01/05/2024
The premises:
A week ago, a man in middle age came to me with persistent pain and stiffness in the neck, followed by phases of numbness and tingling in both the arms. He was successfully treated with the help of Marma and acupuncture on that day. The issue he was suffering from was chronic nerve compression in the cervical region resulting into the symptoms mentioned before.
Following day, he presented himself with similar condition, although lesser in degree, but uncomfortable nonetheless. He found relief upon treatment. Today, I decided to talk to him about the cause of the issue and what he can do to rescue himself out of the situation. A treatment is not an alternate to maintenance, hence awareness was important. Here’s an excerpt.
A conversation:
I: So how long can you sit like this? (Mimicking all the infamous poses we often associated with the use of computer or mobile devices).
PT: I’m not sure, not long, maybe a few minutes?
I: Then how do you manage to remain contorted for hours? That’s some level of patience, isn’t it?
PT: It happens, I mean you don’t get to know. You’re so lost in the work.
I: So, what is important to you, the body that does the work or the work done by the body?
PT: I can’t leave the work! (defensive)
I: If your arm fails tomorrow, who would do the work?
PT: (silence). What to do?
I: Do that, because of which you’re able to do important work. Tend to yourself first when it’s necessary. Have a system of maintenance in life so not every day is an emergency. Prioritize, so you can identify the urgent from important.
(end of conversation)
At this point, I would like you to look at the image below. These are taken in arbitrary locations with no correlation with each other. Now to turn from the child on the left, to the man on the right, is just a matter of disconnect from yourself, rest is, consequence. Internally, I prefer to call it ‘Postural oblivion’, this is not a medical term (and it doesn’t have to), but this is the cause of slew of issues that stem from it and go by many medical metaphors including Cervical postural syndrome, Cervical spondylosis, Cervical herniation, spinal stenosis, and more (excluding the issues caused by injury or accident). When the mind is oblivious to the body, the body suffers (recall in what creative postures people are found under the effect of intoxication).
The solution:
1. Allow yourself to change. Life-style is not the reason. It is a consequence of the thoughts that created the life-style. If I believe having a lavish dinner at 10PM is absolutely fine because everyone I know is doing the same. Wait! This is the reason, why all of us have similar issues, our sufferings are same. Just because it’s common doesn’t mean its normal. So, change, because ruining yourself with oblivion is not individuality.
2. A maintenance system of life. Between the first breath and the last, everything we do decides the experience of life. Maintenance is your first line of defense against any ailment and it’s the difference between survival and living. In my experience, we have found Marma to be that missing key that can transform life. That mean physical, mental, emotional and spiritual transformation. Let’s not forget, spiritual, because it’s time.
3. Experiences are inevitable, learning is a choice. Imagine a fall on the road, now imagine the choices you have while you’re still struggling to balance yourself as you stand. What would you do? Condemn the politicians, the road department, municipality, be scared of ever walking the roads, ignore what just happened or be cautious and find your way around next time? What you decide for yourself will decide your behaviour next time, and this time it will be automatic. If you learnt to curse, cursing will be automatic next time. But if you learnt to navigate, this too will be automatic, and sailing through life problems will be facilitated by what you learnt for yourself. It’s not the experiences that change a man, its what we learn from them that decide our fate.
I appreciate this long read in case you have made this far. I sincerely hope this has been a valuable interjection in life, even if it’s something you’ve always know, but needed a reiteration.
