Once the pain was gone, I figured my eating and drinking habits would automatically go back to normal. But they didn’t. Several days after the root canal, I was still avoiding cold liquids and chewing on my left side. My pain avoidance techniques had become a habit – a new “normal.” This new normal hasn’t created big problems for me, yet. But if I continue to chew too much on my left side, the strength of my jaw muscles will be out of balance. In the long run, that could cause TMJ issues – problems with my temporal mandibular joint which can cause headaches and other problems.

This isn’t something that’s unique to me – we all do it when we’re in any kind of pain. If you twist your right ankle and it hurts to put weight on it, you’ll put more of your weight on your left foot. Do this for several days and most likely – by the force of habit – you’ll still be putting more weight on your left foot when you walk even after there’s no pain to avoid. If you don’t address the imbalance, this could eventually lead to hip, knee and/or back problems.

Everyone has postural imbalances and not all imbalances lead to problems. But as I discussed in my last post, how you use your body leads to changes in its form. It’s important to be aware of your body and how you use it in order to effectively address and prevent problems. If you’ve  been injured, massage can assist in your recovery. It can help reduce pain and improve circulation and therefore healing. Massage helps you get in tune with your body so you can better identify where you’re holding stress. A trained massage therapist can conduct a posture analysis to pinpoint movement patterns and structural issues that may be causing pain. Just because the pain of an injury is gone doesn’t mean the injury is no longer affecting you. Try regular massage therapy for a more complete recovery.

The human body was “designed” for a variety of functions. Some would say the broad primary function is survival – both of the individual and the species as a whole. Which basically means being able to survive varied living conditions and to reproduce. So the form of our bodies was designed so that we can take in nutrients, expel wastes, reproduce, stay warm, protect our vital organs etc.

The beauty of the human body is that it adapts (to an extent) to the demands put on it. If you lift heavy enough weights, you will develop additional muscle tissue in order to accommodate the additional weight. But it goes the other way as well – if you stop putting stress on your muscles through exercise, you will lose muscle tissue. In this way, the form of the human body truly follows its function – how you use your body will determine its form.

But it isn’t a perfect system. There are ways in which we use our bodies that can lead to dysfunction and pain. If you regularly sleep on your right side with your shoulder up by your ear, certain muscles in the shoulder girdle can get overly contracted while others get overstretched. Eventually this leads to pain and reduced range of motion in the neck and shoulder. This is a common problem I see in my practice. There are ways to reduce the pain and get full function and range of motion back. Massage can help stretch the contracted muscles and improve circulation to the overstretched muscles assisting in the healing process. But no matter how good the massage is, if you don’t change your sleeping position and/or get a better pillow to support your neck and help you keep your shoulder down while you sleep, the problem may persist.

Similarly, the ways in which you regularly sit at your desk and carry a briefcase or a child can lead to changes in your muscles. If those changes lead to pain and dysfunction, massage can help. But there are things you can do to help yourself as well. Try not to carry your briefcase with the same hand every day. Switch up your exercise routine – use the elliptical trainer instead of the treadmill every now and then. Substitute a yoga class for the usual aerobics. Becoming more aware of how you use your body and balancing out the activities you do, can go a long way to providing lasting relief from the pain and dysfunction that can arise from the every day repetitive stress put on your body.

Depending on how you count them, I’ve had three or four careers in my life (so far). I started out working in television production as an assistant to an assistant to an assistant (or something like that) at a few different companies. When I decided I needed more intellectual stimulation, I went to law school and was a financial services lawyer for 15 years. Around the time the market crashed in the mid-2000′s, I was more than ready for another switch.

The dip in the economy was stressful for me – like it was (and continues to be) for many Americans. It quickly became clear that my job was in jeopardy and my whole industry was rapidly contracting. I knew that it would be difficult to find another job – especially at my salary level. I worried about supporting my family. But I made a conscious decision to treat the uncertainty as an opportunity to think about how I really wanted to be spending my time each day. I decided it was time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Just because I had been a lawyer for many years didn’t mean I had to remain one for the rest of my working life. For many years, it was a fulfilling profession but the last few years for me had been difficult. I dreaded going to the office every day. Work consumed the vast majority of my waking life. And often kept me up nights. I was unhappy and knew that a major change was in order.

What surprised me when I talked about switching careers, was the response of my family, friends and acquaintances. So many of them said they couldn’t do anything other than the jobs they were currently doing. Not because they were happy in their jobs necessarily, though a depressingly small number of them were. But because they either couldn’t “see” themselves doing anything different or they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) take a lower paying job even if it meant following their passion. In essence they felt “stuck” in their present job situations.

I’ll admit, it took me awhile to start envisioning a different life for myself. It’s something I still struggle with on occasion. My identity was completely tied up in what I did for a living and I know I’m far from alone. And, unfortunately, it’s hard to switch from something that society highly values (being a lawyer) to something that certain small – and thankfully shrinking – segments of society still regard as morally questionable (massage therapy). But now that I have experienced the joy and satisfaction that comes from helping clients feel better every day, I wonder what took me so long to get here.

I know that, like a lot of my friends, I felt stuck in my job. I felt like I had no real options to change things. No matter how unhappy we may be in a job, the idea of switching can bring up all kinds of scary stuff. And how many times have you heard this horrible saying – if it was fun, they wouldn’t call it work. Sure, even those of us who love our work can identify parts of our jobs that we don’t love (anyone want to take over my bookkeeping?). But why do so many of us insist on staying in unfulfilling careers for years and years? Because we’ve been conditioned to think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We’re not supposed to be generally happy at work. That’s for crazy artsy-types who can’t get a “real” job, right? For those of you who are unhappy in your jobs, I’m not suggesting that you run out and quit today. I’m suggesting that you begin to consider the possibility that you DO have choices. Think about what your life could look like if you were to follow your passion. Brainstorm ways to include your passion in your everyday life without making major changes at first. Picture yourself happy with the way you spend your time most days. What does it feel like?

One thing I’ve found in my practice is that when people feel stuck emotionally, they often feel stuck physically as well. It’s a chicken/egg thing sometimes. It’s not clear whether the physical stiffness leads to the emotional stiffness or whether it’s the other way around. But what is clear is that when we feel better physically, we often automatically feel better emotionally. If we’re in pain or we have limited range of motion in major joints making it difficult to move, it’s harder to think about making changes in our lives. We’re often just trying to manage day to day living. With massage, when we’re able to relieve pain and stiffness in the shoulders and upper back, for example, our arms swing more freely when we walk, our neck turns farther and with with less effort and we can focus on things other than our pain as we go about our day. We simply feel better all around which translates to a better emotional state. When we’re in a better place emotionally, we’re more open to opportunities for positive change.

For me, regular massage was invaluable during my transition from lawyer to massage therapist. It helped me handle the stress of change as well as the physical demands arising out of the switch from a desk job to a physically demanding career. Massage provides much more than relaxation (although I don’t discount that benefit). Massage therapy can be a supportive bridge over the rocky shoals of change. If you’re going through a transition, consider massage therapy as part of your self-care to help you through.