In late December I noticed a new pain in my left hip. It was the worst when I went from a sitting to a standing position. As someone who literally moves for a living, I was concerned. So I decided to do what most of us are told - or at least were historically told - to do when experiencing pain: I rested.

I stopped running. I stopped lifting weights. I would still walk on the treadmill most days, but I took it slow. I tried to demonstrate less in my yoga classes and I hit pause on my own personal yoga practice. Two weeks off would do the trick, right?

Nope.

It almost seemed like resting made my pain worse, so I decided to go back to my usual routine of running and weight training. The pain was still present, but it was manageable. I kept telling myself to see a physical therapist, but I’m stubborn and continued to brush aside making an appointment.

In March I had my annual check up with my regular doctor. We discussed the usual talking points and as we started to wrap up my appointment my doctor asked, “Is there anything else you want to discuss?” I wasn’t planning to share my hip pain with her. I am a movement professional! I know what’s up!

I caved. “Well, I’ve had this weird hip pain for a couple months.” She laughed. She knew I wasn’t planning to share the information with her. After doing some movement assessments of my hip she determined it was a soft tissue issue and it would be best if it was addressed by a physical therapist. Fine. I guess I’ll make a PT appointment.

Before making an appointment I did a lot of research on physical therapists. It was important for me to find someone who spoke my language as someone who moves for a living and for enjoyment. I landed on an incredible PT who gave me everything I was looking for and more.

She assessed my pain, watched me move, and determined the issue. She gave me a handful of exercises and we scheduled a follow up appointment. I asked her if I should rest and hold off on running. Her answer surprised me. She said, “Do the exercises I gave you and go back to short runs. Stop running if you feel consistent pain, but don’t completely stop moving. Sitting still won’t make it better.”

I feel like the idea of rest in the context of an injury is a bit confusing. We are told to rest and we might take that as an invitation to put on our favorite reality television show and lounge on the couch for hours. But in reality, for some injuries, just sitting still might make the situation worse. Our bodies are not fragile. They’re designed to move. If we are managing an injury and we have the ability to move, there’s value in continuing to move in order to rehabilitate an injury. The type of movement is probably the key to recovery.

For my injury I assumed I needed to do exercises that helped me engage my glutes. I wasn’t wrong in this assumption, but I was wrong in my approach. My PT gave me very specific exercises and movement patterns to target my glutes in a way that would create relief from the hip pain I was experiencing. After only a few days it felt like I had a brand new hip! Plus, I had a better understanding of what movement was helpful and what movement was harmful in my process of recovery.

Of course if your doctor or medical professional is telling you that zero movement is the only way for you to recover from an injury or ailment, then please listen to them! I’m just a movement and fitness professional with big opinions. But if you’re living with pain, consider moving with your pain rather than completely eliminating movement. Perhaps there’s some form of movement - whether it be strength training, stretching, yoga, foam rolling, cardiorespiratory training, etc. - that will help you get to the other side where you’ll be moving without pain.