My dog Cami is in pain. She hurt her shoulder and it’s been really hard for me to see her suffer. On top of her initial injury, as opposed to resting, she started anxiously pacing and made her condition a whole lot worse. I have to say in her defense, this is something dogs do when they’re in pain.
Her reluctance to rest and let her body heal reminds me of human behavior. Can you recall a time in your life when you knew you should’ve slowed down, but instead you kept pushing through the pain?
Most chronic pain stems from overuse and lack of maintenance. What do I mean? For example your neck and shoulders get overused when you type a long text message on your phone or when you don’t keep your head against the head support while driving. Of course your body would happily forgive you if you gave back in the form of releasing the tight tissues, stretching and targeted strengthening. But more often than not that doesn’t happen until the overuse and abuse manifest in pain.
Cami got hurt because she loves chasing the ball and she ran too hard. If she was human, I would say, her choice of exercise wasn’t appropriate for her needs. She’s getting older, she’s having more musculo-skeletal issues and it’s my responsibility to exercise her appropriately. I apologize to her daily for not stopping her and letting her hurt herself.
I hope you don’t mind me sharing this story. I have no intention to flood your mailbox but I thought, this is a great opportunity to remind you to give back to your body!
Working out is so important but working in is just as important. I would love to know what you’re going to do this week to give back to your body! If you’d like to share it with me, just hit Reply!