Pain, Pain, Go Away...

By Shannon Sexton, Yoga+

Do you have pain in your neck, back, or shoulders? Do you suffer from a repetitive stress injury, fibromyalgia, migraines, or osteoarthritis? According to recent national studies sponsored by Partners in Pain, at least one person in almost half of America’s households suffers from chronic pain. Of these, 78 percent are so dissatisfied with their conventional pain-control medications that they are willing to try new treatments, and 43 percent would spend more money on such a treatment if they knew it would work. Over half report that pain affects their overall mood and disturbs their sleep, and 80 percent believe their pain is something they just have to live with. Ayurveda has a different point of view.

Understanding pain
According to Robert E. Svoboda, “Ayurveda welcomes and accepts pain, even while trying to relieve it, for Nature intends pain to be a multi-layered message to us. Underlying the immediate directive–stop using that body part!–lies a request to look into our lives and see what we are doing to create this misery.”

If you tend to ignore your body’s messages until pain overwhelms you, try to catch the problem earlier. Certain unconscious habits–holding your breath, chronically tensing your muscles, suppressing your emotions, eating overprocessed, refined food, ingesting too much caffeine or not enough water–make us more susceptible to pain because they aggravate vata, the dosha that is always involved when there is pain. If you can step back and observe which of your activities and habits contribute to the problem, you can start to undo your pain naturally.

Next: 6 ways to help relieve pain

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

jennifer c.

5:24AM PDT on Aug 14, 2011

interesting article

send a green star

beverly g.

6:21PM PDT on Jun 25, 2011

thks. this is tru. i hold my breath i im so tense.

carlee t.

9:41AM PDT on Apr 25, 2011

noted thx.

James S.

2:28PM PDT on Mar 24, 2011

I found that using aromatherapy products, ElanVeda has an awesome one that works so well for muscle and joint pain. I love that it is all natural, organic and is applied topically.

Yolanda L C.

10:30AM PST on Mar 8, 2011

PLEASE.....I BEG YOU..WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE CIATIC NERVE PAIN???? I KNOW THERE ARE SOME EXERCISE...I NEED YOUR HELP....PLEASE!!!! YOLANDA CHRISTENSON

minkie a.

10:48AM PST on Jan 5, 2011

That sounds sooooo very easy and I wish that still worked for me, but unfortunately, it doesn't!!

Another thing that does work is listening to Native American Music. The Flute with the drum relaxes me. The drum is like Mothers Heart Beat and the flute is like a birds song.
If you ever have the chance to listen to some Native music, you'd enjoy it.

Charuwan K.

8:25PM PST on Nov 22, 2010

An intelectual article. Thanks. I have studied about ayurveda for a short period. Most of textbooks are written in Bali and Sanskrit, that most buddhist get used to.

April B.

7:41PM PDT on Oct 10, 2010

Thank you so much for the great information! I will post on my site for my clients as well as use the suggestions myself! www.wellnessandfulfillment.com

8:04PM PDT on Sep 23, 2010

I have frequent migraines and am one of those people who have gotten to the point where I think I'll just have to live this way. This article gave me a lot to think about.