Pain is NOT weakness leaving your body

It's arrogant. It's ignorant. And it comes at a high price.

The International Association for the Study of Pain gives this definition: PAIN is "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, as described in terms of such damage".

Pain can be a number of things. Most often it is your body telling you to back off because danger is perceived. Sometimes the body's anticipatory fear is adequate, and failure to comply will lead to injury. How does that translate into losing weakness?

Pain is subjective. Sometimes one feels pain due to different types of psychological stimulus where there perhaps isn't a clear and present danger to the physical body presiding. Ask yourself then, "Why am I experiencing pain? Is there some issue I should be looking into rather than blindly pushing myself to the limit of what I can tolerate?" Or is hurting yourself psychologically somehow equivalent to losing weakness?

In yoga one can experience discomfort. Discomfort can be regulated by making sure that your breathing and focus are not negatively affected. One can have sore muscles as a result of one's physical exertion. This is a sign that muscle fibers have been broken, and in order to repair and replace them with new, stronger fibers the body requires rest.

Seriously, you wouldn't consciously hurt your children, right? Then why the hell would you want to do it to yourself? What is the point of unnecessary suffering? Use your energy to bring something positive into the world instead. By all means, exercise, get stronger, gain flexibility, build endurance, get leaner, lose weight, gain weight, but for goodness sake keep it healthy, and keep it sane! And don't forget that the mind needs nurturing, not torture.