play with breath and sound.
There are lots of other ways to explore movement in a way that feels joyful, but I’ll leave them for another day.
I hope this list has given you at least one thing to explore!