Day 3 exercise and physical activity

I think, maybe a little unusually, I never developed any aversion to exercise, and my back pain and other symptoms have never varied positionally. In fact, it was actually a great frustration to me that I could never work out a pattern for why or when my pain was worse. I am aware now that my pain becomes much more intense when I am experiencing emotional distress.

Paradoxically, I feel like I am more active now than before all of this started. About a month ago, I began going to a yoga class regularly under the assumption that the stretching would be helpful to me. This has not really proven to be the case. In the moment, I feel better, but long term the exercise does not seem to make a significant difference physically. However, I have ended up really enjoying the class.

Exercise is not something I have ever taken great joy in, and for the last couple of years I have somewhat begrudgingly worked out about once a week. I enjoy the more mindful element of yoga, though. I do not feel bored, and I think it is beneficial for my mental health to have this scheduled time where I know my body will feel good.

A lot of the books I have been reading talk about identifying triggers. For example, your back might hurt more when you are lifting thing, but that is not really something I have experienced. My symptoms have shifted and changed, but they are no better or worse depending on activity. This makes me feel like it is somewhat more difficult to achieve this idea of “exposure.” I cannot teach my brain not to be afraid of movement or activity because it seems to remain afraid regardless; the pain can suddenly appear or change at any moment, no matter what I am doing.

 

Hi!

This seems like a contradiction to me, because on the one hand you're saying there's no rhyme or reason for the pain, but on the other hand you're saying that it heightens with emotional stress (there's your trigger).

The seminal books discuss the emotional aspects really being the true triggers, this is even the case technically with movement or activity because it's not the movement/activity itself that causes pain but rather the fear and anticipation around it (conditioned responses).

If it's not a trigger then you don't need to teach your brain to not be afraid of movement/activity, as it already is (otherwise, it would flare you). The path I took (and what I lead people through) is to get back to full activity without pain (break the movement/activity conditioned responses), and then we deal with what is left (if anything, for some that will be enough to be chronic pain free). Once this happens, it reveals the emotional triggers because the person (myself included) isn't distracted by physical triggers (i.e. they no longer falsely blame the pain on running or sitting as an example - they can begin to appreciate the underlying emotional triggers). I wouldn't be too frustrated, as you're arguably in a more advanced position given that activity doesn't hurt (that's often the hardest work to get to that position). What I would advise is to dig deep into what you said at the start about pain becoming more intense with emotional distress. I love journalling for this as you can review on the paper how you really feel about certain things and what may be hiding under the surface (which you do in the program you're doing anyway)