mind/body interaction

Suffering and Gratitude

by Jonathan

Over the years I’ve seen people in tremendous pain and suffering. What struck me most though, was how some of them managed to keep a part of themselves free from suffering, almost as if they were above it all, and were able to still feel a joy in life.

One memory comes to mind – I knew a lady who was dying of cancer, but she’d bought her nephew a teddy bear for his birthday. She was so happy to wrap it and give it to him, and in that moment her face was transformed – beautiful and completely free of suffering.

To me this expressed perfectly the miracle of humanity – that although we can’t avoid suffering, we are able to rise above it, and in this rising above, we become truly compassionate and free human beings.

So today I was thinking about Thanksgiving, and the relationship between gratitude and suffering. For me, gratitude is one of the most powerful healing emotions.

If we are somehow able to feel gratitude for something – despite every problem in our lives, that gives us the power to stop the negative emotions that come with suffering and begin to heal – body and mind.

So I wish you all a Thanksgiving filled with gratitude, hope, love and healing.

- Jonathan

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Chronic Pain and Mindset

by Jonathan

This was a fascinating story that happened a couple of years ago. It got me thinking about the relationship between pain and attention, and what a powerful and life changing tool it can be. In this case, it worked because the lady’s injury had healed, but the pain remained.

Therefore the problem was not in her back, but in her pain perception system. And this happens in a surprisingly large number of people with chronic pain.

And carefully monitoring your attention can help even people who have ongoing disorders that cause chronic pain. Our mind is the driver of our body, and our attention is like a filter – it controls what we feel.

So the questions arises – is it possible to change our reality through how we perceive it? Answering this question can lead you down some fascinating paths.

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The Mind Body Connection – Pain Management 7

This is the final piece in this talk – I believe the effect of a positive mental attitude when you’re managing pain is crucial. In the final analysis, you are the one who decided where to put your attention – onto the pain, or in another direction. This text will be replaced

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Fear, Trigger Points & Chronic Pain

Did you know that FEAR is the major negative emotion that feeds and drives chronic trigger point pain? Fear of hurting yourself will stop you doing the most important thing for your healing. This most important thing is to allow yourself to move freely. Once you begin to move more freely, you can take up [...]

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Chronic Myofascial Pain & Being Active

When you have chronic myofascial pain, often the simplest movements will hurt. But if you listen to this pain and cut back on your normal activities, the pain will often get worse. This starts a vicious cycle. You do less because of the pain, so you lose physical fitness. When this happens, your muscles lose power and keeping your [...]

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Do Bulging Discs Cause Chronic Back Pain?

Thanks…this is some great info. my main problem is that I’m also coupled with some type of chronic fatigue and 2 bulging discs in my lower back I’ve been battling for the last 13yrs or so which has limited my activity and everything only seems to be getting worse. I’m getting no help from doctors [...]

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The new TV Heroine.

I have been intrigued & somewhat saddened by the emergence of a particular type of woman in many popular TV shows including CSI, many other cop & legal programs. She is smart. She is skinny, tough and tense. She tends to have a cutting edge to her voice and to her language. Often she lacks [...]

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