When did you last stretch?

A portrait of the artist as a late night pretzel.

Morning all,

I’m going to write a bit about bodies today, and why im so obsessed with muscles, posture, tension, physio, lifting heavy, boundaries, and neurodiversity. 

I gave myself an rsi injury about 10 years ago, working 16+ hour days in vfx in that there London. I did not know then what I now know about *BOUNDARIES. 

My rsi took the form of a large lump in my right shoulder, deep inside, and at its worst it felt like I had stinging nettles all down inside my arm to the tips of my fingers. No fun. 

Anyway im a lot better now, but one of the things I've realised is the overlap for me between rsi and the autistic/adhd urge to focus hard, and tense right up. Also the urge to not talk about my feelings, and instead, you guessed it, tense up. 

So when I had a big deadline, or I was really deep in the rabbit hole of problem solving or creativity, or i felt a bit (a lot) socially anxious I would have very little concept of *quite* how tense my body would become, whether that was my drawing hand tensing on the wacom pen, my neck straining ever towards the screen, or my shoulders tensing up towards my ears. 

Some things that helped:

Acupuncture for lovely soft and gentle relief from nerve pain.

Better boundaries around working hours, communicating those boundaries to clients, and finding clients who respected those boundaries.

Ibuprofen.

Being in a financial position to take time off, to hire various health professionals, and later, to rely on my fantastic partner for support when there were times I had to step away from work again.

Lifting heavy, with a good trainer who understands injury, and doesnt push beyond my limits. 

Time spent with an occupational physio to get a really good desk set-up that works for me.

Talking about my feelings, and not asking my muscles to do so much emotion work, which they respond to by? tensing up.

Sports physio.

A bit about sports physio, because wow. After 10 years, my rsi was way better, but any time I went a little outside my comfort zone with working, I could get a pain flare up. And I still had a noticeable lump in my shoulder that felt… like wet wood. A bit dead. 

So I was lucky enough to come across a totally fantastic sports physio who pushed and prodded, crunched and pulled, and bit by bit broke through calloused and hardened fascia and muscle, a little here and a little there. I didn't think it was possible to shift it, but I don't have that big knot any more. I still have to do physio and its tender when I dont. It was super scary, and maybe this is an autistic thing, but it became clear that my physio was asking my body and my chest to be waaay more open than im used to, and that felt super overwhelming at the start. But we stuck with it, and it worked, bit by bit. Things change! Who knew.

I have to talk about my feelings, rest when I need rest, be honest about where my body is. 

And I have to do my physio.

If youre reading this, maybe you work long hours focused at a desk too. If you're drawing, or designing or animating, or doing any creative desk work, its a physical pursuit, thats important to remember. 

I’d love to know your thoughts.