In Life, Sometimes We Get Stuck and We Let Things Get Stuck In the Way of Our Work, Our Health, and Our Happiness
Such an awful word, just the enunciation itself exudes disgust…
““ STUCK…””
Ya know what I mean?
We get stuck… “in a rut”
We get stuck… “between a rock and a hard place”
We get stuck… “in a pickle”
And many times in our lives, it can feel like we have something stuck in between our values and our lifestyles, as if there is a kink in the garden hose as I like to say.
We can have a kink in our spine, a pain in our neck, a pinch in our back, and when it gets stuck.. it sucks.
I know for me with my chronic systemic joint issues and hip subluxations, if I have a single joint stuck in an incorrect position I downright go insane or have a mild panic attack until it gets fixed.
The central nervous system is a bold and brutal thing sometimes, let me tell you…
But as you can imagine, I often have to stretch, push, pull, roll, reach and fall in all sorts of ways to keep my body aligned throughout the course of the day. It’s not fun, and its not something I like to talk about often, but it’s a real struggle I get stuck with daily. And if you know me at all IRL (in real life) then you’ve definitely witnessed this odd display as I kick my legs out, rotate my ankles, hips, knees and pop my toes repeatedly during our time together as if I’m playing some strange game of Hokey-Pokey but I’m the only lone player of one.
Time for Self-Reflection:
Something gets stuck in the wrong position. Something gets stuck and nothing else seems to work right throughout the rest of the system that is the human body.
Likewise, we see the same kind of systems’ effects with chronic pain in any condition, whether that’s a kink in your neck or even chronic mental or emotional pain that causes some folks to get psychologically stuck in a certain perspective - or way of thinking - that limits their potential to thrive.
It’s a sad state of affairs, but I’m sure we’ve all seen this a time or two, haven’t we.
We are no longer strangers to mental health in the country thankfully.
And just like how I feel I need to stretch and pop and roll about to get my bodily issues in order, you know sometimes we need to shake things up in our own lives to get our minds right, to settle our hearts heartache, and to align our lives for the better.
While we can far too easily ignore mental and emotional pain and bury down deep, physical pain may not be as easy to avoid or ignore. And we need the chance to take some deep time for those deep reflections to come about. This is one of the benefits to meditation as we’ve talked about in the past, among other benefits to mind-body-soul via meditation as well.
If we ever seek to change or seek to improve, we must take a new or different action, and while that might sound obvious, it is much more rare and scarcely practiced than what you may think.
Different outcomes lead to different results.
Following the same old order of things again and again “ain’t gonna cut it.”
The best step to take is always the first step to make.
No steps = no change.
However, one step can lead to a lifelong journey of change.
So, as so many people these days are repositioning their lives and careers, reflecting on their day jobs, trying to redefine who they are or how they see themselves, where is your headspace at these days? Do you feel like your mission, vision and values are aligned throughout your mind, body and heart and extend throughout your life and work, or do you happen to feel somewhat stuck in one way shape or form, as if there may be a kink in the hose or some joint you need to fix between your toes?
We can also have legitimate physical pain in our lives as well.
Most common are back, neck, hip, and knee pain.
And obviously these minor progressive chronic issues can be such a pain in the neck, and you think… “oh, there’s nothing I can do.. I just have a bad back,” or “I just have to deal with this..”
I get it… you work on the computer a lot for your career, it’s tough trying to stay healthy and mobile for work-life balance when you KNOW.. it’s best for our biology to be in movement.
Trust me, I get it! I do.
I see you dealing with a stiff back, extra anxious with work, poor sleep, poor posture, and feeling hunched over for half the day, always needing to “sort things out” with your spine like you both need some joint counseling together… I get it..
It’s a crooked system we live in where we have to sit down for so much of the day, and then periodically are asked to lift heavy things and we forget to consider “oh, perhaps I need to warm up before I lift this heavy 60 pound box or lift this person off the bed (I see you nurses out there!)
Maybe we need some realistic realignment for our spines (aka the foundations of our posture too)
It’s the subtle little things that can make a difference.. I mean just look at the level of extra pressure we can put on our next and back when we let our head dip forward.. #NoMorePhoneSpine
Stand up straight.
Head up and Look up.
Shoulders back.
Smile 😀 and give yourself a posture boost as well as a boost of mood. And when we pay attention to the little things, we often find greater rewards and benefits unexpected.
Indeed, simply smiling and resetting your spine CAN actually improve your blood flow, decrease pain and stiffness and CAN actually help you calm the central nervous system response for pain, inflammation, irritation, and anxiety….
Are you still optimizing your sleep to support your restoration and healing liked we talked about in the past? Remember, if you can’t sleep… you can’t heal!
And for those of us looking for a few additional exercises to include in our day to IMPROVE our posture and take ACTION to support our muscles, joints, tendons, and tissues, I’ve included some of my favorite lesson-videos below.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee shares his favorite
["Desk Jockey Workouts"]
Watch the whole series for most help.
This is lesson 1 of 4 movement exercises to support your body for better alignment and support if you feel a bit more compromised due to sitting at your desk all day.
And for those of us who are looking for more a massage to work out kinks in our fascia - aka the sheath of tissue encapsulating our muscles, joints, and the musculoskeletal system - we can use a simple Lacrosse ball to help.
Many optimizers will have a couple lacrosse or golf balls at their desk to support their mobility and flexibility in the feet.
It can be somewhat painful in the beginning, so be mindful and go slow as you get used to placing your body weight on your different muscle areas of the body.
And here’s one of my favorite TedxTalks teaching us all about how sitting down can destroy our posture (aka our baseline alignment for circulation, connection, and communication from head to toe).
Personally, I do have a lacrosse ball I use from time to time, and I also use a tennis ball and golf ball. The real trick is not stepping or tripping over them 💥 when I get up in the middle of the night to go pee... 🤷♂️ 🤣
We Zig and We Zag, as we learn to adapt.
Stay Well this week and take care of yourself. Take care of your health :)