Are you experiencing ongoing pain? Maybe your back is hyper-sensitive and gets tweaked easily. Or maybe there's a particular part of the movement of your shoulder that you can feel yourself bracing before you get to it.

If this has been your reality for a decent while now, then you'll probably be familiar with how much it interferes with day-to-day life. Perhaps starting a chainsaw, lifting your grandchildren, or even going for a walk is feeling like a struggle.

Things that you never even used to think about now give you a little stinging reminder each time you attempt them.

I know what this is like, I struggled with crippling chronic pain in my early 20's, so I'm completely familiar with the way it shrinks your life.

In case you were fed-up with all of this, and wondering if and when it's ever going to end, I am here to tell you it can.

The reason I know this, is because it happened for me, and it's happened for my clients.

I understand a bit about pain that the average person on the street doesn't. And it makes all the difference in how to approach it for true, long-lasting recovery.

And here’s the key thing to understand: if pain is a protective habit, then recovery is about showing your brain new evidence that movement is safe again.

So let’s unpack what that actually means.

Because frankly, much of the typical advice I see about it...welll...... I just don't think it goes deep enough. Exercise, stretching and strengthening don't address the most important part in my opinion.

So if you're feeling a bit fed-up with this lingering pain and you want to really understand how to shift it, then read on.

Caveat: If you have got a pretty serious structural issue going on, this approach may NOT be enough. In some cases, more extreme measures are required. For example, I know a guy who had some extreme degradation between a couple of the bones in his foot. He needed surgery to change things. For most people, in most situations though, this approach works.

Understand The Simple Principles of Pain

Here are 3 simple principles of pain. Let's unpack them together.

Principle #1: Your pain comes from your brain.
Principle #2: Pain is your brains way of protecting you.
Principle #3: Pain can be learned, like any habit.

If you prick your finger on a cactus, your brain creates pain as a way of protecting you. It tells you to move your body away from the spike.

This is great. This type of pain is adaptive. It serves your life well and you WANT it to be there. Without it, you will die well before your time. Seriously, it's a thing. Some people cannot feel pain and it doesn't end well for them.

Lets say you sprain your ankle, your brain makes your ankle hurt to protect you. That is, it makes it hurt every time you step on that foot because it wants you to NOT step on it while it's healing. It doesn't think that force going through your foot is going to help it heal.

Again, this pain is good. It serves your life.

However, our nervous systems are fantastic at learning things. Unfortunately, pain is one of those things.

If your ankle has been hurting for some time, your brain starts to learn that that's normal. Every time you move your hip into that particular position, your body whacks the pain button.

A pavlovian response is setup.

That position = that pain.

If you feel it over and over and over, of course there is going to be a neurological link that forms.

This is one of the entry points into ongoing pain.

There are other entry points. We are organic, systemic beings. What influences our minds, relationships, emotions, circumstances etc, also affects our levels of pain.

You may have noticed that when you don't sleep well that your pain is worse.

Is this making sense to you?

Some of this may feel familiar in your body, and some might feel surprising. Either way, these principles guide the way out of pain.

How Do We Use These Principles to Get Out of Pain?

Provide Safety For Your Brain

As I said in principle #2. Pain is your brains way of protecting you.

Which means, it's actually trying to keep you safe.

This is crucial for responding to and getting out of pain.

Whatever strategy is used needs to build safety. Your brain is feeling on-edge. It's not 100% safe feeling right now. That's why this pain is there all the time.

It isn't quite trusting of the world yet. And just like anyone who has been hurt, trust needs to be re-built over time. The only way to do so is by giving situations and signals of safety.

For example...

• Moving slowly.
• Moving in ways that keep the part protected.
• Reducing the range of motion
• Paying attention
• Ensuring you only move in ways where you can still breathe easily. (Ever notice how your breath stops just before you hit the pain?)
• Removing the idea from your head of "no pain no gain"
• Having someone dear to you whisper sweet things in your ear while you're moving like "I love you" ( Haha. Half-kidding about this one, but I am curious now that I've thought about it)

Using strategies like these addresses your brains desperate want for safety. As you start offering these signals, your system settles, your breath loosens, and you can feel more — which is crucial for the next part.

You Need to Un-link the Movement = Pain Habit

Chronic pain is learned pain. Your nervous system knows the exact point in your movement where the pain turns on.

Try this... sit there, imagine yourself doing a movement that you know gives you pain. Notice how your body responds as you sit there just imagining it.

You can tell the precise point where it feels "unsafe" right?

This is what we have to re-pattern.

We have to teach your nervous system that it's safe to move in this way again. In essence, you’re helping your system rediscover easier, more natural pathways — the ones it used to use before pain took over.

If you can re-engage with the learning process regarding your movement, you will be able to un-link the movement = pain habit. Instead, you'll be giving your nervous system signals that movement is easy and efficient and natural again.

Pain Fades When These 2 Things Are Addressed

When you use a strategy that accounts for the principles of pain, you can then begin working with yourself, rather than against yourself.

When you're safe, pain is no longer necessary. When you're moving and your movement is efficient, enjoyable and easy - pain is no longer necessary.

It gradually fades away as you consistently address these principles.

Perhaps now you can also see why the strategies of strengthening and stretching aren't enough. When they're done well, there's opportunity for some improvement. But in many cases, they don't do anything for our body's sense of safety.

In many cases, they actually override the body's cries for safety. They often come from a subtle attitude of pushing through, as though saying.. "oh just hurry up, stop whinging, lets get on with it".

My invitation, if that resonates with you at all, is to experiment with softening that approach a little. Treat the sore arm or sore hip the way you would with a toddler who is overwhelmed at the end of a hard day. Support. Gentleness. Love. Care.

Moving Forward

My hope is that you've understood something differently today about pain and it's role. I also hope that this understanding can help you move forward in a way that is more gentle and loving towards yourself.

I know pain is hard. It's difficult to resist the urge to just "force it" to get better. But my experience tells me that focusing more on safety and re-patterning is the best way to create lasting shifts.

Of course, if you feel overwhelmed by it all and you’d like company figuring out what this means for your own body, I’m here.

Otherwise, if you have some other means of moving ahead, I hope that addressing these principles in it helps you get some relief faster than you anticipated.

Here’s to returning to a life that feels full again — one that’s shaped by the things you love. I’m cheering you on.