Who is the actual star of the lion king?

By Rachael Sheat

Who is the actual star of the Lion King?

We've all watched it, and if you haven't then I'm sorry you have to stop reading, GO AND WATCH THE LION KING and come back - then, and only then will you be ready to weigh in on this conversation ;)

So let's fast forward to the scene that I ramble on about relatively frequently in the clinic.

Rafiki (quirky monkey from Pride Rock): I know your father! He's alive, and I'll show him to you!

Simba runs through the lands in desperation to keep up with the quirky monkey with a curious and hopeful attitude. Rafiki points his stick into a pool of water and ushers Simba over to look into the water.

S: That's not my father, it's just my reflection.

R: No look harder….

Mufasa (Simba's father) comes up from the clouds and gives Simba the big "you have forgotten who you are" talk and encourages him to go back to save Pride Rock.

Simba is scared and hesitant. He has gone through so much, and no one understands the depth of what he has suffered. He fears he will be unrecognisable on returning to the Pride lands. He speaks of the hurt and the shame of contributing to his father's death. He knows what he has to do but going back he has to face his past.

Then Rafiki grabs a stick and whacks Simba on the head with it!

S: Ouch geez, what was that for?

R: It doesn't matter it's in the past!

S: Yeah but it still hurts!

R: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it you can run from it, or you can learn from it.

Rafiki goes to hit Simba on the head again.

But this time Simba weaves out of the way of Rafiki's stick in time to avoid it.

This perspective gives him courage to return to Pride Rock, face his fears and fight for justice.

(watch the scene from The Lion King for the real experience)

Truth bomb: I have a (metaphorical) Rafiki stick in my clinic. Rafiki is my hero!!!!!!!!!!

Why is he so important and instrumental in Simba's journey back, and how does this relate to pain?

Run, or learn

That's the whole thing, isn't it. When something hurts, physically or otherwise, the instinct is to get away from it as fast as possible. Avoid the movement that set it off. Avoid the conversation. Avoid the appointment that might bring more bad news. Skip the activity altogether rather than risk the flare. It makes total sense, it's what pain is designed to make us do.

But with persistent pain, running from it rarely gets you anywhere. You can avoid a movement for years and the pain doesn't go away, it just gets a bit more room to convince you that more things are dangerous. The "running" strategy protects you in the short term and shrinks your life in the long term.

Learning is the other option, and it's harder, and it's slower, and it's the one that actually gets people somewhere.

In the clinic, learning from pain looks like:

Noticing your patterns instead of dreading them. When did the flare actually start, what was happening the day or two before, what helped last time and what made it worse. That's data, not doom.

Getting curious about your nervous system rather than being angry at it. Understanding why pain has stuck around, even when tissues have healed, takes some of the fear out of it. Fear is what makes us run. Understanding is what lets us learn.

Reflecting instead of comparing. Comparing yourself to who you were before, or to someone else who "got better faster," keeps you stuck looking in the water like Simba, seeing only the reflection of what was. Reflecting on what you've actually learned about yourself and your body through all of this is a completely different exercise, and it's the one that moves you forward.

Letting the past inform you rather than define you. The adversity, the flare-ups, the appointments that didn't help, the years of being told conflicting things, none of that has to be wasted. It can all become information you use to build the wiser, more capable version of yourself.

I would love your contributions as to why my 'Rachfiki' pole has to come out so often at Evolving Pain. Comments below please :D

In the clinic I think 'Rachfiki' comes out when people are stuck in the place of what was, and need support catapulting into the new, improved and wiser 2.0 version of themselves. I 100% appreciate why this happens. The adversity, and the forced reflection, the massive learnings and strength gained from going through something so epic, doesn't mean much if you still feel awful.

We are here to remind you that under that awful feeling is a strong, resilient person who has taken on lessons far beyond any textbook could ever teach them. So my 'Rachfiki' with love is all about compromising the resistance of person and pain, and learning all that you can from it. Study its behaviours, its patterns, its season, then manipulate and challenge it, regain control in one's body and be the BOSS! We're here for support every step of the way.

With love,

Rach