Learning Pleasure: Alleviating Chronic Pain with the Feldenkrais Method

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By Frank Wildman, Ph.D., G.C.F.T. The following is excerpted with permission from the book: Moving from Pain into Pleasure: Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain by Frank Wildman, Ph.D., G.C.F.T. Catherine came to me complaining of... See more » By Frank Wildman, Ph.D., G.C.F.T. The following is excerpted with permission from the book: Moving from Pain into Pleasure: Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain by Frank Wildman, Ph.D., G.C.F.T. Catherine came to me complaining of chronic pain and fatigue. Her physician had diagnosed her with Fibromyalgia, and prescribed a regimen of regular exercise. Although she tried, Catherine found the stretching difficult and painful. Walks left her completely exhausted. She began to be consumed by guilt at not being able to muster the will power necessary to finish the exercises. Then, another strategy was tried. Catherine’s physician told her not to strain herself, to do only what was comfortable. But even so, Catherine found she could do very little. Her pain spread; she grew progressively weaker. Unable to perform even the most basic of activities, Catherine eventually lost her job. Besides experiencing paralyzing pain, she was confused and angry. Why was this happening to her? She hadn’t had any recent injuries. Only a year before, she had been a healthy, active woman. Now her life had come to a standstill. Pain seizes us like a claw. It makes the ordinary act of life unbearable, fills us with dread, robs us of our interests, steals our vigor, sickens our ability to enjoy being alive. Pain seems like the ultimate insult to consciousness, depriving us of our ability to explore our senses and acquire new tastes. Pain shrinks us until we feel like a shell of our former selves, and despite all that we know about the chemistry, neurology and psychology of pain, its causes remain a mystery. Through a series of Functional Integration® lessons, Catherine began to learn the feeling of comfort, to move more efficiently, and even to regain organic satisfaction from simple day-to-day activities. She began to take walks again. She rediscovered how much she loved cooking and how to perform movements such as chopping, stirring, bending and lifting without experiencing pain. She was able to sleep more soundly and to find new relaxing positions in which to enjoy her favorite books. Eventually Catherine was able to return to work. The Feldenkrais Method is instructive and suggestive, not corrective. Unlike western medicine, the Method goes beyond the focus on pain management. The movements can be performed alone as self-directed movement explorations (Awareness Through Movement® lessons for example, my tape, Moving from Pain into Pleasure). The movements are not magical tricks, yet their results can be so dramatic that they almost seem magical. What is instead required is a transformation on the part of the individual: learning to alter our attention, the expansion of our sensory perceptions, and the belief that we are entitled to feel pleasure as formidable as our pain. Why We Hurt Imagine the pleasure of picking up a ball in anticipation of tossing it back and forth with a friend. You toss it back and forth for a while in a casual way, without pressure or competition. You feel exhilarated and relaxed at the same time… After playing ball for a while you might give in to the pleasure of a good nap. Or just enjoy a state of deep relaxation throughout your body after having your heart beat quickly, your blood flow freely and your senses focused sharply. Imagine, however, if you held onto that ball and didn’t throw it. After several hours, the muscles would cramp. Not only might you hurt while you were holding the ball, but if you held on in spite of painful signals, you could be sore for days afterwards. We do such things every day—not with a ball but in other ways. The Pain Trap What if your body is filled with a feeling of malaise and discomfort, punctuated by moments of ache or even sharp, stabbing pain? Often these kinds of sensations can become associated with a crushing cycle of fear of moving or a fear of exploring, and finally, a fear of feeling one’s own body altogether. As one of my students said, “What’s the point of being aware of my body if it only makes me more aware of more pain? I’d like to never think about my body again.” Escaping the See less »

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Learning Pleasure: Alleviating Chronic Pain with the Feldenkrais Method

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