Can pain be good?

Pain means you are doing it wrong. Now does it really?.

I Continue enjoying Guruji… (the book), and keep on getting food for thought.  I am reading the interview to Brad Ramsey these days, and his relationship to pain is making me look at it in a different way:

“The pain is the beginning, a sign that the body and mind are waking up, things are moving”

Found that beautiful. But perhaps what I find even more interesting is this idea that we in the West see pain as a stop sign. He says

…Americans especially. In a lot of schools of yoga, if it hurts you are doing something wrong. And if you were a perfect physical and mental psecimen already, then I can see how that might be true” 

He is not however advocating going for the pain, but rather “When it hurts put your mind on God instead of your pain, whatever your concept of God…”

I remember listening to Richard Freeman on his Yoga Matrix and how he linked this to the Gita, how it is important to recognize the path we must travel.  When it comes to pain, I guess it comes to finding the edge, and working with it.  Yes we want to avoid injury, but we also want to avoid dullness.

It also relates to the gunas, or psychological states, if we want to be away from rajas (pushing too hard) and tamas (falling asleep), then we need to play with the edge to get to the satvic (or balanced state).  Then again, striving for balance could get us out of balance if we pursue it in an addictive way or anxiously.  It seriously requires a lot of balance!

What do you think?