# Graded Exposure & Pacing ##### Untangling Pain ---  --- ## tl;dr - Your brain and body can adapt in a positive direction as well as becoming more sensitive. - Recovery is not about pushing through everything or avoiding everything. - Graded exposure and pacing mean small challenges, rest, and repetition while staying below a major flare-up. - Pain is not always damage; a little manageable discomfort can be part of learning that movement is safe. - Build capacity in baby steps and keep your focus on the activities that matter to you. > [!abstract]- Transcript > > But there is a way out now, as I've mentioned in previous trainings, the body constantly adapts and just as it can adapt in a negative way or a maladaptive way, the ones that I've told you, it can also adapt in a positive way too. > > So when we're in pain, regardless of how long it's been going on, there is a way to change things. But as I mentioned right at the very beginning of this training, our focus isn't really on the pain. > > It's about being able to get back to doing the things that bring us joy, the stuff that matters to us. We can do this despite the pain. But the whole point is that we want to do it in a way that feels good to us. > > Recovery and healing, it isn't about extremes. It's not about pushing through and it's not about complete avoidance. Recovery and healing is in gradually retraining the brain and the body. And we do this by carefully staying below that flare up line and progressing slowly. > > We do this so that the nervous system can learn that movement or any activity that you are looking at bringing into this is safe. As it knows it's safe, that protect by pain line, it starts to rise and obviously the flare up line follows and the body becomes stronger, more resilient, and less reactive. > > Now, this process, it takes patience and it takes persistence, but it's not the kind that ignores pain or the kind that fears it. It's the kind that listens, that adapts and responds in a way that is good for us. > > it's about understanding that pain. It is not always a sign of damage. And it's often a protective mechanism gone wrong. > > So in working with the body instead of against it, we can regain strength, we can regain confidence, and probably more importantly, we can regain the ability to live fully again regardless of pain. > > Going back to the chart itself, you can see the idea is for us to nudge into the pain slightly, and that's absolutely fine to do. > > That's not a problem. It's all about knowing how much is okay. > > Now I love this quote by Greg Lehman and he says, poke the bear, but don't hump the shit out of it. > > I am not talking about pushing into pain. Remember, this is not about that boom bust pattern. We are simply knowing and reinforcing that we are safe and it's okay to feel some discomfort. Like you are working that little bit more like you are physically. Stressing your body a little bit, but in a good way. > > And it's knowing that we can do this and it's okay, and we are just nudging things slightly. > > What we don't want is to obviously push through the flare up line, but we do want to challenge ourselves and we want to do that gradually. And we wanna challenge ourselves and push ourselves a little bit more and maybe rest if we need to. > > Then we go again and we do a little bit more again, and then a little bit more. > > It's building it step by step, baby steps. This is how we come back by doing a little bit more again and again. This is how we build our strength and capacity. Next lesson → [[Untangling Pain – Module 4 Lesson 12 – What does this look like in the real world|What does this look like in the real world]] %% ## Extra ## Version 1: Full The Body Can Adapt in a Positive Way Too But there is a way out now As I’ve mentioned in previous trainings, the body constantly adapts Just as it can adapt in a negative way or a maladaptive way, the ones that I’ve told you, it can also adapt in a positive way too It’s Not Just About Pain So when we’re in pain, regardless of how long it’s been going on, there is a way to change things But as I mentioned right at the very beginning of this training, our focus isn’t really on the pain It’s about being able to get back to doing the things that bring us joy, the stuff that matters to us We can do this despite the pain But the whole point is that we want to do it in a way that feels good to us What Recovery and Healing Really Look Like Recovery and healing, it isn’t about extremes It’s not about pushing through and it’s not about complete avoidance Recovery and healing is in gradually retraining the brain and the body We do this by carefully staying below that flare up line and progressing slowly We do this so that the nervous system can learn that movement or any activity that you are looking at bringing into this is safe As it knows it’s safe, that protect by pain line, it starts to rise and obviously the flare up line follows The body becomes stronger, more resilient, and less reactive The Type of Patience Needed Now, this process, it takes patience and it takes persistence But it’s not the kind that ignores pain or the kind that fears it It’s the kind that listens, that adapts and responds in a way that is good for us Understanding Pain It’s about understanding that pain It is not always a sign of damage And it’s often a protective mechanism gone wrong Working With the Body So in working with the body instead of against it, we can regain strength We can regain confidence And probably more importantly, we can regain the ability to live fully again regardless of pain The Flare Up Line and Nudging Into Pain Going back to the chart itself, you can see the idea is for us to nudge into the pain slightly, and that’s absolutely fine to do That’s not a problem It’s all about knowing how much is okay The Greg Lehman Quote Now I love this quote by Greg Lehman and he says, poke the bear, but don’t hump the shit out of it It’s Not About Boom-Bust I am not talking about pushing into pain Remember, this is not about that boom bust pattern We are simply knowing and reinforcing that we are safe and it’s okay to feel some discomfort Like you are working that little bit more, like you are physically stressing your body a little bit, but in a good way Baby Steps and Building Capacity And it’s knowing that we can do this and it’s okay, and we are just nudging things slightly What we don’t want is to obviously push through the flare up line But we do want to challenge ourselves and we want to do that gradually And we wanna challenge ourselves and push ourselves a little bit more and maybe rest if we need to Then we go again and we do a little bit more again, and then a little bit more It’s building it step by step, baby steps This is how we come back, by doing a little bit more again and again This is how we build our strength and capacity Resources or Mentioned Greg Lehman quote: “Poke the bear, but don’t hump the shit out of it” ## ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Untangling Pain Attachments/Image (33).png|Image.png]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Untangling Pain Attachments/Image (34).png|Image.png]] ![[Meta/01 Attachments/Untangling Pain Attachments/Image (35).png|Image.png]] --- ## Watch the lesson %%