What to think of to reduce pain?.

Hi,

What can you think of when in pain to reduce pain?.

Thanks.

Hello air9,

I hope your day is going well thus far. What type of pain are you referring to? The physical pain of the posture you are using or pain brought forth by emotions during your session? I then might have some follow up questions for you if you are referring to the physical pain of meditation.

So, I live in chronic pain and there are several things that you can do mentally to reduce it. But first thing's first. WHY are you in pain? (you don't have to tell me just something you need to know yourself) The purpose of pain is so your body can communicate with you when it's at its limits or injured. Listen to it, know why. That's very very important. There's a difference between pushing your body pain and injuring it pain. There's also the whole mis-firing signals thing but that's also important to know. But if you can, first take care of why you're in pain.

These are some things that my Mental Health doctor taught me about pain management.

My favorite technique is to picture the painful parts of me sitting away from me in another chair. It's a way to disconnect yourself from the pain. And personally, I find it highly amusing to see the bones of the lower spine, hip, and right leg sitting in the chair across from me. Usually swinging that leg in impatience hehe. The amusement also helps alleviate the mental and physical strains that come with chronic pain.

Another is to imagine an injection of pain killers (Mine has the label "Best Relief Ever!" and picture it injecting into the painful parts. Pay attention to how the injection spreads through the muscle and chases the pain away before it.

The third I remember is to focus on one of your hands (a non-hurting one). Picture heat and energy coalescing into it, building up together. Then when you've had enough, place your hand over the pain point and feel that heat go into and soothe the pain. (Oddly enough this is how some healings are done in some of the energy healing traditions I've heard of)

Depends on the type of pain I think... in my own experience some types cannot be stopped (short of chemical intervention which has a lot of risks), but some types of distraction can work. For example some peripheral types of pain can be mitigated by stimulating the up-stream nerve receptors to increase the traffic on the nerves to the extent the more peripherally located pain signal cannot get through with the same intensity. For example if you've stubbed your toe and someone gives you a vigorous shoulder massage it can steal the minds focus from the pain (by I assume that above mechanism)... ie think on other stimulus.

If that doesn't work, and nothing else does, there is always thinking on the pain in a pseudo-transformative way!! As I had a type of high level pain for a few years which nothing could distract, a burning itching slicing type, it served as my focus (not by choice), so all I could come up with mitigate it was to be it.... which is a bit 'dark' because your focus becomes entrained to the ebb and flow of the pain rather then environmental perception, like normally. The downside is it is exhausting to hold a fire hose, and takes a while to get used to, but the upside is you stop feeling under assault and view it instead as taking advantage of the situation. Which then can lead to a type of focus which promotes learning about the pain in a new way which 'might' in some cases facilitate finding a way to actually address the source of the pain, viewing it as a sign leading to something tangible rather then a symptom needing covering up to cope. While that might not be possible in all cases, it is a form of being positive to the potential of being surprised by what the future might reveal, a chance to learn by experiencing.... there is no ignorance, there is knowledge. A trial of sorts, but sometimes the reality is there is no reward at the end so instead try to make the journey at least useful and be open to the unlimited unknowns the future can hold ie do the best you can now to be ready for changing as soon as you can when your able to make your circumstance better. That is sort of how I ended up trying to deal with it, and luckily stumbled across the most mundane set of solutions to address its root cause and remove the source of the pain.

I think about opiates and alcohol, then I get some and put them in my body.


I also try to work out what pain will kill me (like kit said - know the why of particular pains)

If it goes into the "Only symptom is pain" basket, then I just get on with it. You can never really second-guess someone else's pain, but I have a reasonable tolerance for my own, so once I'm satisfied that it is not a "DANGER! THINGS ARE GOING BAD!" pain, then it's not a huge issue. The physical pain is still there, but there are no mental alarm bells, so it's not as much of a distraction.


If it IS the warning sort of pain, I suppose the best thing to do is, I don't know, stop pushing an electric drill through your foot, or whatever it is you are doing that is causing the pain.
(That works as well as a metaphor as it does a literal instruction not to drill holes in your feet)

both types of pain, mental and physical

thanks everyone so far for the great help

It looks like you've received a lot of information that might help you in your practice so I won't overload you with too much more. I guess the number one thing I would suggest is to really think about what you would like to achieve from your particular mediation session. When I first started, I was amazed at all the various styles that could be offered and I was anxious to try each of them. You will find some that work for certain states of mind and some you will find aren't the right style for you; but ultimately, it starts by looking within yourself and trying to establish that "point." If you only want to reduce pain, you could look into alternative sitting or laying down methods that might ease the stress on your joints. I have osteoarthritis in both of my knees and I find comfort in performing the body-scanning techniques while laying down in bed. Pick a color that you love and that brings you warmth and comfort and just trace the outlines of your physical body!

As far as emotional pain goes, there are lots of techniques out there. Compassion, empathy, and vulnerability are your best friends.

If you have any more questions I am always open to talking. Happy Thursday!