I woke up this morning still feeling pain in my neck, but it has reduced down to about 30-40% from yesterday. The fun thing about chronic pain is that there is always something that hurts. Last week it was my back and this week it is my neck.
The challenge is how to continue to move and grow in the face of pain. My natural inclination is to retreat, lie down, give in to the story of pain, and do nothing. The reality of my life is that I don’t have the option to give in. Life moves forward whether I am in pain or not.
Last year I gave into the story. I was too busy with school, I had to study, had to see clients, had to do homework, had to do, and had to do. Everything was more important than taking care of me, the basic human. I didn’t move enough. By the end of the year, I was a wreck recovering from knee surgery, shoulder and elbow tendinopathy, as well as neck pain and back pain.
This year I have “accidentally” happened upon this movement video diary project and so far, I am incredibly grateful. In a little over a week, I’ve moved more than I normally would have and my body feels really good because of it. I still obviously have pain, but I also have relief, I can find flow, I can be playful, and I feel human. Pain is not the only story today… For this I am thankful.
I spent all day yesterday explore movements in relationship to my neck. It made a little bit of difference, but not enough. This suggests to me that the neck pain problem isn’t coming from my neck.
In this short 15 minute session, I am focusing less on my neck and more with how my spine and hips move/feel. I spent a little time on the foam roller partly to mobilizing my spine, and also to see where there was muscle tension. I’m noticing some restriction in my left side lumbar area with rotation. This will be a focus throughout the day. I finish the session with some nice deep squat opening.
This was a really fun session. I did a 30-minute bike ride earlier in the day. I haven’t ridden the bike in months. It felt really good on the legs.
I still have pain in my left side neck with a couple of specific patterns. I worked on exploring the edges of my non-painful neck mobility. I am being really soft and gentle in these edges, pushing the discomfort to a 3 out of 10.
The V-sit exploration felt amazing through my hamstrings, hips, and back. Especially followed by the frog stretch, get up play, 3D stretching.
I look ridiculous through much of this one and it was super fun and hard. After going through some intense movement restoration, my vestibular system felt challenged. My focus in this session was squats and chaotic flow. Considering this body has experienced six knee operations, I felt pretty good about this session. I was sweating by the end of this one. I’ll update tomorrow if my knee gets angry with me.
Have you tried this 10-minute 30-day 2×4 challenge? I’d love to hear your feedback.