In 2005, I discovered that by re-conceptualizing dance as more than leaps, twirls, and fancy footwork, I could use it to heal myself.
In a nutshell, I would move whatever body part I could, in ways that did not hurt.
I developed the Dancing with Pain® method and began practicing it regularly.
Over the next few years, a whole-body transformation snuck up on me:
Suddenly I would realize I was lifting heavy bags. Or holding several things in my hands, while turning the keys in the door. Or scrubbing the tub.
Basic things I had not been able to do for years.
When I first started dancing every day, I regularly woke up with pain levels somewhere between a 7–9, danced the pain down to a 2–3, went to sleep after a pretty good day, then woke up right back where I’d started – in horrific levels of pain.
While I was frustrated that the dance effect didn’t seem to stick overnight, I felt grateful to have a tool to get through each day with minimal discomfort.
Over the months, however, the intensity of morning pain lessened.
And lessened.
Until there was hardly any pain.
And then no pain.
Excerpt from Natural Pain Relief: A Self-Care Guide, by Loolwa Khazzoom, with a foreword by world-renowned chronic pain specialist Martin Rossman, MD.
Get the book at KHAZZOOM.com/shop.