什么是痛
常听说“痛并快乐着” “在痛苦中修行”……之类之类的话。如果是文艺的修辞，或者是灵性的解脱，那无可厚非。但若是在实实在在的运动拉伸中去追求疼痛，就不好了。
那么究竟什么是痛？
西医认为：痛觉，是由于受到刺激，中枢神经系统中的电脉冲将信号传导到大脑中而成的。而且它是一个负强化系统---它的存在，是为了提示身体去远离疼痛源，而不是加强或更靠近疼痛源。有意加强或忍受疼痛，是违反自然规律的，必定造成损伤。
中医认为：痛，则不通。去观看“痛”字的组成。里面是“甬”，取道路之意；外面是“病”，取生病之意。结合来看组成“道路生病了”。在身体中，可以理解为经络瘀堵，气血不畅，必成损伤。
中医西医有很多差异，甚至在很多观念上是大相径庭的；但当二者意见统一时，我们就不得不重视！
在练习阴瑜伽等拉伸舒展性运动时，重点是去体会身体被伸展的部位出现的由或酸或胀感到舒适感，再慢慢试探着深入的过程；也就是将体位停留在“身体承受极限之前”，在呼吸过程中，慢慢消化，逐步加深，并能够去“享受”，而不是“忍受”这个由浅入深的过程。
十几年的瑜伽习练和七年多的教学经验告诉我，对“痛感就是快感”的追求，只是急于求成的一个托词；慢慢来，才是最快的前进。
Pain
I often hear people say “pain is the path of spirituality”, “to seek happiness while feeling pain” …… I don’t argue is it is just speaking in a literally metaphor. If you use this concept in stretching training like Yin Yoga, I am totally against it. Here is why.
In western medicine, it says, “pain is electrical impulses in the central nervous system to the brain.” It is a negative feedback system, which means the body must adjust to remove the pain, not increase it. Deliberate pain is against nature.
In Chinese medicine, it says, “pain means pressure caused by blockage.” Blockage first starts from the meridian system. Blocked meridian will definitely cause problems of Qi and Blood flow, which is the beginning of all kinds of sickness.
Western medicine and Chinese medicine have lots of disagreements. However, when they both agree with something, it must be a big deal!
Therefore, when you practice Yin yoga which focuses on breathing and stretching, please try to feel the soreness and assess if you can digest it through breathing. If you can, you can consider to move on deeper; if you cannot, then you need to be careful or even back off a bit until you can. Feeling sore is ok but still needs to be treated carefully. Do not stretch so much that you are feeling painful. When you are holding one pose, you should feel you are enjoying this process by digesting the soreness rather than suffering.
More than a decade of practicing yoga and more than seven years of teaching, experience has told me that pain is just pain. Deliberately causing or enduring pain is nothing but an excuse to swallow something so big that you cannot digest. It will cause indigestion and hurt you eventually.
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