The Myth of being "Injury-Prone"

[Scott Sonnon]

The first thing to realize is that there is no such thing as "injury-prone" - it's a misunderstanding of a very healthy and effective communication system between our bodies and our central nervous system. In other words, our bodies cry an alarm when we aren't paying attention to an issue. The alarm is unique to the condition, but the more we ignore the alarm (and don't resolve the source of the issue), the farther the site (of injury or tension) travels from the source (of the initial problem.) I know you didn't use the term injury-prone, but you do speak as if you fear something will happen should you begin a new type of movement.

The tendency for some people who do not understand the real nature of the mechanism is to hunker down for fear of the alarm system reinjuring a previous site (old injury or pattern of tension) or manifesting another site (new injury or pattern of tension). But unfortunately the opposite is true - movement heals. Movement is the key to releasing those stored patterns of tension and chasing the sites, one by one, back to the source.

Simultaneously, with each new site encountered, people experience, with increasing clarity and granularity, the images, feelings and sensations of the original source of the issue.

As you systematically and methodically release each site of tension (after healing each site of injury), you release more and more of the original stored emotional arousal (a chemical cocktail of epinephrine, norepinephrine, aldosterone) from the original source issue. Cortisol is the mechanism which turns-off the alarm system; and will not release until the tension releases. The body as a result carries an image and anchors to those feelings (read Body-Flow) of the original source issue, so as you release the tension you may see the source images and experience the source feelings.

However, the notion of being "injury-prone" actually prevents you from delving into the patterns of trauma because it sets you up in an adversarial position with your own physical being. You start to not TRUST your own physicality. We need to begin by reframing our perspective of our physical life as one of trust this healthy and effective survival mechanism.

[rbibbs]

That post sure nails my case history with my neck issues Scott. 4 separate injuries over 10 years, torsional sprain and dorsal hyperextension, both with body weight behind them, compression, and a rear-end auto collision (inertial DH with a torsion component). I developed neurological rigidity which unreleased would still be propagating these injuries 30 years later, had I not 'mastered' the impossibility of the 'egyptian' motion.

The last injury occurred in 1976, but my neck remained 'dysfunction-prone' until shortly after I met Dan C. I spent thousands on chiropractic treatment. Uncorrected, by 60 I would have had roughly the shoulder-girdle articulation of a South Park character, if that much. My neck still makes crunching noises but it's very mobile and I'm able to release tension stored there long before the threshold of dysfunction, or even discomfort, approaches.