Gentle Movement for Chronic Pain Relief: Shoulders + Wrists

Movement and exercise for chronic pain is tricky. Move too little, and we may feel trapped in the fear and limitations of our chronic pain. Move too much, and we may risk further irritating the nervous system, causing more flares and inflammation.

So, what’s a person to do?

Move slowly, move gently, move with breath

In my experience with working with individuals with persistent pain, those who seek out proactive pain care and look for ways to incorporate exercise back into their lives tend to be driven, ambitious individuals. They are used to strategizing for solutions when they bump into challenges and problems, and they want to get from point A to point B in the most efficient manner possible. Many also try to “push past” the pain, with the idea that if they can somehow move more and train their bodies to tolerate the pain, the pain would ultimately dissipate.

Unfortunately with persistent pain, the process is not so linear and straightforward. In fact, the more we want to push past the pain, the more we agitate the nervous system, which research is now showing plays a crucial role in chronic pain.

In addition, when we try to move and push through the pain, we most likely would hold our breaths, which further drives our body tension up. That doesn’t help with the pain either.

For persistent pain, the best practice when it comes to movement and exercise is to start from pretty much a blank canvas. This may look like starting from a reclined or seated position, and slowly moving one body area at a time without crashing into the pain, and always, always, moving with calm breaths.

We want our body to trust our movements again, to feel that it is moving within a safe environment. When we move with our breaths, we can also observe body tension or discomfort by the way that our breaths may become shallower and shorter. We can then try regulating our breaths to see if our body tension or discomfort subsides as a way to observe the boundaries within which our body feels safe to move in.

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t challenge ourselves either. We must first provide evidence of safety for our body, then can we start to explore the edges of the pain and slowly increase the threshold overtime to allow for more movements.

Yoga therapy for pain care

In the video above, I guide you through a practice that merges slow, gentle movements with body and breath awareness. Think of it as an exploration of your edges and boundaries. Instead of choosing between: (A) Exercise with intensity to see if you can push past the pain, or (B) Being in so much flare from your exercise that you simply give up any form of movement, this video practice guides you through a middle ground. It helps train your mind to pay attention to the edges when your pain start to arise, and whether that sensation is something that you can reduce by managing your autonomic nervous system through calm breaths, or an indication of your edge that you should honor and respect.

Continue your pain care journey

Did you find the gentle movement practice helpful in relieving pain? Continue your pain care journey and build resilience with the FREE Pain Care Yoga Starter Toolkit.

Learn more about persistent pain in my other blog posts: When pain becomes a persistent loop and How to break out of the persistent pain loop. Practice a gentle 13-min Sequence for Managing Pain or Breath Awareness for Pain Relief. I offer lots of variations in this practice, including guiding you through this entire practice in a chair the entire time without getting onto the floor.

Got specific questions and would like to get more personalized approaches for your pain and fatigue? You can set up a complimentary consultation with me so we can chat about how 1x1 yoga therapy may just be what you need to rise above the limitations of your chronic pain and fatigue.