I recently hurt my back. Really badly. Well, technically it wasn’t just my back. It was also a muscle in my groin that went ‘pop’ whilst stretching a little too much at the gym. Which then led to a whole fiasco with the psoas muscle and sciatica which resulted in spasms not only down my leg, but also up my back which placed pressure on my diaphragm which resulted in breathing not as optimally as I would like whenever I was sitting down. So yeh, back pain is not much fun.
What’s an active energiser-bunny girl to do?
After a few weeks of self-pity, self-judgment and jumping down a rabbit hole of craziness, I snapped out of it.
When I got back to being me, I was keen to know how it happened, why it happened, what I could do to fix it, what foods I could eat to support it’s speedy recovery and how to prevent it from happening in the future.
Here’s what I discovered.
My local masseuse was and is a rare gem!
One session with my trusty masseuse and he corrected the alignment of my hips, as one was considerably compensating for what was going on and was waaaaay higher than the other. He also recommended an x-ray and ultrasound to make sure there was nothing more sinister that was going on. So off to the specialists I went. Whilst there was some relief after my first massage the sciatica didn’t go away. But after the second session, I noticed a huge difference.
The Pranamat was elevated from a trusty friend to the love of my life!
I am beginning to wonder if there is anything that this spiky little accessory can’t help ease. Period pain, tick. Insomnia, tick. Stress, tick. Low energy levels, tick. And now the mother of all back pains and sciatica, tick.
Discover more about the Pranaline pranamat
I became addicted to fresh organic turmeric, and grated it on EVERYTHING!
Tip: freshly grated organic turmeric on ripe organic tomatoes on toasted essene bread with a spread of unhulled organic tahini and a drizzle of organic virgin cold-pressed olive oil is orgasmic-ly delicious and packs its punch in nutrition for the body. Why my obsession with turmeric right now? Because it is the king of anti-inflammatories.
And for those of you who don’t have the time or inclination to grate fresh turmeric over everything, then you’ll love the convenience of the Bliss Elixir Yogi blend. Simply add a teaspoon to a cup of warm hemp (or nut) mylk.
Discover more about Bliss Elixir herbal tonic blends
Posture is everything!
Working on a laptop most days, I am certainly guilty of sitting in all sorts of weird positions. Comfy, yes. Good for the health of my spine, no. So now I’m being mindful not to slouch in chairs and on the couch; sitting in chairs with straight backs or lower-back support; when sitting, relaxing my shoulders, lengthening my spine and raising my head from the crown upwards. When driving, I move the car seat forward so that I can reach the controls without leaning forward. When walking or standing for long periods, I’ll be keeping my shoulders and hips in a straight line, my head up and stomach gently pulled in. And most importantly sleeping on a firm mattress. Well, this is the plan. No doubt I’ll forget some days, but just like any new habit, patience will be important.
Sometimes it doesn’t belong to me.
My back pain initially started after having a long in-depth conversation with a dear friend who is going through a not-so-fun time in her life right now. Being a sponge for energy, I subconsciously carried the burden of what she is about to go through on my back, and then identified it as mine, which then stuck it within my body, leading to my initial back pain. Compound that with going to see some people that are going through their own stress, and BAM … I pop my groin overstretching. The reason why and how I know this to be true, is because I was chatting with my husband 3 weeks in to the whole fiasco, asking and pondering why it hadn’t got better yet and asking all sorts of questions such as “who does this belong to?” “is it mine?” “is it someone elses?” and as soon as I became aware of the exact point in time when my back first started to ache, and recognised who it actually belonged to, the pain dissipated by about 80%. Amazing huh!
A month later, and after using the trusty tools that I am oh so grateful for having been gifted throughout my life, I’m 90% better and bouncing around like the ‘normal’ happy, healthy, glowing me, that I so love.
What about you? What have you found to be helpful with back pain?
love & hugs
Sam Sargent, founder of Be genki
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