Sometimes, new patients ask me if their injury is "in their head". Yes, and no. On one hand, pain is in our head, in that the perception of pain is a neurochemical process and is influenced by many factors, including a history (fear of) pain and cultural responses to pain. However, they present with signs of injury, including muscle shortness, joint stiffness and spasm. These problems can be traced back to poor posture, shallow breathing, or faulty movement patterns, in other words, mechanical stresses.
Stress and athletic injuries have been studied extensively in football players. It has been found that athletes who respond negatively to stress have higher rates of injuries, often from lack of attention and decreased coordination.
I do feel that it is also fair to consider that a challenging injury might be one way that our body communicates to us. It is our own responsibility to learn how to listen to our body. Is our body trying to tell us that stress, physical or emotional, is harming us? And when we are stressed out, are we ignoring cues that we are doing things that are causing us pain, such as slouching or overtraining?
The best link between the body and the mind is the breath. By doing activities that focus on the breath, for example, yoga, Pilates, or even going on a hike without our ipod or phone, we can learn to quiet the chatter of our mind and become more attune to what our body might be saying.
Here is the link to the video.
