Living with Pain – An
Inner Exploration
by Jim Cunningham, P.T. and Marion Gilbert, P.T.
Pain. We have all experienced
it in one form or another. It is a natural stimulus that teaches
our body there may be something harmful inside or in our surrounding
environment. Sometimes it is acute, meaning it is specific to
one area, and may not last any considerable length of time. Other
times, it is chronic and can lead to many other emotional and
physical sensations like tension, fatigue, and depression. Regardless,
it is generally considered a discomfort and an unpleasant sensation
that many people experience every day.
The modern world considers
pain an enemy that must be eradicated. When this cultural belief
combines with the body’s automatic reflex of tension and
fear, it creates a kind of desperation in people to find an immediate
fix. Yet with all of the designer drugs, the skillful manual
healers, the advances in surgery, and the specialized pain clinics,
it appears that just as many people suffer from pain as ever.
Perhaps it is time to ask the
question: Is pain an “enemy” that we each should
have to experience and live with throughout the rest of our life?
Realistically speaking, we
need pain to survive. It warns us of potentially harmful situations.
It teaches us what to avoid. For example, it teaches a child
not to touch a hot stove. However, some children are born with
a condition that prevents any pain sensation. These children
spend their short lives followed around by their parents who
try to keep them from breaking bones, burning themselves or doing
something to cause internal bleeding. Clearly, we need pain in
our survival feedback system.
Unfortunately, pain does not
always go away after it has given us its message. Persistent
pain starts to evoke responses in our body to withdraw, run from,
cover up, control, superimpose, deny, and hide. Medication can
be an option, but side effects like liver damage, gastrointestinal
disorders, addiction, and loss of mental clarity become worse
than the pain itself. Constantly managing pain or trying to make
it go away with various techniques can become exhausting. And
ignoring pain often leads to further injury.
Stephen Levine and other pioneers
in this field have found that it is not the pain sensations themselves
that cause our suffering so much as the resistance to the sensations.
Our natural inclination is to tighten around the pain. We then
touch our pain with emotions such as fear, anger, impatience,
even hatred. Not only do we resist the unpleasant sensations,
but we resist feeling and doing what we need to accomplish in
all areas of our lives. No wonder we suffer so much.
Resistance does not bow out
easily. It is deeply built into our physical, psychological,
and cultural conditioning. But if we are able to recognize
it and deeply feel it, then the exploration can begin. In doing
so, we can begin to soften around the pain. By touching it
with mercy and compassion, we neither ignore it nor pretend
it is the only experience around.
Through a lot of practice
and skillful use of attention, we can surrender (not resign)
ourselves to the sensation and reconnect with our inner body
awareness. By reestablishing the trust and respect for our
bodies, we can also surrender to what is true in our lives.
This path will lead to setting boundaries that aid in our healing,
discontinuing patters of behavior that are unkind to ourselves,
opening to our loved ones about what we are feeling, increasing
our intuition, and feeling more pleasure. And through this,
pain then becomes our teacher.
Jim Cunningham, P.T.
and Marion Gilbert, P.T. facilitate a six-week (once a week) exploration
into transforming your relationship with pain. It is a body-based
experiential course for those who suffer with pain. The next
series begins Tuesday, October 19th from 7:00 – 8:45
p.m. For more information and to register, please call (530)
274-2320.
