pain and cause

One example for many cases

My left side hurts, lets say down in the small of my back.

Now a conventional search for a diagnosis might say, "Well, then something will be wrong. Let's take a look at there." 

If there is a fracture, a joint damage, a torn ligament, a problem with a joint capsule, some substantial problem, a hardware problem, a diagnosis can be made and if it is accurate, the cause can be counteracted. It has to heal and then maybe everything will be fine.

But what if the pain or tension cannot be explained so directly?

Or the diagnosis makes you skeptical because it sounds a bit too harsh to you, and your instinct clearly tells you that you don't want to get involved in serious measures. A herniated disc, for example, is often not the trigger for pain. The herniated disc may exist for a long time before pain occurs. Many people with herniated discs have no pain. Others without herniated discs have severe pain.

Or hip problems. The hip may hurt before the joint has been damaged. Even a damaged joint can serve your needs satisfying throughout life (Feldenkrais himself practised Judo with damaged knees.).

This type of pain often has to do with muscular tension respectively a muscular organization that overloads certain areas.

One side hurts. It works like a slave, takes over all the burden. The other side has disappeared from the conscious mind. It is no longer well integrated into our self image (the image that we have of our body if we would scan it with our inner eye while we are moving). We no longer feel that it consists of different parts such as ribs and a shoulderblade and so on. Rather it is a uniform sleeping block that actually feels good or not, but we can no longer do differentiated/selective movements with it. The block maybe just feels comfortable but dull, and most of the time you're busy with the side that hurts.

Muscle training for the pain side? From a Feldenkrais point of view better not.

Do not do more exercises for the pain side. The slave is already working enough.

The sleeper should be woken up. The passive side should be reactivated so that it participates selectively in the movements. It must be brought back into awareness.

With more awareness in the body, you can do more with the body again. You can direct it better. You have it more under control. The body control is better.

If I know what I am doing, I can do what I want. (Moshé Feldenkrais)

Nevertheless, whoever has acute strong unexplained pain should first see doctor!!!