Pain Means Absolutely Nothing

[G.R.]

I am learning that TMS pain and symptoms mean absolutely nothing. My experience has been
that I could be in intense pain like in the middle of the night last night and then this morning
I decided I was still going to exercise (taking a long walk). I had minimal pain while walking.
Then, I went to the grocery store and after about 10 minutes the pain started to intensify.
I would not give in and kept shopping for another 10 minutes. The pain was still there but
I would not give in. Then, I went to another grocery store and I had minimal pain but by
the time I got to my car the pain was intense. No rhyme or reason.

Alan Gordon has a great article about not measuring success by pain. I highly recommend
reading it. I am learning that my success has nothing to do with whether I have pain or not;
but like Alan Gordon explains success is when your not measuring the outcome by whether
or not you have pain. Success is when you don't care whether you have pain or not. That surely takes the fear component out of the equation.

Has anyone has this same experience or can anyone comment on this?
G.R.

 

[Ellen]

I think the key is the ability to suspend judgement--this is probably the key to everything we experience, but especially with pain or other physical symptoms. If I can just experience pain as another physical sensation without all the judgments about it being wrong that it's there, that I don't deserve this, that it means something horrible and tragic is wrong with me, that it's ruining my life......and so on. Then I'm just left with a sensation and, well...peace of mind.

So when pain is disrupting my peace of mind, I use a guided meditation that helps me focus on the physical sensations in a neutral, non-judgmental way. And miraculously this often results in the pain leaving and my peace of mind returning. I've read the descriptions of other forum members who use similar methods.

 

[Edward]

Cheers for both your posts. G.R yep I had the same realization as you just today. Was playing some guitar and getting really tight and in pain. I pretty quickly clicked that there is no reason to for me to hate my pain and that we are not enemies and that my minds just doing crazy things at the moment. Cheers Ellen for your advice

 

[G.R.]

Thanks Edward for the confirmation.

Ellen, your words are so encouraging. I am so learning to realize the physical sensations are nothing serious; nothing for me to be concerned about.
May I ask what type of guided meditation do you use? Any other suggestions?
G.R.

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

When I walked and went grocery shopping and felt pain, I just told myself,
"You can do whatever you set your mind to. It's a piece of cake."
That mantra is my guided meditation. Try it or find one that helps you.

Not a very scientific reply, but I tend to prefer one I can understand.
Most of the psychological stuff on healing is over my head.

 

[Ellen]

Thanks Edward for the confirmation.

Ellen, your words are so encouraging. I am so learning to realize the physical sensations are nothing serious; nothing for me to be concerned about.
May I ask what type of guided meditation do you use? Any other suggestions?
G.R.

G.R.,
Unfortunately, the guided meditation I use (called Soften and Flow) is in a program I purchased maybe 6 years ago or so called "The Gupta Advanced CFS/ME Recovery Programme". So it is copyrighted or I would just post the the mp3 of it, as I think it's quite good. Actually, it's the only thing I still use from that program, which was rather expensive. Hopefully, someone else on this forum knows of a guided meditation that assists in experiencing one's physical symptoms in a neutral, non-judgmental way that is free or available to purchase inexpensively.

The challenge for me is to actually stop and meditate or journal when the pain shows up. Sometimes I leave it unattended too long, and then it takes longer to get rid of it. I suppose this is a form of mindfulness that requires awareness of what is occurring in one's mindbody and the willingness to stop and be present here and now. I am better at it some days than others and am still very much a beginner.