Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay
The “no pain no gain” motto has been promoted by physical fitness experts as the key to obtaining physical wellness. No-pain-no-gain means working past the point of muscle ache, past the point the body rebels, because we choose to ignore it.
Are we masochists?
And why then, if we require pain on the path to gaining something do we also reach for that bottle of “pain reliever” to dull the ache?
Are we also hypocrites?
This four-word phrase may have first been uttered in the beginning of the second century by Rabbi Ben Hei, “According to me, the pain is the gain,” as written in The Ethics of the Fathers 5:21 (Pirkei Avot in Hebrew). This spiritual lesson reflects that without the pain in doing what God commands, there is no spiritual gain.
Many religions feel the need to push the idea of the Hegalian Dialectic where suffering through a problem will be rewarded in unification. But taken from the ancient tradition of yoga, well before the second century, pain has a deeper purpose. It is understood to be a teacher.
The ancient yogic philosophers taught that experiences do not cause the pain. The pain is already there. It is simply hidden. Over time, we have chosen to live with it or have conditioned ourselves not to be aware of it. In his book, Light on Life, B.K.S Iyengar writes “Pain is a great philosopher. It thinks constantly how to get rid of itself and demands discipline.”
Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay
Pain shows us that there is work to be done on us on all levels, body, mind, and spirit. We are both a physical body and an energetic being. The energy body informs the physical. To ignore physical pain is to ignore the growth and healing we are here to achieve emotionally and spiritually. Pain is part of the life journey. And the life journey is the healing journey.
Shifting belief systems is essential in order to stop ignoring the pain and to see what it offers. Yoga is one path to aligning and attuning body, mind, and spirit as one to find answers to heal. Meditation is a parallel path. Work with knowledgeable instructors who can guide you into yoga or meditation exercises.
1) Respect the body and acknowledge the pain.
2) Listen to the language of the body. When and where does it flare?
3) Ask what can I learn?
The no-pain-no-gain mindset continues the suffering unnecessarily and, at its worst, can become a prison for you and everyone around you. And aren’t we all meant to be free?
