There is a couple that I work on regularly that almost always asks me which person had more tension. They are both hard working people and they do very different kinds of work. It is hard to compare the tension of a runner with the tension that comes from being at a desk all day. One might as well ask whether it is easier to lift one good-sized boulder or 10,000 grains of sand one at a time. Pain is a feeling, a response that is not truly quantifiable.Many people ask how tight they are in relation to others. I don't think that most want to believe that they are damage or broken. I see people who are in pain who need validation for how they feel. We often don't want to wear our pain openly. There is a funny misconception that it is a sign of strength to hold in our pain. I have found personally that being open and vulnerable takes far more endurance and will than ignoring and keeping it inside. I believe that confronting these feelings within ourselves is an integral part of the healing process. Our discomfort is valid no matter where it falls in the spectrum of human experience. Pain is an important feeling because it tells us when to slow down, when to turn inward. Your tension deserves to be acknowledged and your pain deserves to be relieved.
Health is a process. It's not a level we reach and then we are healthy indefinitely. Our body is in a constant state of renewal. There will always be things we could do differently, maybe better. The thing I always try to remind myself is to acknowledge what I feel in the moment and go from there.


Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come? ~ Rumi

Sometimes it has to hurt to feel better. A simple concept at first glance becomes a lesson I learn anew each year in a different way. Sometimes you have to dig deep and what you find may not be sunshine and kittens. Old habits must be broken before new ones can be implemented. Scar tissue must be broken up and flushed out for muscle tissue to reclaim its space. The ashes of past often fall to our feet as we walk into the future.

I, like many in this day and age, was not taught to take time for myself. Preventative care wasn't even on my radar. I understood basic concepts like eat well and exercise, but the actual becoming process of health alluded me until pain and illness had already knocked down all my walls. I see this too with many of my clients. Often, people don't seek help until their pain is unbearable or has started to inhibit daily activities. Whether they don't want to be a bother or don't want to be seen as weak, people often belittle themselves for the sake of “getting things done.” If we don't make space for ourselves sacred, our days are easily filled. We forget and push through.

As we trudge on, our bodies fill with this rubble: emotional knots we bury deep, lactic acid and cellular detritus that builds up in our muscles, cycles that settle into our nerves shooting pain themselves in perpetuity. We expect more of ourselves than we would the most powerful machine. From cars to phones to kitchen appliances, we expect a certain amount of upkeep and maintenance to be a part of the deal. We buy them cases and oil changes. If we don't protect them, they burn out. Yet, this concept seems almost foreign when applied to the extraordinary organic machines we use everyday.

It's okay. We're not broken and we can learn to live again. We can learn to live better. We can be better to ourselves. Healthy eating and living movements are gaining momentum, but one area in which I feel they are utterly lacking is addressing what has come before. It is hard to build anew if we do not clear the rubble first. We must truly confront who and where we are if we want to move forward. Sometimes that can really hurt. Still, we've had a lot of practice at working through the pain and I think we can do it.

There is a couple that I work on regularly that almost always asks me which person had more tension. They are both hard working people and they do very different kinds of work. It is hard to compare the tension of a runner with the tension that comes from being at a desk all day. One might as well ask whether it is easier to lift one good-sized boulder or 1,000 grains of sand one at a time. Pain is a feeling, a response that is not truly quantifiable.

Many people ask how tight they are in relation to others. I don't think that most want to hear that they are damaged or broken. I see people who are in pain who need validation for how they feel. We often don't want to wear our pain openly. There is a funny misconception that it is a sign of strength to hold in our pain. I have found personally that being open and vulnerable takes far more endurance and willpower than ignoring and keeping things inside. I believe that confronting these feelings within ourselves is an integral part of the healing process. Our discomfort is valid no matter where it falls in the spectrum of human experience. Pain is an important feeling because it tells us when to slow down. Your tension deserves to be acknowledged and dealt with.

Health is a process. It's not a level we reach and then we are healthy indefinitely. Our body is in a constant state of renewal. There will always be things we could do differently, maybe better. The thing I always try to remind myself is to acknowledge what I feel in the moment and go from there.