Getting out of Pain

Gain without pain. This should be our mantra. And we heard this phrase many times this weekend as East Village hosted its first Workshop, Getting out of Pain with Susi Hately of Functional Synergy. Despite this repetition we all came to our own epiphanies at different stages of the workshop. But it begs the question, "Why do we still need to feel the burn in order to feel like we have accomplished something?" In fact, the opposite is true, as Susi teaches "There is something other than pain that is worth working towards". Perhaps because we are the generation that coined the term "No Pain, No Gain!" we have managed to morph an eastern philosophical program into a workout. We are definitely paying for it though, if our slipped discs, displaced hips or chronic pain are any indication. Although our intentions are good, healing our bodies through yoga, our practice is oftentimes poor. We practice poses (asanas) that are not safe or functional for our individual bodies in an attempt to look like some perceived notion of what a yogi should be. We've approached yoga in the same way that we've approached all physical activity and all sporting endeavors. We think we need to find the edge and jump right off it!
Susi says that "most peoples' concept of what 'edge' is, is way too far!" If we all come to the mat with the same goal, improving our body’s biomechanics and moving without pain, then we want to continuously improve our FUNCTIONAL movement. FUNCTIONAL is the key word. We have to get away from our perceived edge, even if it means that we feel we are not accomplishing anything. It's difficult because so many of the styles of yoga that are out there are so regimented in the flow, in the rhythm and the breath that we don't have the time to stop and think, "Am I moving without pain?" Ease despite discomfort then becomes the moving target. We put ourselves in Yoga asanas and hold them for long periods of time in hopes of finding ease despite muscle discomfort. Do we feel the discomfort and live in it; allow it to build tension, which causes us to 'try' harder, and then there is no longer any ease? Or do we feel the discomfort and, yet are still able to find ease? Some of us may not even understand the term 'ease' because we've lived with pain and tension for our whole existence, that it's all we know. But if you think that we want to walk away from our yoga practice lighter and taller, we should be able to find that feeling within each pose as well, despite effort. "Effortless Effort".

We learned this weekend that we must temper our need to 'feel' the stretch; to 'feel' the work, because it is possible to achieve the same results with less effort. We need to recognize our bodies’ cues. What comes before the back pain, before the numbness, before the pinch? It is important to know what happens just before, because those are our bodies’ danger signs beyond which we should not travel. When we operate in this way, we find the ease and quiet to recognize the places of pain, difficulty and congestion. Only then can we build stability and strength that leads us to functional movement.