Imagine working at your computer all day long without a slightest tension at your neck. Feel the mouse click instead your wrist crack as your press the button.
Many of my patients say: “Oh, my posture is awful”. “If only I could keep myself properly positioned at the desk, my neck and back would feel so much better”.
So why it is so difficult to keep our bodies perfectly aligned even though we know how our bodies should look like?
Throughout my practice as a massage therapist and as a manual osteopathic practitioner and working with my own body I came to realize that instead of pushing against myself, it is much easier to add something new, and the old inefficient patterns will fall out effortlessly.
The first step to any change is awareness.
Breathing is the primal rhythm of our bodies. Paying attention to it is the key. It will tell you a lot about yourself. Feel the wave raising from your stomach and moving up to the chest as you inhale. Observe the abdomen passively falling and then the chest gently collapsing as the air effortlessly leaves your lungs on exhalation. Did you notice any tensions hindering that smooth flow of air? Try to let go of these tensions. How does it affect your breathing? Do you feel any difference in the tension at your back, neck and shoulders?
Here is a simple exercise I find helpful for easing off the body tensions at the desk.
A little secret to why your neck and wrist hurt, is not because you use them too much, but because you don’t use anything else when you sit.
Start by adding small breaks to your daily routine to listen to what your body has to tell you. Take a short walk. Add to your life. Let someone with expertise give you a different perspective and help you. Sometimes all that is needed is a little push in the right direction. See your massage therapist to release those tensions, take a yoga class or Tai-Chi.
Keep a positive outlook. Pain should not be your sole focus. But don’t ignore it either by keeping yourself busy or taking pain killers.
Body tissues have memory of their own, and all traumas that you experience tend to accumulate and cause problems. Disappearance of pain and discomfort will follow in due time as your body regains its innate balance.