Symptoms

Ida Rolf said, “If your symptoms go away, that’s your problem.” Sounds harsh, huh? Pain and irritation are unpleasant. But what Ida was pointing out is that there is more to life than managing symptoms, i.e. avoiding discomfort.

We often go to healers and teachers in search of answers that will ease our pains. It is the small sharp pains that motivate most of us. The big ones are too persistent and frightening. Good help can ease the pain. Great help evokes the courage to address the larger context.

Dr. Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy) and Arnold Mindell are some of teachers who have inspired me. Each one somehow has advocated for reaching deeper, below the level of symptomology, into the level of potential.

Defining our selves by our pain is just not sufficient. As Albert Einstein said, “You can not solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.” If instead of assuming that a symptom is a problem to be eradicated, we take the perspective that a symptom is a gift, a clue, a window into a potential emergence, then we soften our obsession with pain. We strengthen our capacity to identify and nurture resources. Life then becomes more than a desperate battle with pain and dysfunction. Growth, creativity and opportunity become active forces.