None of us would choose our chronic pain. I would get rid of these migraines in a second if given the opportunity. Yet many of us have, through our pain, discovered spiritual learning, a kind of deepening that we might not have come to left to ourselves. There exists an interaction between pain and spirit that is symbiotic: pain informing spirit and spirit informing pain.
My first experience of this symbiosis occurred when I began trying progressive (or deep muscle) relaxation in an effort to cope with migraine pain untouched by medications. The practice, developed in the 1920s by Dr. Edmond Jacobson, uses consciously produced muscle tension then conscious relaxation of those muscles to achieve a tension- and stress-reducing relaxed physical state. It often begins with instructions to curl your toes as hard as you can … hold for a few seconds … relax, then proceeds to the feet, calves, thighs, and so on until the entire body is quiet, peaceful.
Practicing progressive relaxation helps me deal with chronic pain by relaxing muscles unconsciously tight under the stress of the pain. It changes bodily systems. I breathe more deeply and slowly. My heart beat seems quieter and slower. Often the release of stressed energy in my body induces tears of relief that also seem to be a healing expression of the emotional pain that accompanies living with chronic pain. The pain of the migraine is still present, but somehow less significant.
At the time I started relaxation technique, I had been meditating for a number of years as part of my spiritual practice. I’d always had trouble settling and quieting my mind. I’d long assumed distraction would remain a major component of my meditation. But during those early trials with progressive relaxation as I lay on the bed in my darkened room, meditation simply happened, and in a way that had not been possible for me before.
Amazed, I began paying attention to a positive aspect of living with chronic pain.
I know. Who would put those two phrases – positive aspect and chronic pain – in the same sentence? Yet at the point at which I became aware of this helpful interaction between pain management practice and spiritual practice, I was tired of complaining, of wishing my life were different. Tired of getting upset so often about having to stay home in a dark, quiet room rather than meet my friend for lunch or go to the party I’d been looking forward to. Tired of being tired of. The realization came when I was ready for it to come.
It’s a choice, isn’t it? I can choose to allow the restrictions on my life to upset me and make me tense, stressed and depressed. Or I can choose to accept the inevitable (pain) and then embrace the positive (emotional and spiritual growth). Acceptance, of course, comes first. There is no finding the positive in pain until its presence is accepted.
That unexpected doorway to meditation that I found in deep relaxation practice was serendipitous. I was lucky that it happened, and that it happened when I was already taking a look at my life and becoming unsatisfied with how I handled living with chronic pain.
Since I began to explore this interaction between my spirit/emotion and pain, I have learned some very helpful things:
* Simply accepting that pain is part of my life reduces stress and tension, thereby eliminating emotions that only make pain worse;
* Accepting pain rather than fighting it opens my heart and spirit to allow learning and growth;
* An open heart and spirit spill over into other aspects of my life and carve out in me a place for peace and joy;
* These lessons learned from pain are life lessons.
I hope this doesn’t sound preachy. I ascribe to no particular religion or spirituality. The body-mind-spirit connection of pain management strategies has really just happened: I have no degree, I’ve conducted no learned study. I have only my own experience of the journey toward the ability to live well with pain. I am grateful for it.
And I’d still give up this migraine pain in a heartbeat if I could.
My first experience of this symbiosis occurred when I began trying progressive (or deep muscle) relaxation in an effort to cope with migraine pain untouched by medications. The practice, developed in the 1920s by Dr. Edmond Jacobson, uses consciously produced muscle tension then conscious relaxation of those muscles to achieve a tension- and stress-reducing relaxed physical state. It often begins with instructions to curl your toes as hard as you can … hold for a few seconds … relax, then proceeds to the feet, calves, thighs, and so on until the entire body is quiet, peaceful.
Practicing progressive relaxation helps me deal with chronic pain by relaxing muscles unconsciously tight under the stress of the pain. It changes bodily systems. I breathe more deeply and slowly. My heart beat seems quieter and slower. Often the release of stressed energy in my body induces tears of relief that also seem to be a healing expression of the emotional pain that accompanies living with chronic pain. The pain of the migraine is still present, but somehow less significant.
At the time I started relaxation technique, I had been meditating for a number of years as part of my spiritual practice. I’d always had trouble settling and quieting my mind. I’d long assumed distraction would remain a major component of my meditation. But during those early trials with progressive relaxation as I lay on the bed in my darkened room, meditation simply happened, and in a way that had not been possible for me before.
Amazed, I began paying attention to a positive aspect of living with chronic pain.
I know. Who would put those two phrases – positive aspect and chronic pain – in the same sentence? Yet at the point at which I became aware of this helpful interaction between pain management practice and spiritual practice, I was tired of complaining, of wishing my life were different. Tired of getting upset so often about having to stay home in a dark, quiet room rather than meet my friend for lunch or go to the party I’d been looking forward to. Tired of being tired of. The realization came when I was ready for it to come.
It’s a choice, isn’t it? I can choose to allow the restrictions on my life to upset me and make me tense, stressed and depressed. Or I can choose to accept the inevitable (pain) and then embrace the positive (emotional and spiritual growth). Acceptance, of course, comes first. There is no finding the positive in pain until its presence is accepted.
That unexpected doorway to meditation that I found in deep relaxation practice was serendipitous. I was lucky that it happened, and that it happened when I was already taking a look at my life and becoming unsatisfied with how I handled living with chronic pain.
Since I began to explore this interaction between my spirit/emotion and pain, I have learned some very helpful things:
* Simply accepting that pain is part of my life reduces stress and tension, thereby eliminating emotions that only make pain worse;
* Accepting pain rather than fighting it opens my heart and spirit to allow learning and growth;
* An open heart and spirit spill over into other aspects of my life and carve out in me a place for peace and joy;
* These lessons learned from pain are life lessons.
I hope this doesn’t sound preachy. I ascribe to no particular religion or spirituality. The body-mind-spirit connection of pain management strategies has really just happened: I have no degree, I’ve conducted no learned study. I have only my own experience of the journey toward the ability to live well with pain. I am grateful for it.
And I’d still give up this migraine pain in a heartbeat if I could.
