Pain. Limitation. Constraint. Call it what you want. Whatever it is, you don’t want it.
So what do you do? Your body creates a new process to counter the pain. This is known as a compensation. So to get rid of the pain you have to get rid of the compensation.
I have an interesting technique to counter your compensation, but we need to take a deeper look into compensations themselves before I explain how to unwind it.
Breathing and Pain
If you stubbed your toe or ever had a headache you’ll recall how you breath differently in those situations as compared to when you’re waking up from a good nights sleep or having a deep conversation with friend. One is high and tight the other is low and slow.
I think this is why cold plunges are so popular right now actually. You’re just learning to breath low and slow because breathing high and tight long enough really pushes you into that fight, flight or freeze state (sympathetic nervous system). Except some people have habituated that breathing or at least the position their body goes into when they’re breathing. It’s like they just jumped into a cold plunge for the first time except constantly in their muscles.
I do not recommend you maintain this “jumping into a cold plunge for the first time” breathing pattern or the posture that comes with it. This is how compensation happens. It makes sense for your body to go into that protective tense posture and for your breathing to quicken and shorten, but you cannot function normally if you stay in this state.
The cold plunge exposes this reflexive compensation of ours and gives you the chance to brake the pattern. Instead of trying to relax every single you can focus on your breathing and the muscles will relax. This is similar to the process that causes pain in your muscles and joints.
So when you’re in pain you breath differently than when you are not in pain and your pain can change without you focusing on changing your breath, but your breath will always change when you’re out of pain.
So I say, take the low hanging fruit and work on your breathing. There are many breathing techniques you can do. It’s a very ancient practice. I have chosen this simple exercise because I don’t think this element of breathing has gotten the attention it deserves.
The “do this before you start doing all sorts of other breathing exercises” exercise.
Think of this like an athlete training for a sport. You may hit one shot and feel good, but the goal is consistency. Normalizing that good feeling is the practice. Being able to get back into that flow state with ease is just as much a skill as the skills you experience in a flow state.
3 Breaths. Eyes Closed. Breath slow. Breath low.
It’s easier to breath slow than to breath low. If you could just learn to slow your breathing it would help immensely. If you could also breath more deeply then you’re well on your way with this one.
Breathing low means you sense the pressure in your abdomen around and below the belly button. It will be more subtle and take more focus at first, but after a little practice you’ll be sense it more easily. This is the secret sauce in breathing exercises, it’s really exercising your control of your focus. Learning to control your attention
Start with 3 breaths, but build to 5, 10, 25.
Eye’s closed helps to focus initially, but ultimately you’ll be able to do this with eyes open.