Years ago, I developed and taught a course for the College of DuPage called Yoga for Chronic Pain. I had studied this subject for years and really wanted in some way to help all the many loved ones I knew who had pain issues.
I didn’t have any problems with pain at that time, but my heart and mind were brimming with creative ways to help others. The classes were packed and people came with a variety of ailments. Most wanted to find new ways to ease their pain that didn’t involve medication. With the opioid crisis yet to be on the horizon, they obviously were wise beyond their years.
With each class and each new chronic condition walking or rolling through that school door, I believe I ended up learning more than my students did. One of the common denominators in every class I taught was the importance of breathing exercises in managing and sometimes even alleviating pain.
I went on to be a consultant for B.K.S. Iyengar’s book “Yoga the Path to Holistic Health” (2001). Iyengar (1918-2014) was then, and still is considered today, one of the leading masters of Hatha yoga. In fact, there’s a whole study of yoga named after him – Iyengar yoga. His long-established high level of experience and expertise certainly surpassed mine. To be asked to be a consultant on his book was humbling to say the least. I gave it my best. Again, I learned far more than I believe I was able to give. He devoted a whole section of this remarkable book on yoga to chronic ailments. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, dear Mr. Iyengar.
Out of all the exercises I taught in those chronic pain classes of yesteryear and still teach in classes today, there’s one that stands out as extremely effective during the most intense moments of pain – Savasana or Corpse pose. Corpse pose is about transcendence or letting go. Letting go of the pain by first acknowledging it, living it, accepting it. So here’s how it goes:
Let’s assume it’s the back that’s troubling you. Focus on this area of the back. It probably won’t be hard to do as it screams to you with pain.
Breathe in deeply with focused awareness on this painful area of the back.
As you exhale, say to it softly and gently: Relax my back.
With each slow exhale repeat this over and over again: Relax my back.
Move to other parts of the body that are troubling you.
For example, a painful headache: Deep focused inhale, slow exhale. Relax my forehead.
Moving around the head to all sections of trouble.
Deep focused inhale, slow exhale of kindness: Relax my scalp, relax my eyes, etc.
The key steps are awareness, focus, kindness, release.
It’s hard to be kind when in pain. Yet self-love is an important step in the process. Caress the pain with kindness. No hurry. No rush. Breathe deep. Slow exhales.
As the pain eventually subsides (and it will subside) some poetry to reflect upon:
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” – Khalil Gibran
• Joan Budilovsky can be reached at editorial@kcchronicle.com or through her website at Yoyoga.com. She will be teaching July classes in “Yoga for Chronic Pain” at the Burlington Public Library in Burlington, Wisconsin.