Congratulations ! You have made it to the end of another work week and that means it’s time for Health & Fitness Friday here on The Essential Strength Podcast! This is the bight sized podcast meant to make you a little smarter as the week comes to a close!
This week we’re talking about how to take control and start undoing some of these painful connections and feedback loops that cause pain when you just think about an activity like walking, carrying groceries, etc.
I read a great analogy for neuroplasticity since our last conversation. Neuroplasticity is the phenomenon in which out brain and neural network physical changes as we go through life experiences. The analogy was this - Think of a river carving out a channel. The more water that move flows through the channel, the slicker and deeper it becomes. To that I would add, as the channel becomes deeper, the more water will pass through every minute, every hour, and every day. And if that channel is maladaptive, if it’s creating networks that do more harm to your quality of life than good, you want to get to work diverting the flow of water while it is a slow trickling stream, rather than waiting until it is a rushing river.
Specific Psychology approaches that can help with persistent or chronic pain:
Biofeedback can help bring awareness and control to processes such as breath and heart rate associated with painful or scary moments.
You can be your own pain-management ally by continuing to be physical active, eating well, sleeping enough and staying social engaged while working to reduce chronic pain.
Remember - Pain is NEVER HOPELESS, regardless of how unmanageable it may feel, pain exists on a spectrum of "less manageable" to "more manageable" and because your brain is capable of change, so is your pain experience!
Reference Article for this episode - Pathways Health
Catch ya'll next week!
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