Pain and Acceptance
Pain. You know the feeling-all of us do. But what is it? Where does it come from and what should we do with it? It seems almost an instinct that as soon as it appears we want to get rid of it.
The reality of having a body is that it’s going to break down. Pain, illness, and death are all natural aspects of being alive, and while there’s a lot we can do to improve our health and care for the body, the fact remains it’s going to have a problem from time to time. For example falling sick with a cold once a year is quite a normal thing, it’s good for our body to have a rest and our immune system to have some work to do.
But, back to pain for a moment. In Chinese medicine pain arises from a range of factors-usually indicating a deeper disharmony. There might be physical trauma, dysfunction of the flow of fluid and blood, stagnation of food, heat or inflammation, cold or insufficient circulation, all of which way be stemming from an even deeper issue.
Pain is a messenger from the mind to tell us-stop. Stop what you’re doing and pay attention. Sore neck and shoulder-why are you carrying so much tension? What stress is making you tense up. How’s your posture, your breathing? Stomach pain and bloating-what are you eating, how much and how quickly?
Pain in itself is just a sensation. Sharp, dull, stabbing, aching, warm, cold, heavy, tight-it doesn’t matter exactly what sensation, it’s just sensation. The suffering of pain is that we don’t want to feel it. And fair enough-pain, particularly intense pain or even just chronic pain, the pain that you feel on a daily basis can really impact on our mental health. Not just because it hurts, but because of all the mental suffering that arises in response to the pain. The stress and tension, the worry, and fear around why the pain is there, what could be wrong to cause the pain, and how much worse will it get?
Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t do something about your pain. But first, you have to accept that it’s there. And how do you do that? Well, to accept something is to do nothing. When the sun rises in the sky you don’t try and push it away, or cover it with clouds. You just see the sun.
To accept pain is to do nothing with it. Just notice it’s there without trying to get rid of it. Approach it with curiosity. Notice the clenching of your body-the jaw, neck, shoulders and back, even the chest can brace when we don’t want to feel something. Take a breath and watch the sensation of pain. Feel it and notice where there is no pain in the body as well. Don’t try to get rid of it, or cling to it. There’s no need for now to figure out why it’s there, or what you need to do.
The real suffering in pain is our resistance to it. In all the thoughts our mind creates as to why it’s there, and the list of things that are going to go wrong, or could be wrong with us. In the anger and frustration at feeling the pain and wanting it to go. For chronic pain this is so important in building a relationship with pain. From acceptance we gain the power to act from a place of wanting to understand why the body is in pain so that we can return it to a state of balance.
I know what it’s like to be in pain, and I love helping clients find ease and freedom in their bodies. If you or someone close to you is experiencing the following signs:
Daily back, neck, shoulder and or abdominal pain and tightness
Wants to feel comfortable and relaxed in their body
Wants to understand the cause of their body from a holistic, whole-body and mind perspective
Then I’m here to help. I’m currently working with clients, offering advice, acupuncture treatments and mindfulness tips tailored to your individual needs.
