Published on 7/31/21 by Jackie Olmstead—We all experience pain in our lives whether it’s chronic or acute. Wouldn’t you like to know some tips to help alleviate pain, whether it’s permanent or recurring assistance to your system?
When I say chronic, I mean that our bodies are reacting to long term damage from an injury in the past or a learned body reaction that is responding to our perpetual behaviors to something our body is wanting us to pay attention to, but we fail to understand it. Thus, continual pain from our body that is unanswered.
This might be a foreign concept to you right now, but it is the core of the healing work that I teach and help people with: Polarity therapy with whole food plant based living. It’s really not complicated either, actually. Once you understand the basic premise, you can start to slow down to hear what your body is trying to tell you and move on to allowing the body to heal itself.
To expand upon the chronic pain situation, something keeps flaring up in your body like headaches/migraines, back pain, joint pain, general stress and nerve pain. Perhaps you had an injury in the past that you know about. Perhaps it’s a reaction to an event in your life that you haven’t accepted or addressed. Either way, your body is definitely communicating with you.
Acute pain is from a recent injury, accident or life event that require tremendous strain upon our bodies like child birth. It can turn into a chronic situation if not nurtured and acknowledged right away.
It is important to break down the differences between these types of pain for us to understand what our bodies have been through and perhaps allow the body to get to the core of what’s causing us this pain. Sometimes, actually, it isn’t even crucial to know exactly what or why but to help the body be heard and allow the body to remove the blocks that could be causing this pain.
We can initiate a multitude of healing work on our own. We can change the food that we eat, reduce or eliminate foods or chemicals that will hinder our healing. Since the 1970s we have been inundated with a plethora of information and disinformation about what is good and bad for us. I’m positive you’ve tried so many different things that haven’t worked or worked only for three months and then you went back to the old ways. I have!
Your body can heal itself. You are a miraculous being. When we continue to be unaware of and ignore and abuse our bodies, we are hindering our healing that is constant, not matter what we do. When we remove organs, for whatever reason, our bodies even try to compensate for it.
Our bodies need our help. I have a simple outline of how you can help your body TODAY.
- What are you eating? What drugs, medicines etc are you putting into our body? (Look at it from a neutral point of view, some medicines we might never be able to stop taking. Some we may be able to reduce.)
- How are you moving? Do you move regularly throughout the day? Do you purposely exercise (yoga, weight lifting, bicycle, swim, walk, run…)? Do you incorporate movement into your day even if it’s not exercise routines?
- How do you spend your time? Do you journal, meditate, have mindfulness type of activities, enjoy friends/family time
- Do you have a supportive and knowledgeable health care team? (physicians, chiropractors, therapists, massage therapists, etc.) Do you work with them directly with your pains? Or is it simply band-aid type of treatment?
- Lastly, how is your home and work environment? Toxic? Have you removed chemicals (like flouride and bleach), implemented a good water filtration system etc?
I highly suggest taking a personal HEALTH inventory (above list) first. Then, begin to document your pain on a daily basis.
Ask your body questions like this and have conversations (yes, you might feel silly at first, but it’s effective):
- Hi, body! (you can also talk to just one body part) I just want to first say hello and apologize for not talking to you directly like this. I need you. I want to understand what you are trying to tell me. I am always here for you.
- What do you need from me? (stop and listen when you say or write out these questions)
- What can I do right now that will help you?
This exercise alone is massively effective in finding out what your body needs from you to help it heal faster. If you have someone who can support you in this, it is tremendously helpful.
Next: Do what your body is asking you. Take your time in doing this. Do the steps you can right away, keep checking in with your body whether it’s mediation or writing or asking out loud. KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS.
Lastly, my friend, learn some fantastic techniques for self-polarity-hands-on-massage that you can do for acute flareups of your pain or for daily pain management. Example here:
This photo demonstrates the approximate hand placements for the occipital bone (at head/neck) and also the sacrum bone (bottom hand)
I am demonstrating how you can do this hold yourself. Especially good for cramps in women or headaches! Lay on your side: One hand is holding the neck (occiput) and the other hand drapes towards the back and is holding the sacrum bone. Ideally you are laying on a soft surface. Stay in this position as long as you need (at least 5 minutes).
This is the page from one of my polarity books that shows the actual bones you are holding. The connection with your hands helps the current/flow between them. Someone else can hold this for you too.
Hire those awesome health care team members you listed in your inventory list (#4 above) and get in there. They can teach you some self care techniques that are specific to your needs. Get connected with someone who can help you remove the physical blockages and discuss or write about the mental and emotional blockages you hold.
We all hold stuff in. We all have blockages. I believe it’s simply a part of the human experience. KEEP ASKING YOUR HEALTH CARE TEAM QUESTIONS too! Read up online or in books about issues you have questions about. Take these questions again to your team. Use them. That is why they do their jobs. Just like the plumbers and electricians: They are here with extra training. But keep asking questions. If it doesn’t sound or feel right, meet with another. Please.
This is the revolution of healing work we need and have been waiting to learn. YOU. You can do it. I’m here for you too.
(featured top montage image from www.pixabay.com, congerdesign and graphic from Randolph Stone, Polarity Therapy Vol. I & Vol. II, CRCS PO Box 1460, Sebastopol, CA 95473)
