I was once very well trained to ignore this information, these physical sensations; to rise above the pain, work through the pain, no pain – no gain… Well, bah humbug to that!
My mantra is: “Don’t rise above the pain – listen to it, feel the sensation, know where it is in your body and then DO something about it…even if ‘doing’ means not doing.”
An example: A few days ago I was speeding from one thing to the next and torqued my knee stepping off my couch then scraped my shin getting into the car. Ouch! Years ago I just would’ve been pissed off at the unfairness of life or felt whiny about my aches and pains. This time as soon as I bashed myself on the car I sat for a moment and reminded myself to SLOW DOWN & PAY ATTENTION! Yes I actually said that out loud …sometimes my mind is just not a good listener…
Anyway, as soon as I had a few seconds of being aware, I got the message loud and clear: I’m tired, I mean really tired; the kind of tired where accidents happen…so I slowed right down. I started paying way more attention to my driving and also to more gently moving my body from place to place. I crossed all the non-essentials off my to-do list, got myself home again and had a mini-nap. With some green food and lots of water I felt refurbished and ready to go play for the evening.
Moral of the story: PAY ATTENTION to physical sensations and you get to enjoy your PLAY.
Right now, I’m taking a breath and allowing that exhale go all the way out… I can sense the tension between my shoulder blades that has spread up and into the back of my neck. What are those sensations telling me? They’re telling me it’s time to quit typing and shift those muscles in a completely new way. The options are anything from a few breaths and shrugs, to a walk, a float on a boat, or for right now – I’m off to read a novel in front of the fire.