Back Pain, Chickens and Cocker Spaniels

One of the first things I learned about back pain is that it has the unique power to paralyze you with pain. I was only 5 years old when I came upon this life lesson, complements of my Uncle Harrison—a scurvy knave who drank too much and couldn't hold down a job for more than a month.

I liked him, though. He once chased some wild baby chickens just for me. For about two hours he ran like a maniac, cutting corners and crisscrossing a small barnyard that backed up to his apartment on the outskirts of town.  Finally, out of breath and near collapse, he had managed to snag 3 of the little feathered cuties for me to bring home as cherished pets.  Already, I had a favorite and was sure it would let me cuddle it in time.

I remember my father got pretty ticked off when he had to spend one of his precious Saturdays building my babies a coop.  We lived in the suburbs of Memphis and chickens couldn't run loose and unattended.  There were predators afoot:  Everything from copperheads to indigent two-legged creatures from the Nonconnah Creek bottoms.  Humanoids from that part of town were prone to eating whatever game they could find.

Speaking of which, two of my babies met an untimely end, munched down by a fence-climbing, black cocker spaniel from next door.  That old fella got so excited at the sight of fresh bird tenders that it literally scaled the wire fence in seconds by inserting its four paws into the chain link openings one at a time, making it's way up about 4 feet— just like any human would do.  It was a scary sight and I'll never forget his pink spotted soft under belly.

I was being a dutiful pet owner at the time, cleaning out the chicken coop, but Sparky from next door had been waiting for his chance to show just how well he could live up to his given name.

This story doesn't have a totally dreadful ending. My daddy and I returned one remaining live chickie to its little barnyard habitat from whence it had been plucked by a wildly, devolving Uncle Harrison.

But now I'm off track entirely. This particular Uncle Harrison story I've dredged up is the not the one I wanted at all. It was the one about back pain I was aiming for, so here goes:  Once, when I was visiting and my uncle and aunt at their apartment on the outskirts of Memphis I had an encounter with back pain.  Uncle Harrison was taking turns flipping my 2 year old sister and me onto a soft couch landing. 

That last flip must have been a doozy, 'cause it sent sharp stabbing pains into my lower spine and knocked my breath out. I was momentarily paralyzed while my aunt looked down on me, as if I were faking it just for the attention.  Not a happy moment for either of us.

The worst of the pain went away within the next hour, thankfully, with the help of a chocolate milkshake, but along with it went all the future fun with Uncle Harrison.

My father's sister got a divorce from him three months later, and three years later the 'poor bastard' wound up dead drunk in the literal sense of the term.  He was found lying in a ditch along side a country road in Mississippi–not exactly the kind of ending John Denver pictured when he wrote the song, 'Country Road'.  Or maybe it was, judging from how Mr. Denver met his own untimely end.

And now, back to my original goal before I got further side tracked:  What are some of the causes of lower back pain?  Though the topic sounds rather bland at the moment, just stick with me,'cause there's a happy ending here somewhere.

Most people don't have an Uncle Harrison flipping them around at an early age, but many people do experience injury related back pain.  With some, though, the back pain just sneaks up on them over time, till it becomes the thing that won't leave, as in 'chronic'.   Still others get symptoms of back pain when the pressing life issues mount up.

Last year, I went to a seminar with Dr. Kam Yuen, a Shaolin Kung Fu Grandmaster, retired chiropractor and aerospace engineer. Back in the Seventies, he was the consultant for the Kung Fu TV Series and often played non-speaking roles in a TV episode that needed a flying, leaping grandmaster of Kung Fu to liven up the action. (Follow the above link to see an old Kung Fu candle lit clip of Dr. Yuen fighting with David Carradine.)

Anyway, it was the first day of the Yuen seminar and time to put into practice what we had learned. Keep in mind, please, that this is a seminar designed to teach you how to use your own energy to resolve any life issues, no physical movement involved.

Grandmaster Yuen had spend the morning energetically 'correcting' us, teaching and showing everyone how easy it was to resolve painful issues. It was now our turn to use what we had been taught,  i.e.  resolve some painful issues for a fellow student.   As we paired up, I was praying, please, don't let me get someone in real pain. Please! Please!

You know how you often get what you fear most, and this was one of those times.  The lady, my partner, had flown three thousand miles to get to the seminar,had not slept the night before and was experiencing some nasty lower back pain. It hurt when she stood, sat or walked. 

Plus, she made it clear that she had little faith in me being able to resolve anything for her.   She preferred another working partner with more experience and, believe me, I was on the same page with her assessment of me.  I was ready to bolt and get an experienced Yuen practitioner for her.

Instead, though, I corrected myself to be strong to her disappointment and misgivings, not to mention my fear.  In other words, I made myself neutral to all the negative emotions.  Next, using my intuition that Grandmaster Yuen had just separated from logic and emotion, I tested to see if her back pain was physical or non-physical. 

Non-physical felt weak, so I posed the question silently as to what the true source of her back pain might be.  Then I paused, and a picture of the woman all bent over, kind of like a female Charles Atlas, came to mind with the words, 'carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders'.  I remembered, though, how Dr. Yuen had said… don't think that the first thing that pops into your head is an answer for your question. Test it. 

So I tested those words that had popped in my head for weakness–all within a split second, of course, and said to her. Let's make you strong to 'carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders'.   She visibly straightened up taller and a smile broke through.   "It's gone," she said with astonishment.  "The pain is completely gone!"

Believe me, I was just as astonished as she, but I finished up with some corrections for her relationship and job.  The next day, she made a point to find me and reiterate her gratitude. 'My back pain is still gone, Laura.  I feel great!"

Those words gave me a weak buzz, though, so I tested her for expectations of the pain coming back and found a weakness there. As she was walking away, I made her strong to any expectations of the back pain returning, along with all other unwelcome things coming back in her past present and/or future.

Now, some might ask how do you make yourself and others strong to any weaknesses, much less to the weaknesses of the past present and/or future?  And those would be good questions.  I could give you a linear answer that would wind up being a book or two, but the quickest way to learn is to attend one of Grandmaster Yuen's Yuen Mastery Seminars.   By first break, you'll know how.

End of story.