Before I experienced it myself, it was hard to picture what structural shifts or releases were like. My closest idea to it was chiropractics, some particularly effective massage sessions, or certain stretching techniques from my athletic days that sometimes popped my joints wrong. However none of these come anything close to the fundamental changes I experience now as the osteopathic treatment I had over week ago continues to work its way through my body.
Yesterday I knew something was up when my nervous system refused to wind down no matter how much I relaxed. I spent many hours resting, "tuning in" to my body, applying heat to various areas and moving my body around to try to release the issue. The underside of the left side of my pelvis was painful right where the femur connects to the socket, and nothing was fixing it though the heat eased it somewhat. The pain itself was mild, but something about the sensation of bone pressing against another bone in a way it never had before made it distinctly more unsettling than normal pain.
Finally last night I happened to move in just the right manner to hear - and feel - a series of crackles in my pelvis much louder than I've ever heard a person's back crack. It's a little more dramatic than my shifts usually are, and the tissues around it felt almost injured afterwards. I'd actually prefer it happen more gently which is the way it usually does.
This time my body wasn't finished relieving the tension that had built up from structures trying to move, but I needed to sleep regardless. Even though completely relaxed my heart rate stayed up, my upper and lower back throbbed with every pulse, my jaw kept locking in tension whenever I stopped consciously relaxing it and my pelvis and thigh were still complaining of the change. Every time I was nearly asleep my body would spasm awake again with a violent jerk, which got old after the first dozen times or so. I knew from experience that something more in my body needed to release, but could only wait out the discomfort until sleep refreshed me enough to address it.
Within the first couple hours of getting up after sleep both sides of my hips became very sore, in different places on each side, and the socket on the left was under more pressure than ever. My pelvis was on the move. I did a lot of massage, rest, moving, stretching, anything to help ease the process. By the middle of the day my abdomen had joined the party, and I discovered that standing still in a certain position stretched it just right to cause something in the center left of my abdomen to move right, as has been my previous experience. It was gentle this time, which was nice because the more dramatic ones include nausea and other unpleasantries.
About 6 hours later I hadn't rested at all and so reluctantly turned off my distractions, laid down, and closed my eyes. With my focus on bringing all areas of my body to relaxation, it wasn't 15 minutes later that I felt the urge to get up and stretch - and my back stretched out beautifully, with my hips completely loose and my ribcage open. It felt so good to move around, I cannot even describe. I swung my arms out and danced around with the posture of a ballerina, I took the deepest breaths I had all day just because I could and it felt wonderful. I went up on my toes, I bent my knees, I even twirled around a time or two with my balance issues temporarily suspended. Not only could my arms and hands move gracefully, but it was also effortless; an expression of ease.
Unfortunately, these only ever last a couple minutes for me until some area of my back that can no longer support the posture begins to ache and I reluctantly come down from my mountain top. Sometimes I'll alternate this between short rest periods, other times I'll manage to drag it out a bit longer by placing a quadrapolar magnet between the offended vertebrae and they'll grant me some leeway. But most of the time I just enjoy the short-lived freedom and then relish the relaxation afterwards.
I can still taste the glimpse of health in my memory, right there on the horizon.
I expect to sleep very well tonight, and might end up off the computer for a few days to make sure I'm not distracted from resting as much as my body needs to integrate this change. My left hip still feels a little out, but the pressure is gone and because I can relax into it I know the pain will not be problematic. My back isn't happy about being up though so I'm signing off now. It's been a good day.
Yesterday I knew something was up when my nervous system refused to wind down no matter how much I relaxed. I spent many hours resting, "tuning in" to my body, applying heat to various areas and moving my body around to try to release the issue. The underside of the left side of my pelvis was painful right where the femur connects to the socket, and nothing was fixing it though the heat eased it somewhat. The pain itself was mild, but something about the sensation of bone pressing against another bone in a way it never had before made it distinctly more unsettling than normal pain.
Finally last night I happened to move in just the right manner to hear - and feel - a series of crackles in my pelvis much louder than I've ever heard a person's back crack. It's a little more dramatic than my shifts usually are, and the tissues around it felt almost injured afterwards. I'd actually prefer it happen more gently which is the way it usually does.
This time my body wasn't finished relieving the tension that had built up from structures trying to move, but I needed to sleep regardless. Even though completely relaxed my heart rate stayed up, my upper and lower back throbbed with every pulse, my jaw kept locking in tension whenever I stopped consciously relaxing it and my pelvis and thigh were still complaining of the change. Every time I was nearly asleep my body would spasm awake again with a violent jerk, which got old after the first dozen times or so. I knew from experience that something more in my body needed to release, but could only wait out the discomfort until sleep refreshed me enough to address it.
Within the first couple hours of getting up after sleep both sides of my hips became very sore, in different places on each side, and the socket on the left was under more pressure than ever. My pelvis was on the move. I did a lot of massage, rest, moving, stretching, anything to help ease the process. By the middle of the day my abdomen had joined the party, and I discovered that standing still in a certain position stretched it just right to cause something in the center left of my abdomen to move right, as has been my previous experience. It was gentle this time, which was nice because the more dramatic ones include nausea and other unpleasantries.
About 6 hours later I hadn't rested at all and so reluctantly turned off my distractions, laid down, and closed my eyes. With my focus on bringing all areas of my body to relaxation, it wasn't 15 minutes later that I felt the urge to get up and stretch - and my back stretched out beautifully, with my hips completely loose and my ribcage open. It felt so good to move around, I cannot even describe. I swung my arms out and danced around with the posture of a ballerina, I took the deepest breaths I had all day just because I could and it felt wonderful. I went up on my toes, I bent my knees, I even twirled around a time or two with my balance issues temporarily suspended. Not only could my arms and hands move gracefully, but it was also effortless; an expression of ease.
Unfortunately, these only ever last a couple minutes for me until some area of my back that can no longer support the posture begins to ache and I reluctantly come down from my mountain top. Sometimes I'll alternate this between short rest periods, other times I'll manage to drag it out a bit longer by placing a quadrapolar magnet between the offended vertebrae and they'll grant me some leeway. But most of the time I just enjoy the short-lived freedom and then relish the relaxation afterwards.
I can still taste the glimpse of health in my memory, right there on the horizon.
I expect to sleep very well tonight, and might end up off the computer for a few days to make sure I'm not distracted from resting as much as my body needs to integrate this change. My left hip still feels a little out, but the pressure is gone and because I can relax into it I know the pain will not be problematic. My back isn't happy about being up though so I'm signing off now. It's been a good day.
