Last night I laid in bed with my new back pain and because I had taken no pain relief (I know, stubborn... But I want to know about this pain before I mask it) I decided to try out the mindfulness techniques I had read about and used for anxiety on pain instead and I was so surprised to see that it was noticeably effective.
I laid there and instead of trying NOT to think about the pain I focused on it.
Not in a defiant angry way but in a zen like curious way.
I was laying in bed and sleepy so I was feeling more relaxed than if I tried this in the day... I focused my attention on my body, the on my lower back so I could really start to describe the actual sensations out loud to my boyfriend.
I said that the pain felt heavy..... Like my lower back was being pulled downwards because it was either made of or attached to heavy rock.... The area felt pull and dense and heavy whereas my front felt unusually empty.
As I noticed these things I felt less scared or threatened by the pain and the level of pain seemed less which i was pleased and emotionally surprised by.
Anyway I wanted to share as this may be useful to those who have not tried it...
I would not recommend it instead of medical/traditional pain relief but complimentary to it but it does seem to be effective alone against mild to moderate dull pain for me.
All the best and thank you all for the comments on my last post.
It helped to feel less alone x
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crystal_willow
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There are usually meditation centres that sometimes have also behavioural cognitive therapy, different meditation techniques etc. If you type in google mindfulness meditation and your city/location you can usually find whats going on in your area. I found the classes like that.
And it doesnt have to be specifically for pain, the same way meditation works for anxiety, works for pain too and the start is exactly what you did last night. By observing the pain you can control it better.
Yeah I have been reading about and practicing mindfulness techniques on and off for a while as I find it really useful for anxiety and general emotional well being. I am very self taught but I thought going onto a class would be helpful and it would be nice to meet other people trying to learn the same skill. X cheers
It's brilliant, I did 4 courses of it because it was so good. See if you have a Wellbeing Centre in your county. Many of the Buddhist Centres do it. In fact, the course I did was run by two amazing guys with Buddhist names who both trained in mindfulness cognitive behaviour techniques at a university in Bangor, Wales. I was so strung up and 5 minutes late for my very first class and struggled initially to stop my brain spinning with scenerios, stories, things I had to do,hadn't done.
This makes you realise how 'busy' the human brain is all the time and how damned exhausting thinking is! It teaches you the importance of breathing being the essence of your being and how when your stressed or in pain, how your breathing quickens, heart rate ramps up and it often can send you into a flight or flee anxiety state. It teaches you just to stop, be, at one with yourself in this moment. I remember wondering why it can help with pain and discovered that combining the meditation with cognitive behaviourial therapy it can soften the pain. It does not pretend to take your condition away, it just helps you deal with it better through focus and breath and acceptance of now. You need to be in a quiet room or place, unplug the phone, tv, and have some CD's of MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy). Many of these usually 10 week courses of 2 hours a week issue CD's for each stage of the course for you to take home and practice. Everyone who completed the course reported feeling noticably calmer and safer in the knowledge they had the tools to turn to if they noticed a mood change related to circumstances or pain or both. You really need to take time out to do short meditations ie there is a 3 minute meditation you can do daily and it did seem to make the whole day better. We take time out to feed ourselves healthy food, groom ourselves etc but when you think about it, we give little or no time to look after our spiritual and mental wellbeing, it is basically maintenance! The whole principle of this therapy originated from a man called Jon Kabatt Zinn and has taken the world by storm, even being taken up by the NHS so there is definitely something in this that can help everyone. Check out Jon Kabatt Zinn on google.
I have been using mindfulness for a few years now and it really did change my life. I cannot recommend it enough for changing the relationship with the pain.
Breathworks run courses, or online courses or books with accompanying CDs. It is a not for profit organisation and is well worth looking it.
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