If you suffer from chronic stress and pain these techniques can help you…
I am no stranger to chronic pain. Not only did pain dominate my life for 4 years, but it also increased my levels of stress substantially. It is not an easy living each day with pain.
Along with pain most people deal with varying levels of depression and stress. I know I did. It took a Jedi Knight mindset to ignore the pain and push through each day.
But did you know that chronic pain might not be a physical problem?
Yes, the pain is real and what you are feeling physically is too.
But what if I told you that most chronic pain holds a key in the mind?
 It has been scientifically proven that many aches and pains that are chronic are rooted in the brain. As in your emotions, negative mental chatter, and inability to handle one more bit of stress can actually affect different brain centres and manifest into the body.
In other words, your mind can refer pain into the physical body.
Do you have pain in your body with an unknown cause?
Or maybe you have found the cause. But have you ever noticed that some people can have the exact same issue and have no problem at all?
No Pain At All?
In the book The Hidden Psychology of Pain, by Dr. James Alexander, he talks about John Sarno’s work.
John Sarno found that medicine knew very little about chronic pain. He observed in his research there was no neat relationship between damage in the body and the existence of pain.
In other words, people with chronic pain when examined with x-ray and other diagnostic tools were found to have no structural abnormalities at all.
It was also found that people with no pain at all who participated in the research, that a high percentage of them showed evidence of structural pathology of the spine but had no pain at all.
How can that be?
Could it be that the key to healing chronic pain is in the mind?
Throughout Western and Eastern Medicine there are countless stories of people healing their pain via the mind.
Placebo Effect
In Western Medicine it is known as the placebo effect. This is when in controlled double blind studies there is a group of people who consume a medication and a group of people who believe they are getting the medicine, even though they are getting a sugar pill.
The interesting thing is that just as many people heal who didn’t get the medication as the people who did. They healed because they believed the medication would heal them. Their belief, their mind healed their body….
Have you used a placebo to stimulate healing?
In Eastern Medicine, meditation appears to work for pain relief as it reduces brain activity in your somatosensory cortex. This area in the brain decides the feeling of where and how intense pain should be in the body.
More than that, Eastern Traditions are now exploring the power of your thoughts as a mind body therapy in pain.
Therapies like Neuro-linguistic Programming and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy help to reprogram a your response to pain as well as change negative thought patterns, which stimulate a chronic stress response.
I have had success with some of these techniques. Not only did they help muffle the pain in my body, but they also helped me to be at peace with my body no matter the situation.
5 Techniques to Reduce Chronic Pain and Stress.
 1. Mindfulness Meditation – Mindfulness is a very effective meditation technique for relaxing the mind and body to turn down the stress response. It has been proven effective for pain relief and pain management. Mindfulness is simply becoming aware of your breath, relaxing your mind to such a point that you lose track of your body. Your body becomes so relaxed, that all pain diminishes.
Mindfulness meditation helps put you into a deep Theta brain state, where anything is possible. Not only does pain become more manageable and in some cases disappears, but you find yourself in a more peaceful, happy state in your day-to-day life.
2. Hypnosis –Hypnosis is scientifically verified and an effective technique that allows you to tap into your subconscious mind and promote change.
Hypnosis allows you to create desired changes in behaviour, emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing.
It’s a powerful visualization technique that you can learn to use for things like pain reduction, healing, weight loss, quitting smoking, anxiety, and PTSD.
It allows you to gain control of undesired behaviours and make changes.
3. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – CBT focuses on developing coping strategies that solve current problems such as pain, depression, anxiety and allows you to consciously change your thoughts, behaviours, and beliefs.
CBT has been proven to give the person practicing it new ways to cope and look at things. It has been shown to be effective for pain relief.
 4. Visualization – Visualization is a technique that incorporates the power of the mind to heal the body. In a meditative state, you see the problem you would like to see healed being resolved.
You are essentially telling your body what you want with your mind. You literally visualize yourself in perfect health. Some people will even visualize going into the problem such as pain and seeing it healing. The mind is very powerful. If you believe it, you will see it happen.
5. Placebo Effect – This is where you choose a food or an object that you believe will heal your body. You make this food, such as a green drink for example your placebo. Every time you drink this green drink you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the medicine you need to heal your body. Much like people that believe taking a medication. When in fact they are taking a sugar pill and heal anyways. The green drink becomes your placebo. The trick is, believing in it. If your mind truly believes this will heal you, it most likely will.
 Have you tried any of these techniques and had success?
I know I have.
I truly believe in the phrase ‘Mind Over Matter!’
Do you have a mind body success story?
I would love to hear about it. The more people that share their stories, the more people will know what is possible. Comment below.
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