Well I was at the pool again this week, for the first since last month's vertical swim.
This time, I used visualisation to engage in some freelance Reichianism. With my mind in neutral as I swam, I paid attention to how my spine was involved in each stroke. I discovered that on every outbreath, I could use imagery to obtain a fraction of a millimetre's difference in posture, and feel the benefits right away. I won't tell you what image I was using, it was hardly politically correct, but it improved my style and loosened up my back.
After a while I realised I was doing it on the precise moment between the exhalation and inhalation, at the instant when everything is in balance. Maybe that's why it was so effective.
Dean Martin used to say
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. They wake up in the morning and that's the best they're going to feel all day."I know what he means. I feel sorry for people who never get back pain. The moment when the pain lifts is like winning the lottery or falling in love. Suddenly, every little thing is a delight. Walking painlessly down the street is a huge buzz. Who needs money? Who needs friends? A career? Pornography (just kidding)?
Albert? Getting a bad back from your sex addiction is tough luck! Something had to give, I suppose. Still, a good excuse for some heavy duty drugs from the doc. How did you get a sore back then? From not meditating, I guess. Hotboy
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you've got back trouble Rob, what a pain! (sorry!)I know you're trying to put a positive spin on it but realse how debilitating it can be...
ReplyDeleteBTW can't scroll through your posts as it just stops after a while??...this time before the end of your HNT post, grrr... so I don't know what happened to the kid! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KID??
Albert? If you sat in a lotus position, surely that would help your back? The spine is supposed to be like a pile of coins, one vertebrae aligned to the next. A straight back. Wouldn't this help? Or those meditation plank things that you tuck your forelegs under? Pain is very separating. Hope it goes away soon. Hotboy
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying about once the back pain leaves, how wonderful you feel. I have thought that about headaches for years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the extra quotes...all good ones.
I think the worst pain I ever experienced was in labour, and there's no doubt thatbreathing made a huge difference to riding the waves of pain. I still use the breathing now to ride tension, and for me the relaxation and easing takes place on the very slow outbreath, when one can feel the muscles relax and posture improve. Is the back better, or just becoming accomodated?
ReplyDeleteHi Lelly, sorry you can't scroll to the bottom of my post (I know this is no excuse but you're still using IE version 6, aren't you?).
ReplyDeleteI've copied the post to http://openingtime.wordpress.com/
HB - filing cabinet injury. You're right in that sitting bolt upright does help, but how many people can keep that up without slouching? *ilates/Yoga is great. And then there's the internal exercises.
ion, the back is better meantime, and the busted disks will behave themselves for as long as I remain mindful. I had been thinking about the breathing thing, as usual you're one step ahead. Do you do this for a living?