*Disclaimer: Elephant Journal articles represent the personal views of the authors, and can not possibly reflect Elephant Journal as a whole. Disagree with an Op-Ed or opinion? We’re happy to share your experience here. This website is not designed to, and should not be construed to, provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion or treatment to you or any other individual and is not intended as a substitute for medical or professional care and treatment. For serious.

Every traumatic event or injury that occurs in our lifetime creates a memory in the physical tissues of our body.

The energy of an injury can get stuck in the tissues and wreak havoc decades later.

Present day pain can be linked to these old, core events and good healing happens when we peel the layers back and address them.

As I laid on the treatment table during a myofascial release session I had a feeling of fear. I was small. Maybe three-years-old. Powerless and afraid, the tears poured out and the memory surfaced and released. I’d been open to this kind of healing and when I noticed my physical pain had lifted after the session I knew that there was more to healing than I previously thought. It was weird, but I was excited to finally get to the old layers of pain that were preventing me from realizing my full health.

If we’ve lived a few decades, our body’s been through the spectrum of insults from bumps and scrapes to significant injury or even surgery. These events create layers of stuff our body has to deal with, heal and compensate for. Each one of those layers is a complex mind-body event.

One day we may wake up with a pain that won’t go away and think, what the heck? It might be time to peel the layers of old injury and trauma for better healing.

When you’ve been to the doctor and they can’t find a reason for your pain, don’t despair. It’s frustrating to not have an answer but when the docs have covered all the red flags and we’re still left with pain it’s time to think about other reasons that don’t show up on the MRIs or X-rays.

An old injury can effect the mind-body by creating a stuck point or restriction in the myofascial system.

This whole body web of connective tissue transmits light, information and energy all around your body. If there’s a restriction in that system—a place where an injury has occurred, it can begin to cause a pull, tightness, pain or constriction of any area around it, including nerves, muscles and vital organs.

Injuries happen, and for many reasons, may not be fully healed. Those fascial restrictions remain a stuck point of energy and tissue. The body does an okay job compensating over years until it can’t anymore. That’s the day we wake up with unexplained pain or tightness. It’s when the tightness or pressure in our system builds to a point of creating a symptom in our body.

Your body is talking to you!

There are great ways to heal past injury and trauma.

John F. Barnes Myofascial Release is one of the most effective healing modalities I’ve learned. The technique addresses the mind and body components of injury, inflammation, trauma or surgery—so the results are more effective and longer lasting than other therapies that aren’t as holistic.

Emotional Freedom technique is another effective modality when it comes to healing past injuries. This non-invasive, powerful tool is used to release the somato-emotional links that occur when the event first occurred, and can help even decades later.

Other therapies such as Breathwork, acupuncture and psychotherapy are also very helpful at finding the mind-body origins of old injury or trauma. This is stuff we don’t even know is working against us. The subconscious stuff. It takes a holistic approach and a skilled practitioner to help you heal.

Here are 5 Things to Remember About the Connection of Old Injuries to Current Day Ailments:

1. Every old event matters. Sometimes we forget about past events. That doesn’t mean that they’re healed. There may be old restrictions you can address, so it pays to look for them.

2. Old injuries can act as a layer of restriction in our mind-body system. Those restrictions can effect the body later on by requiring compensatory patters for movement. Those bad patterns can cause more problems and even further injury.

3. Healing the wound of an old injury means more than just the flesh. Injuries happen as complex mind-body events. The same event will effect two people differently. Addressing old injuries will give you access to deep layers for healing and can mean the difference between feeling a little bit better and feeling radiant and healthy.

4. Stubborn aches and pains are a repeating pattern that’s trying to get our attention. If we practice awareness and listen to our body we’ll have the opportunity to heal something we probably didn’t even know was there. This requires a disciplined practice.

5. Old injuries are a huge opportunity to heal on a whole new level. It takes a warrior to do this kind of healing. The work might be difficult, but it will be worth it!

Tell me in the comments—what old injuries had you forgotten about? What questions do you have about this? I’d love to connect with you!

~

Relephant read:

The video every yogi needs to see!

~

Author: Laura Probert

Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock

Photo: flickr/Vana