S3NSE: Resetting Your Nervous System

“Every moment is a fresh beginning.”

~T.S. Eliot

Please note: The Feldenkrais Method® is not a treatment to cure pain.  Pain could be a symptom of a serious medical issue.  If you have any questions about your pain, seek medical help.

Oh my God, it hurts to even breathe.  I really should know better.  But I was having fun, having just joined the local YMCA.  For the first time since the Covid pandemic, I was in a gym.  I felt like a kid on a playground.  There was so much equipment to play with:  rowers, steppers, and all kinds of weights (kettlebells, machines, free weights and dumbbells).  I had to do it all and did way too much.  Now I was paying the price for my foolishness.

Pain is a warning system.  Your mind and body go into a state of alarm to protect you from further harm.  There are physical, emotional and mental components to the pain state.  Your breathing becomes shallow and your muscles stiffen and hurt.  Anxiety and depression can pull you into a downward spiral that intensifies the pain.

My over zealous actions in the gym resulted in microtears (strains) in the muscles of the hips and legs.  These trigger points created agonizing low back pain.  How could I break out of the pain cycle and reduce my suffering?

The Feldenkrais Method has always been a useful way for me to feel better.  Maybe I could multi-task:  put a lesson together for an upcoming class and decrease my pain level at the same time.  By making the movements very small and light, I could do the lesson without triggering pain.  Remembering to breathe was also very helpful.  By the end of the session, I had a good lesson to teach and much less pain.

The Feldenkrais Method often seems like magic.  You do a lesson and feel more grounded, comfortable and co-ordinated.  One of its tricks is resetting the nervous system by taking your attention off the pain and refocusing it on discovering new movement patterns.  You transform from a painful state to one of curiosity.  This creates profound physical changes.  Your breathing becomes deeper and more efficient.  Also your blood and lymph flow improves which decreases inflammation and promotes healing.  Your emotions and thoughts calm down and become more positive.  

If  your computer or phone has problems.  What do you do?  Most likely, you reset it by turning it off and then back on.  Unfortunately, this does not work for people.  You can, however, reset your nervous system with the Feldenkrais Method.  As my friend Simon says, you can not stop suffering, but you can suffer less.  Take a moment and visit s3nse.org for a fresh new beginning..