Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/77400
THE BRAIN AND BODYWORK BODY SENSE AND PAIN It may not seem like it at the time, but pain exists in our bodies as a way of getting our attention back to ourselves. Pain is one of the pathways our body uses to spontaneously and automatically remind us to notice a physical or emotional threat we may have been avoiding. This noticing and feeling directly into our bodies, even our pain, is what I call embodied self-awareness, or more simply, "body sense."1 Body sense is the ability to feel sensations and emotions in the present moment without the mediation of judgment or thought. In fact, whenever thoughts of any kind come is exceptionally powerful because it can find the most optimal form of functioning across neuromuscular, digestive, hormonal, cardiovascular, and immune systems leading to a reduction of pain and ultimately a return to healthy functioning.2 Body sense is one of the oldest, most powerful tools available for healing. It is as simple as noticing the aroma of good food, feeling your feet on the floor, or sensing the warmth and softness of touch. Body sense calls us to the present moment, brings us back to ourselves, and wakes us up to what our body really needs. Body sense is also elusive, mysterious, easy Body sense is one of the oldest, most powerful tools available for healing. into our awareness we immediately go offline from our body sense; we are not in the moment: "Am I sick or just lazy?" "I'm really good at what I do." "I'm definitely in the moment, right now, with this client." Present-moment body sense is like a booster shot for the nervous system. When we become aware of feelings, including pain, it means that the self-regulatory network of the brain (including the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the thalamus and hypothalamus, linked parts of the brain stem and spinal cord, and the peripheral receptor neurons that help to locate and sense our body condition) can be activated as a single unit of neural integration. This integrated network to forget, and difficult to rediscover. It takes practice, discipline, and concentration. Even those most skilled in the art of body sense can lose their way or get thrown off track. This happens because of the pull of our thoughts and judgments—those nagging expectations from family, friends, and co-workers. If these pressures push you to ignore the subtle sensations of stress in your body, and later the pain itself, you may develop tissue damage like tendinitis, joint inflammation, loss of cartilage, bone compression in the vertebra, or a pinched nerve. Your body might be under stress for years, but you may not be aware of it until it progresses to the point of depleting your body's resources: literally destroying cells that maintain your ability to function. Adjusting your posture, stretching, going to the gym, getting bodywork, doing yoga, meditating, taking a walk in nature, having fun—these are all simple practices that help bring us back to ourselves, enliven the body sense, and dampen the insistent thoughts that take us "out" of ourselves. Yet, even those most skilled in body sense may run into a roadblock when it comes to pain. Let's look at the physiology of physical pain to understand why it can be difficult to handle. The sensations from the nociceptors (pain receptors) at the periphery of the body are not pain; nor are the nerve impulses that travel up the spinal cord and are represented in the somatotopic brain stem, limbic, and cortical regions that correspond to particular body locations. Pain is not any of these nerve signals. Pain is a state of consciousness in relation to the body.3 It is an emergent state of awareness across the entire neural network just described. This means that even if the nociceptor sites are relaying a pain input signal to the brain, how that signal is felt and how we relate to it emotionally (fear or acceptance) can be changed, perhaps permanently, by becoming more aware of our experience of pain. To convince yourself that the pain experience may actually change with awareness, try the Body Sense Exercise on page 59. Part of the work of getting in touch with pain is to convince your body that it is safe to go in there and feel it. Having accomplished that, you can begin to deepen your body sense of pain. You may be surprised that the pain morphs from physical to emotional (sadness, anger, fear, love) and back again. It may even be referred to other locations in your body. This is because pain is not, in fact, located 56 massage & bodywork march/april 2011