Back was on fire after practice; relief from pain follows

Student of Wendy Helms

Perhaps you have felt your life spinning out of control as I recently found mine. After purchasing a restaurant and finding that 26 hours a day (that’s not a typo) was necessary to keep it running I had so much pain in my shoulders and neck that it was consuming. Picture if you will an octopus ride at the carnival, arms going in all directions and wide-eyed and wild. That was me! Now picture yourself pulling the plug and watching the arms gradually subsiding to a peaceful rest. That was T’ai Chi Chih. Sure I still have the same amount of work to do but my reactions to the urgent needs of others and the huge amount of responsibility has changed. My shoulders and neck? Well there obviously is a nerve pinch but it is not aggravated constantly by the semiconscious reaction to fight or flight. The way it happened was not very scientific, more airy-fairy to me. After about three classes and nightly practice (my neck was still really bothering me at this point) my whole back seemed to be on fire. For about two days I thought I had really done something to damage my back. (I have not felt such heat since I foolishly applied tiger balm and DMSO to an injured thigh). This persisted for two days then was gone. So was my persistent neck and shoulder pain. Go figure. By continuing to practice my T’ai Chi Chih daily and, by being aware of the creeping tension in my neck, I can relieve the pain completely. During the fourth or fifth week of class I began adding a Swedish body massage to my T’ai Chi Chih morning. About two hours after class I would have a massage. It was wonderful. I virtually floated afterward and was in a state of unconsciousness during most of the massage. If it gets any better I could melt into a puddle.