As a sports and remedial massage therapist, people generally come to me because something hurts or because they can't do something they used to be able to do pain-free. To address this I can assess how they present themselves physically by analysing their posture and testing the range-of-motion (ROM) in their joints. This will start to give me some idea of where their pain may stem from and I can start treatment based on that.
Sometimes the pain they're experiencing doesn't match up to what I find during my assessment - so it becomes their subjective experience vs my objective experience. I have to take into account and treat the area where they're experiencing the pain because massage is like a big plaster. Remember when you were a kid and the relief you felt when someone stuck a plaster on your injured knee, regardless of whether it was bleeding. Massage feels good because it's changing the neuromuscular connection between your brain and your body. Connection is key.
What I also notice is the pain people experience internally when they can't do what they used to do. Many of my clients are active people who try their hardest to keep fit, eat well and generally look after their bodies; this makes it all the more frustrating when they can't train or move in the way they want to. I can relate to this so well and I sense their mental pain as much as I feel the tension and restrictions in their fascia and muscles. Sometimes they'll talk about it, often they don't. I have treated a number of people who have had to stop doing what they love, years ago in some cases, and they never really get over it. They often still have the drive to look after themselves, but nothing can replace the sport or activity they grew to love and had to let go of. But it's not a case of finding a replacement, it's finding a way to use your body in a way that keeps you feeling connected to it. That word 'connection', again.
When they start to lose this connection, their body doesn't feel like their own anymore. The only way to stay connected, or reconnect, is to put the work in. There is no easy fix, as we all know too well. I read something somewhere (no reference I'm afraid) that really resonated with me - that there is no such thing as maintenance. You wake up each morning either more or less strong, fit, hydrated, nourished and mobile than you were the day before. It's what you do each day that makes these things better or worse. It sounds pretty obvious, doesn't it, but to make those changes you don't have to join a gym or start some crazy fitness regime to get results; in fact that might make you feel even less connected because it's not 'you'.
So what is 'you'? It could be a 10 minute YouTube video focusing on joint mobility? It could be committing to 2000, 5000 or 10,000 steps a day, or making sure you set reminders to take frequent breaks away from your desk if you're an office worker. It could be noting down what triggers your pain or what makes it feel better, and then seeking advice on why that could be.
Considering your health as a daily work-in-progress might make it easier to work with your body at a sensible pace and to find something that brings you a bit closer to where you want to be. Even though you may not see or feel the benefit straight away, knowing that the change you make will contribute to the future you might just help you stick with it and start to get that all-important connection back.
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