What has pain taught me?

Part 2 - read Part 1 here.  

This:  I've learned to slow down and listen!  and then move.  Whether its outright pain or just an overall unproductive I can't think clearly state, slowing down and listening to my body always helps.

I learned this back when I used to get a bad spasm in my big toe. It happened frequently. I could not walk. Literally, I would hobble along on the side of my foot, hop, use my old field hockey stick as a cane... I couldn't ever walk barefoot, not on the beach, not even in the shower without that locked, frozen big toe thing happening. One day I lay down on the floor out of frustration and anger. I probably cried. My body relaxed. I sank into the floor. And after a time, I was able to get up, put on the sneakers and walk normally again.  

This is what I do. Try it! I hope it helps you.

Most often I start by lying down on the floor in a quiet place on my back. I become very still and I listen, I feel, I scan all the parts of me from my toes to my head. Usually, I get an impulse to move; my body tells me to move, stretch. So, I move what ever parts of me feel like moving. There are no rules. My body just goes where it needs to. Maybe it looks a little like yoga, except I don't hold poses much. I move, I reach for the edges, where my body wants to go. I take a little from Feldenkrais, a little from Rossiter, a little from Breema. I may bend my knees up to my chest, in a tight ball and lightly rock on my spine, I may roll on the floor side to side. Or roll a bit on a foam roller, leaning into the pain, releasing the tissue. Maybe I am inclined to stand or sit and stretch.  It's different every time.

I do this if I am in physical pain, I do it if I feel emotionally stuck and something frees up, releases.  I always feel better and more alive after. I try to do this daily, whether there is pain or not.