Webinar: Chronic pain: the fear and joy of moving

On 22 January 2021, 10-11.30am (GMT), the network held a discussion panel. The panellists included a physiotherapist, a psychologist, a dancer and a person with lived experience of pain. The theme of the Webinar was ‘Chronic pain: the fear and joy of moving’. This panel aimed to: 

  • Deepen understanding of fear of moving when living with pain 
  • Explore how to enhance joy of movement for people living with pain 
  • Assess how dance and movement practices might be useful/challenging 

We shared an audio practice in advance of the discussion. Polls gathered information from those attending, with comments and questions from participants.

Who attended?

The Fear and Joy of Movement webinar was joined by 120 people. The main reasons for attendees joining our webinar were varied: as a person living with pain (23%), healthcare professional (25%), dance artist (23%) and ‘other’ (29%). Some people of the people living with pain, or who had a family member or friend living with pain, also were healthcare professionals, dance artists and ‘other’. For example: 

“I am an OT student with a family member who suffers from chronic pain.” 

“I am a person living with pain, a performance artist, writer and researcher.”

“A person living with pain and a dance artist and PhD researcher.” 

“I live with pain, I was a health promotion specialist and dance teacher in NHS. I am now a yoga and relaxation teacher.”

“I’m an art psychotherapist also living with chronic pain.”

“I am a violinist finding a way of playing more easily with the body.”

What was discussed in the Webinar chat?

The Fear and Joy of Movement webinar chat box was filled with a mix of conversations and links. Some were prompted by the presentations from our webinar, but there was also the free flow of ideas. We’ve shared some of the chat below.

One participant asked “what are somatic practices?” and another participant stated:

“Somatics, or somatic movement education, is a body/mind practice supporting health and wellbeing. It aims to restore balance through open-ended processes of self-discovery and in companionship. Through somatically informed dance practice, we explore the matrix of the body/mind process by connecting to our inner/outer presence through movement and acknowledging the personal and collective meaning of this happening”.

Participants identified a range of different somatic and other movement practices they engaged in. These included Feldenkrais, yoga, Capoeira, BMC, Alexander Technique, Movement into Life, and Amerta movement. 

“It aims to restore balance through open-ended processes of self-discovery and in companionship”

Panel member Eline Kieft noted that “even when we are still we are still moving because our lungs are moving and connecting us with the world.” This led to another comment about how: “restriction of movement can result in restriction of expression.” 

The concepts of pacing and “boom and bust” cycles were talked about in relation to exercise. Reasons for why people can try to do too much included the values of “productivity and a facade of stoic strength” and that: “our [UK]” culture “doesn’t support regular healthy intermissions of expressive gentle, somatically aware movement”. There was discussion of the “need to redefine what ‘exercise’ means…. to use the term ‘movement’ more in health care.” One participant noted how: “a lot of fitness professionals are starting to think differently about working through the pain and pushing their clients down that route.” 

Chat turned to thinking about how “Western medicine treats symptoms” but that “hiding the pain does not mean the problem goes away.” Participants also focused on the language of pain and “pain killers”. This suggests “we need to completely eliminate pain, instead of reducing it or just allowing it to exist”; if we thought of it differently, it wouldn’t “impede our joy” in movement. Chat also acknowledge that while: “painkillers do dampen the pain they bring other problems, mood swings, gut problems, and tiredness.”

[UK Culture] “doesn’t support regular healthy intermissions of expressive gentle, somatically aware movement”

People also suggested the value of gentle and creative approaches to movement. Such as: “somatic yoga which can be very helpful as it helps you be very aware of your body the whole time you are moving.” A mother noted that: “I have a son with hemiplegia, when he was younger if you said ‘let’s do physio it would be moaning’!!! if you said ‘dance and be silly’, that would work!” However, health inequalities were chatted about and it was noted that some people may have “fewer opportunities to access classes or green spaces which might affect types of movement.”

People acknowledged the “a fear of fatigue as well as a fear of pain” and noted, for example, that: “fear of pain in and of itself can be very fatiguing – you’re constantly thinking about an extra thing.” Another comment was that people should what do “what works for you” but noted that “initially there is little promotion of self-care or a range of self-management choices.” One person explained that: “I have fibromyalgia, I have gone from hydrotherapy to cold water swimming through lockdown, to find my joy of movement, as you say, it is all connected. I had a real fear of moving.“

“Fear of pain in and of itself can be very fatiguing – you’re constantly thinking about an extra thing”

People living with pain chatted about the wider impacts of persistent pain. One person noted: “I have found that somatically informed dance practice often helps people to speak about their pain and the pain/shame experience.” Another commented on the: “feeling of loneliness it can bring: the idea that others aren’t experiencing it.” Someone admired the “really beautiful, courageous messages” on the chat and noted that people living with pain should “remember that they are not alone even if the ‘over-culture’ often ignores or marginalises pain.” However, the fact that so many people with pain were sharing their experiences on the webinar meant people realised they were not alone in their experience.

Image by Christian Kipp

What did people think about the audio movement practice?

All of the feedback in the chat was positive with many people thanking Lisa for the “lovely practice”. People noted that the practice: “helped me to feel safer and a sense of calm in the mind and body” and “The combination of your language, the sound and imagery slowed my breath, eased my head and spine. I was looking out of the window and following the clouds, their changing dissolving and reshaping. I felt very relaxed and calm by the end.”

Positive responses were linked to the imagery and stillness and movement. For example: “It also felt natural for me to be moving and I enjoyed meditating on and using the imagery in stillness and movement, and going between stillness and movement” and “I love the fine mist which really brought me back to stillness after sensing into the ebb and flow of the sea.”

People found the practice helpful in different ways. One commented on “The emphasis of the fluidity and water in body was a very strong visualisation for my bodily experience of pain. I experience allodynia and this image is very helpful in the layering experience I have of sensitivity.” Another noted that: “Your idea of fluids and the image of pancake mix spreading in the saucepan was very helpful to me.  The idea of spreading helped very much with relaxing the muscles.  Also with the sketching, I saw where the pain intersects into the relaxation.  I found this very helpful.”

What did people say at the end of the session?

The concluding chat included:

“So much to chew on there and dig into.  I’m inspired to move more with my own chronic pain from a playful, fun perspective.”

“Thank you to all – very interesting and has given us all an optimistic outlook on how we can integrate movement/dance and pain. Such a wonderful and engaging webinar.”

“Thank you everyone, a first for me being part of this type of discussion about this subject.”

“I find it hard to loosen into being able to dance freely between existing pain/tension and the fear of resulting pain but when I can access it, it’s so joyful!”

Useful websites

Useful publications

Other resources

Biographies

Ross Armstrong is a UK qualified Chartered Physiotherapist who currently works at the University of Cumbria as a Lecturer in Primary and Urgent care. He completed his PhD in Musculoskeletal Screening: Implications for Injury and Performance at Edge Hill University which included a number of studies that investigated screening in dancing using a variety of musculoskeletal screening tools and considered aspects such as fatigue and hypermobility. Ross has considerable clinical experience working in the National Health Service, private practice, with the military and in professional sport and dance.

Lisa Dowler is an independent dance artist, researcher and Somatic Movement Educator. Lisa is inspired by Contact Improvisation, Instant Composition and Body-Mind Centering® (BMC®). She has over 20 years experience in facilitating dance practices and performance in diverse contexts and is the Artistic Director of Small Things Dance Collective (STDC) in the UK. Since 2006, she has been Dance Artist in Residence at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and was a senior lecturer in dance at Edge Hill University from 2007-15.

Eline Kieft (PhD) is an anthropologist, dancer, shamanic practitioner and change facilitator. In all these modalities she has worked with people with long-term conditions, exploring how to navigate life when facing such challenges. She also brings her own lived experience of chronic pain. Previously, she worked at Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University. Eline currently runs Clover Trail, which facilitates wellbeing through connecting with body, heart, mind, and spirit.

Pete Moore is author of the Pain Toolkit, a simple patient booklet, which was supported by the Department of Health and now used extensively in the UK and overseas. 950,000 copies are in circulation in the UK. It’s been translated into 18 languages and adapted for America, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Pete runs online Pain Toolkit Workshops for both people with persistent pain and healthcare professionals who support them. He teaches at the Austrian and European Federation Pain School (Klagenfurt) and works at Teesside University as a consultant on the VR4Rhab project.

Harbinder Sandhu is Associate Professor, Division of Health Sciences (Warwick Clinical Trials Unit), University of Warwick. She combines her clinical role as a Health Psychologist and her academic research in the area of behavioural change interventions in the management of long term pain. Her primary research is in clinical trials, and her research interests include: health and wellbeing, communication in healthcare and application of health psychology in the design of complex interventions for behaviour change in the management of long term conditions. These include: musculoskeletal disorders, chronic pain, neurological conditions and rare diseases (Dystonia). She is also interested in integrating new technologies and evidence-based therapeutic approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness.

Hosted by Dr. Emma Meehan (Assistant Professor in Dance, Coventry University) and Prof. Bernie Carter (Professor of Children’s Nursing, Edge Hill University). With Assistance from Sarah Charles, Lily Hayward Smith and Kauser Husain for the Somatic Practice and Chronic Pain Network.

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