The worst of my pain lives in my neck and shoulders. At times, the muscles seize up so badly that I cannot move them. We always joke that it’s the weight of the world on my shoulders, but that has a truth to it.

When this happens, the first thing I do is lift my shoulders up – like I’m asking a question. Or more likely that I am trying to hide from the answer. This move counteracts the weight that I feel and breaks the block on movement. Yes, it hurts, but as I work them up and down a few times, I feel like blood and energy is flowing again.

Next, I push my shoulders back and my chest out and think of Dolly Parton. Yes, this move is easier in a secluded or private place, but pain is pain and I have gotten a pile of strange looks for this. Push your shoulders back and down and hold for 10 – 30 seconds or whatever feels good.

After some stretching, I break out the Thera Cane. A Thera Cane is a long, sturdy plastic stick with a curve on top. It looks a bit like a walking cane, but it’s probably too short to walk with. (Way too short for my 5’6″.) It has a host of knobs sticking off of it from a number of places. It looks, more than anything, like the frame for some plastic toy parts after all the toy parts have been punched out.

Find whatever knob allows you to reach the sore part and use the other parts of the cane to apply pressure to the sore part. Yes, this hurts – but it relieves much more pain in the long run. It is like getting a massage (only cheaper and you have to do the work yourself.)

I lift and replace the cane on my neck again and again until all the lumps are worked out. I’ll then use the Thera Cane to get my feet a little bit or any other body part that feels tense or painful.

When this is done, I’m exhausted and ready to flop back into my nest on the sofa and be quiet for a while. At least for a little bit, the weight of the world is no longer on my shoulders. The next trick is to figure out how not to put the weight back on. I’ll report back once I have that down.

P.S. I’ve linked to Amazon in order to cover some of my expenses (hopefully). So I think that the link to the Thera Cane is part of their Affiliate program. If I did it right.