Last week I was out of commission with a minor arm surgery.
Nothing serious, they just removed a bulging vein from my left arm, but it made it near impossible to type so I took the week off. I have to admit it drove me a little buggy just being at the house all week. And I had to keep it elevated, so I didn’t feel very productive.
I did however get the chance to try out my Self Hypnosis Pain Techniques. I actually did try the pain medication the doctor prescribed, but it made me nauseous and dizzy – so it was a good opportunity to try the pain relief skills and tools out on myself and see what results I got.
Now don’t let the simplicity of them fool you, although they are very simple they can be very effective – and work very quickly as well.
Pain Relief Quick Tip #1:
My favorite quick and easy pain relief technique turned out to be sitting quietly and actually focusing on the pain, and breathing into it.
On a scale of 1-10, (10 being high) it took it from a level 7 to a level 3.
This may seem counter intuitive as typically we try to distract ourselves from pain. We try to put it out of our mind and focus on something else.
But as I focused on the pain, breathed in and imagined breathing out through the area of pain in my arm it dissipated. More than manageable, I came to a place of Beingness with it. The pain subsided as I just sat with it and focused on it for about 5 minutes.
Pain is an alert that something is wrong. It’s the body’s way of saying ‘something needs your attention.’ When we honor the body by giving it the attention, it doesn’t have to keep sending the signal.
Pain Relief Quick Tip #2:
And then of course there is also the technique of focusing on the pain. Imagine looking through your body and see the pain. What shape is it? What color is it? Really notice it and be aware of its borders and edges and then imagine making it round. Once its round, shrink it smaller and smaller – down to the size of a marble, smaller and smaller, down to the size of a pea, smaller and smaller, down to the head of a pin, to the point of a pin until its a tiny spark of light and then pass it out of your body and into the ground to be recycled.
This classic technique tells your unconscious mind that you are aware of the pain (answering the alert signal), it also tells your mind to reduce the pain and run a healing program on the area.
I think I was a little more impatient with this technique and so it didn’t have the stress relief element that the first technique did. But after I tried this technique a few times, it did seem to shift, but with almost a delayed reaction.
NLP Pain Relief Quick Tip #3:
Don’t call it pain.
This one might sound too simple to be effective. But if you’ve heard me speak before about the power of your mind it actually makes a lot of sense. Our unconscious mind is listening all the time. Language has the power to focus our mind and our awareness. The P word signals your brain to be more aware of pain, notice it more and focus on it. Instead call using the P word, refer to it as an ‘discomfort’ or use a scale of 1-10 to talk about your ‘comfort level.’
NLP Stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming which studies how the brain codes information to create our daily experience – and how to use that information to make shifts in our mental habits and patterns quickly and effectively.
Related post: You may also enjoy the One Minute Headache Cure technique as well. Which offers a more interactive approach to pain relief by working with your unconscious mind.
And then of course, I created the Hypnosis CD: Enhancing Your Body’s Ability to Self Heal which takes you through a guided process of focusing your mind and attention through your body for stress relief, pain reduction and speed healing. For details visit the Hypnosis CD store here
There can also be underlying mental patterns aggravating your ‘P ‘ levels such as stress, and other mental habits which can be operating at the unconscious level. Find out more about Health Coaching here
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