Back Pain: A walker's speed bump
Have you ever had this experience?: You are traveling to work with full intention of making it on time, when you come along a line of heavy traffic? It can be distressing and annoying. You might not have any idea why you are waiting in line and it might seem as if traffic may never clear! However, as it turns out there is road construction up ahead that is stopping the flow of traffic. A necessary evil to help prolong the quality of our roads. Ultimately, you decide to take an alternate route. One you had never known about, but this new route makes your commute better and you even have a great view of Mount Hood!
This is a very similar situation to back pain. A road block. However, just as you learned a new route to work, this pain can also be an opportunity for increased awareness of your body. Many times we can approach back pain like it is a sign to stop moving. True, sometimes rest is our best option. However this pain can also be an opportunity to get to know ourselves better, to take an alternate route, and ultimately end up with an improved awareness of the way our body moves.
In this day and age, back pain can come from a variety of different sources. I would say one of our main contributors is our typically sedentary lifestyles that involve excess hours at a desk or behind the wheel of a car. Often there is little we can do to eliminate this from our lifestyle. However...another source of back pain can come from repetitive movements, such as endurance walking, with improper body mechanics. This is where we have the opportunity to grow, and learn new and evolved ways of making our back pain a badge rather than a noose.
Ways to seek an alternate route:
1.
Breathe. It seems simple but often our awareness to breathe is the most underdeveloped in our bodies. If you can even consider how many muscles in our body are responsible for breath it can become very clear that if they do not have proper movement potential they could create discomfort in our bodies. Taking a few moments out of your day to sit and observe your breath can bring a greater sense of calm and often pain relief. One way to try this out is to sit or lie down in a comfortable position and observe your inhale, your exhale, and the moments of pause on either end of the breath. While you make this observation notice what parts of your body move. Practicing your awareness potential regarding your breath will give your body a reminder to breathe more efficiently on a regular basis.
2. Body Mechanics, reprogramming the switchboard. Another important observation to make is regarding how your body is moving through space. Many times back pain can be a result of improper movement in the joints at your hips, knees, or even feet. When we develop improper body mechanics our body has a amazing way of making those patterns permanent. Consider your car once again. If you do not take it in for a periodic alignment and tire rotation your car will eventually shake when it gets up to high speeds. These permanent changes can create wear and tear on your car. Improper body mechanics can also create wear and tear in your body. For this reason, it is important to try and create new movement patterns by practicing alternative ways of moving. In my pilates and gyrotonic practice I find it is helpful to track how my bones and muscles are working. If there is an inefficient movement pattern this is a great opportunity to create a new one that I can practice throughout the day whether I am walking to the store, riding my bicycle, or watching television.
3.
Core strength and flexibility=Efficient Gate. Finally, once you have improved upon your body mechanics you are in a position to develop core strength and flexibility. Strength and flexibility is best developed from a balanced place. For example, if you walk a lot you might have over-developed some of the musculature in your legs and torso. This may leave your body imbalanced and often uncomfortable. Core strength includes much more than your belly these days. It has definitely evolved since we thought sit-ups were our best way to strengthen our core. Now it is important to explore balance strength and flexibility in your neck, shoulders, trunk, pelvis, and thighs. This type of balanced strength will give you better movement potential as you approach your next physical adventure!
The wonderful thing about back pain is if you take the time to make observations regarding your breath, body mechanics, and strength/flexibility you will have a greater awareness of how your body works. This will strengthen your repertory of choices for the next time something uncomfortable creeps up in your body. Through this increased knowledge you will not be a victim to back pain and it will not have the same power to slow you down or block your path. It might just give you a heads up to pay better attention to what is going on so you can make changes before anything detrimental emerges.
