HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO USE THAT?

How do you feel when you first wake up in the morning? Are you eager to get your day going because you’re full of energy or do you grumble and hide your head under the pillow because you could use another 12 hours of hibernation?

Evaluating how you feel first thing in the morning is a good indicator of your overall health. Generally speaking, if you’re maintaining a healthy fascia and eat well, you should be starting the day with a bang and not feeling sluggish.

On the other hand, if you live a sedentary life at your desk and rely entirely on junk for your lunchtime meals, then you will very likely be the one who wants to go back to sleep, who needs 10 cups of coffee to conquer the commute to the office, or who grumbles about every little thing that might go wrong.

How you start your day has a direct impact on whether you see things positively or negatively and it can also impact the moods of everyone around you. 

** Quick Tip: Start your day with a Lever session. Your muscles will be relieved and you’ll improve your mood for the day.

Why you should manage your chronic pain.

It hurts, duh. Or does it?

We’ve all heard the same news stories for years telling us to lose weight, eat healthy, and exercise more, but what about VALIDATE your pain? 

In a world of busy bodies and unreasonable work ethics, we don’t always make enough time to take sufficient care of ourselves. But there are just as many people who believe you should just accept your body as it is and so long as you’re a good person and living a productive life, then that’s all that matters.

Well, it’s true that you shouldn’t be critical of people strictly based on looks, but judgment systems are important for survival, right? it’s also true for example that losing weight for shallow or vain purposes alone will only be a temporary fix until the wedding, class reunion, or vacation passes then it’s back to your old, unhealthy habits. 

What about your pain judgement system?

The real reason to lose weight is because you can attempt to love your body, and value your existence so much that you have a deep desire to be physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy. I say attempt because it’s important to realize that no matter who or what are, things go wrong at some point. Your pain judgment system is an important feedback loop because it can keep you ignorant of your own problems or inform you of them.

Human biological adaptability is unparalleled here on earth. YOU are no different. Your pain judgment system can take an injury you may have had anytime in your life and “borrow” or stretch its issues across long mechanical lines, making the sources of limitation and chronic pain invisible.

You already know about the lifestyle-threatening debilitation and problems you face due to spine and joint degeneration. You can trust that your risks increase significantly as your pain judgment system destabilizes. This shouldn’t scare you because it’s nothing you haven’t heard already – and if you were really concerned about the risks, you may have have taken action already!

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Here are just a few risks relating to an ignorant Pain Judgement System:

•     Spinal Degeneration – Thinning of the soft tissues that provide Axial support 

•     Joint Degeneration – Specific wear and tear on joint aspects 

•     Borrowing – The tendency to overuse one part of the body to compensate for another 

•     Depression – Chronic pain literally changes the way the brain works.

•     Osteoarthritis – stiffness in weight-bearing joints

Studies have proven that lifestyle changes involving self massage ultimately decrease the risk of each illness. Whether you could stand to spend 10 minutes or an hour a day, it’s time to Lever your body and love your life!

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Benefits of a smart Pain Judgement System

In addition to preventing the onset of these diseases, there are many benefits to losing weight! Here are just a few: 

•     Increased self-esteem – you’ll feel more confident in HOW you move 

•     Increased happiness - the reduction of pain will help you make healthy choices and, in turn, improve your general mood

•     Improved relationships – you’ll have deeper relationships with the people in your life

•     Decreased use of medications – countless numbers of overweight patients now need fewer medications after making simple lifestyle changes to lose even a small amount of muscle maintenance . 

** Quick Tip: Not sure how to start Levering? Squeeze your legs while watching one of your favorite television shows. Sounds silly, but it works

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Reasons for Chronic Pain

Many people concoct excuses to explain why they’re in pain or discomfort. They range from bad family genes to thyroid problems but rarely do they include the simple fact that people don’t understand the most basic principles of human movement.. It boils down to this simple question:

What doe the human form move like?

If you are, or become curious, then you can choose to deal with your problems with facing the fact that you may not know how to take care of yourself in this way. You can choose to make time for exercise and self care instead of television. You can choose to take ownership of the discomfort, instead of externalizing the problem.

Part of human nature is looking for a scapegoat or something else to blame. Taking care of our health is a huge undertaking and if we fail, it’s difficult to admit our mistakes.

However, blaming an artifact for your own painful lifestyle is becoming a victim in your own life story. When you blame outside sources for your problems it shows the world that you’re not taking responsibility for your life; you’re letting others dictate how you should look and feel.

Escaping the Blame Game

Rather than wasting time finding someone to blame for being in pain, close your eyes and give praise for having a body that works, if you’re breathing in and out there is more right than wrong with you. Maybe your body works a little slower than you’d like, but start being grateful that you’re able to breathe and move. Take joy in a sunrise. Take joy in the smell of a garden. Take joy in a stroll through the park. Take joy in the fact that you are making the conscious decision to love yourself and Lever your body!

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** Quick Tip: Instead of flipping through magazines dreaming about who you wish you looked like, or what you could do, look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself: “I love all of me, as I am. I deserve to be happy and healthy!”

Losing Pain is a Spiritual Experience

Do you ever consider why you were given the body you have? 

Whether or not you believe in God, tackling chronic pain can seem overwhelming, even to the strongest and most positive person. Incorporating self care or meditation into your daily routine will calm your inner being, which will then help you believe in yourself.

If you don’t believe in a higher being, you can still consciously put forth positive thoughts and energy into quantum potential. This is the basis of the Law of Attraction, which holds that the more positive energy you give out, the more positive energy you’ll attract into your life. 

Visualizing what you want to achieve is an example of putting forth positive energy. Thanking yourself for what’s good in your life IS acknowledging the positive and good in your life. If you firmly believe that you will lose your pain and become a healthier person, then you’re more likely to take the necessary steps to make it a reality.

** Quick Tip: Remember that your body is a gift. Honor your body and say to yourself, “My body is to be kept beautiful and healthy.”

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Create An Individualized Health Plan

We all want to be pain free, but everyone’s goals are unique. No matter how little or how much you have to lose, creating a plan that will fit into your unique lifestyle is important.

•     Determine your ideal feeling beyond the pain (with the help of a doctor, if necessary)

•     Write specific ways of how you can get yourself working on self care everyday

•     Implement the changes you need to make by removing temptation of sedentary life

•     Communicate with your family and friends about how they can best support you

As you develop your health plan, you could write everything down in a notebook or an online journal, a health plan notebook is available from us at www.thebodylever.com. The practice of taking pen to paper makes the plan more real, its a psychokinetic activity, as though it’s a contract you’ve made with yourself to become healthier. On especially hectic days, having a written plan to look at quickly will also keep you from making poor food choices.

Keep in mind that your plan may change. Nothing is written in stone and as your lifestyle changes, so will your health plan. As you discover new exercise regimens or a new pain relief technique, add those to your plan. You can also include your favorite healthy recipes and any quotes that you find especially encouraging or inspiring in your notebook.

Also, decide on a way to hold yourself accountable for your choices. Group meetings (like our Pain Validation and Management Meetings) have this accountability built-in by creating a supportive, friendly environment. Perhaps you can find a trusted friend who will promise to check in with you each week to help keep track of your progress. Or better yet, get this friend to exercise with you during the week so you can stay motivated and discuss any potential problems coming up.

** Quick Tip: Fight negative, self-defeating thoughts by exercising. Don’t think about it, just start, walk around the block or up and down your stairs until you regain your composure.

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Make Measurable Goals

Of course, you need to choose a goal. It may be a certain number of classes to attend each week, or perhaps it’s a specific kind of movement relief each day, but whatever it is, make sure your goal is specific, measurable, and attainable.

Once you have your overall goal written down in your health plan, immediately set smaller, more manageable goals you want to achieve on your journey to a peaceful experience in your body. You didn’t inject all this chronic pain overnight so don’t expect it to just melt off instantly. There are three kinds of pain, injected, stored, and pain leaving the body. Its with firm conviction I say, pain stored must be experienced on the way out.

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Your smaller, manageable goals don’t even have to be related to the specific end goal. For example: End goal = reduce shoulder pain from surgery

1. 1.    Set a goal to drink 8 glasses of water every day

2. 2.    Try a new, healthy recipe twice a week

3. 3.    Try three different instructors classes at the gym

4. 4.    Set a goal of taking a 30-minute brisk walk four times this week 

Before you know it, you’ll start to see progress and you’ll quickly form new healthy habits that will help you make life-long, pain reducing, changes to your lifestyle. 

Even though, for example, healthy weight loss may be a long process, we all need to see positive progress along the way. You can’t realistically expect to lose 5 pounds a week, every week, but you can take note of your progress in your journal. 

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Keep track of your ups and downs for the week, as well as the positive outcomes that have arose from your new lifestyle.

Progress is usually a “thin slice” off the top, not the whole fruit of labor at once. If you started exercising last week, what difference do you notice in your body this week? Do you have more energy? Did someone compliment you on your progress? Have you been more productive at work? Whatever it is, document your progress! Charting this progress will keep you motivated, especially since it takes time to see the bigger changes in your body.

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Surviving Setbacks

Even after you develop a well-crafted health plan, you’re bound to experience some setbacks along the road. It’s inevitable that you’ll be faced with holiday entertaining, family stress, or changes at work. This is when you need to take a breath, close your eyes, and remember that you are doing what you do because you love and respect your body.

First and foremost, think of how your body has already benefited from choosing to live a healthy lifestyle. Maybe you’ve already shed a pain issue, maybe you’re less stiff in the mornings, maybe it’s easier to walk up your stairs without a stabbing pain. These are all remarkable benefits and signs that your body is honored and respected! People take notice.

Take an inventory of all the things you like about your body now. Perhaps you only noticed one positive aspect of your body at first, but as you go, you’ll begin to see more and more things you like about yourself. Self care is also self improvement. This is improvement! 

As you see progress, you’ll start loving and appreciating your body more, and self-sabotage won’t even be an option because you’ll never want to go down that dark path again.

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” ~ Confucius

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When faced with stress, remember to use self care, exercise, or meditate to achieve a sense of calm. Visualize yourself living a healthy lifestyle, and receiving gratitude from the words of others. Visualize yourself making healthy choices. Taking these few moments in prayer to center yourself, even if the world around you is in chaos. 

Remember that you are in control of your body and how you nourish it. Show yourself the kind of love and respect you deserve.

Final Tip: Stop playing the victim! Only you can make your life better! Lever yourself and Love your life.