Walking the Tightrope

Every yoga pose strives to have a balance of the effort and the ease to be in it. We must challenge the body to keep it strong, but dont want to tear a hammie if we sneeze in triangle pose. When you live in chronic pain, everything can feel like effort only. So how do we find the ease? Well, some days I feel like expecting that of the physical body is too overwhelming and we can be graceful with ourselves & let that expectation go. Whats great is that you are a much more dynamic being than just your physical form. So, where else can you find the balance? 

• Balancing thoughts in the mind (if the inner monologue is on a repeat of pain narration- remember how badass you are for makin it through today.) 

• Balance energy levels (if you’re exhausted from the bombardment of pain receptors firing, take some deep elongated breaths with 2x the length of exhale to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system.) 

• Balance your emotions (pain-associated emotions such as sadness or fear resonate on a low frequency- try not only thinking but really feeling some elevated emotions such as gratitude or joy.) 

Like walking a tightrope, it takes practice.

Be gentle with yourself. Your whole Self.

-Stephanie