Killing a lobster

I think it’s the RSPCA that says that the most humane method of killing a lobster is to put it in a pan of cold water and let the water gradually warm up until the lobster is cooked. I don’t know if lobsters have been asked for their opinion on how humane this is.

I felt a bit like a lobster on my first ever bikram – or hot – yoga session where I was advised to arrive half an hour early so I could sit in the room as it warmed up and acclimatise myself. By the end I felt the best thing to do with me was to serve me up on a plate with dollops of mayonnaise and a glass of Prosecco. At first you just feel warm and then, all too quickly in fact, you feel hot. Then you feel ghastly. At some point during a 90 minute session you begin to think being this hot is normal and it’s only afterwards as you hit the cold air outside, that you finally understand how bonkers the whole thing is.

Many clients come to me with chronic pain. They’ve had the pain so long they now treat it as though it’s normal. The pain gets a little bit worse over time, affecting perhaps parts of the body that previously were pain free. But like the lobster in the pot, they don’t really notice it getting worse. Muscles gradually weaken, others are overused, the pecs tighten, the shoulders fall forward, neck muscles are stretched, headaches occur, the spine begins to bend and suddenly there’s lower back pain and they decide it’s time for a massage.

Being aware of how hot the water is getting, is the first condition for knowing it’s time to get out.