samsaranmusing:

A friend asked:

“Sam, I’ve somehow developed chronic pain. Tietze’s. Many people say agony connects us to the living world, but I don’t feel that way. It has made me stronger and pushed me a long ways in my spiritual journey.. but I am becoming rather unafraid to die and am feeling a potent disconnection from my physical reality. In a way, I’ve never been happier. Do you have any recommendations for coping with pain? I am only 20 years old and I feel absolutely ancient. A 2 hour class has become too long to sit.”

I replied:

Chronic pain can be treated in a number of ways.  First consult your physician and get a pain management program in place. This may include medication, physical therapy or other techniques such as bio-feedback or hypno-therapy.

Meditation:

Yes, meditation has been found to be very effective in the reduction of chronic pain. In a recent article in the acclaimed peer reviewed journal “The Journal of Neuroscience” researchers concluded that mindfulness meditation after only EIGHTY MINUTES of training reduced pain levels to a greater degree than opiates. 

Brain Mechanisms Supporting the Modulation of Pain by Mindfulness Meditation

Also self hypnosis also known as “auto-hypnosis” has been shown to work miracles in the treatment of chronic pain.

Self Hypnosis Routine and Suggestions:

1- Pick a time, and place when you won’t have any distractions.

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To meditate on giving yourself love, you first need to acknowledge that you are not happy. Whether due to a deprived childhood, a frustrated ambition, or relationship problems, you are hard on yourself and lack something you really want- love.

And so, in meditation, you recognize this, and without dwelling on the causes too much, you imagine bright white light at your heart, spreading out and filling your whole being with light and love. Doing this often will slowly lighten your anguish and give you space to explore the reasons you feel hollow or angry, and the methods to overcome it.

- Geshe Tashi Tsering; “Buddhist Psychology”

 In the late 1960’s, in the same room in which Harvard Medical School’s Walter Cannon performed fight-or-flight experiments 50 years earlier, Herbert Benson, MD, found that there was a counterbalancing mechanism to the stress response. Just as stimulating an area of the hypothalamus can cause the stress response, so activating other areas of the brain results in its reduction. He defined this opposite state the “relaxation response.”

The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress (e.g., decreases in heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing, and muscle tension).

- Anyone can do this, regardless of belief system or ideology. It is proven to elicit a healthier state of mind, with physical improvements and pain reduction following suit. A few minutes a day can lead to a whole new YOU. <3