I have chronic daily pain, and have finally just begun to apply spiritual methods to help my psyche cope with the pain. What ideas can you offer me that will help me grow further in this area? I already use meditation, for example, but sometimes it is very hard to concentrate while in chronic pain. What spiritual practices can help me further?

I am actually asking this question not only for myself. I am a Reiki Healer, but there may be people out there who do not know what to do spiritually when faced with chronic pain. My Reiki sometimes fails me, too. So I would appreciate the input I will receive here. Thanks!

Jai

asked 07 Dec '09, 13:20

Jaianniah's gravatar image

Jaianniah
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edited 07 Dec '09, 17:57


Meditation produces pleasure hormones known as endorphins that give a sense of happiness and well being while blocking pain.

Other benefits of meditation:

  • Decreased anxiety.
  • Decreased depression.
  • Decreased irritability and moodiness.
  • Improved learning ability and memory.
  • Increased self-actualization.
  • Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
  • Increased happiness.
  • Increased emotional stability.

As someone who experiences a significant amount of pain on an ongoing basis, your practice of meditation may be deeper and more prolonged than the average person. I would just encourage you to keep up the practice. Relax into it. Concentration can be good, but sometimes it can get in the way of the process. Meditation should be a process of letting go and of release, especially of the pain.

Another technique which will help is visualization. If you can get the balance right, visualization will allow you to treat the pain directly by replacing it with something else. What that something is depends on what resonates most with you. Maybe it's bathing your body in white light, or imagining some place that is particularly pleasant and meaningful to you.

Your brain is totally capable of releasing the pain, if you can train it.

Ask your doctor about a TENS unit. It's not appropriate for everyone, but it might help you.

link

answered 07 Dec '09, 15:06

Vesuvius's gravatar image

Vesuvius
32.7k1165201

edited 07 Dec '09, 16:48

Thank you for a well fleshed-out answer. I know it will not only help me, but many other people, too. Blessings, Jai

(07 Dec '09, 17:59) Jaianniah

Chronic pain implies chronic resistance i.e. habitual thought patterns that are continually holding you in a place of resistance.

Once you release those chronically resistant thought patterns, the pain will vanish by itself as you bounce back naturally into a state of vibrant health.

I would echo Rani's support of EFT. I find EFT to be a highly effective and quick resistance neutralizer. Having used EFT for a few years, the one downside to it I find is that you generally need to be fairly clear about what it is that is bothering you in order to neutralize it.

However, with chronic resistance, it is sometimes possible to become so used to the resistance that you no longer recognize it is actually there. It is a bit like wearing a pair of new leather shoes before you have broken them in properly. Even though they are just as painful at the end of the day than when you put them on at the start, you have grown so used to the pain that you no longer notice it until you take them off again.

An alternative resistance neutralizer which I have found effective in the past, and which doesn't require you to consciously acknowledge your problem, is ZPoint. There is a free ZPoint tutorial here. Also, on the ZPoint website is a book that describes a wonderful additional process called Erase The Tape. Unfortunately, the book that contains the process isn't free but is available from here fairly cheaply.

Another resistance neutralizer that has been popularized recently by Joe Vitale is Ho'oponopono. Joe Vitale is quite a determined internet marketer and his book Zero Limits and the various associated courses are certainly not free and the live seminars seem quite expensive for what the information actually is.

However, I notice that one enterprising individual has combined Erase The Tape and Ho'oponopono into one process at this website. It shouldn't be too hard to get an idea of what the two processes involve from there ;)

Also, because changing chronic resistance is really just the same as changing long-standing beliefs (beliefs are just habitual thoughts), the processes in this question on changing ingrained beliefs are all valid.

link

answered 10 Dec '09, 12:47

Stingray's gravatar image

Stingray
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edited 10 Dec '09, 13:07

Thank you for all the info. I would like to point out that I had a flesh-eating bacteria eat my right knee and leg...I did NOT ask the Universe for this to happen! I cannot think away the damage, the physical, actual damage, that it has caused to my leg. I have pain, and I spend a lot of time doing other things so as to not focus on the pain. Some people just have conditions that one cannot "think" away! Type I diabetes is an example. Cystic fibrosis is another. I can use your info to help, but not eliminate, my problem. I thank you for that! Blessings, Jai

(10 Dec '09, 23:03) Jaianniah
2

You're welcome, Jai. Your statement that there are conditions that one cannot "think" away certainly seems quite definite. I wonder who decides where the line is drawn between those things you can "think" away and those things you cannot?

(11 Dec '09, 00:00) Stingray

There are a variety of healing methods and as you have mentioned one of them is Reiki which I have practiced to some extent in the past.

EFT is another technique which can be used for any kind of healing. It is a very easy technique to pick up but the benefits are astonishing. Refer to some of the answers on the site here which will give you a bit more information on EFT.

I have moved away from EFT now as the root of all physical pain originates from negative emotions and I have found that by applying techniques to feel better, you can avoid a situation of pain. This is where some of the processes for well being taught by Abraham Hicks come in.

link

answered 08 Dec '09, 12:52

Pink%20Diamond's gravatar image

Pink Diamond
29.2k84183

although it is considered an old-fashioned response pain, whether physical or mental, can be seen as one of several things. no.1 a test in order to challenge your belief in god. thus forcing one to have to rely on his mercy no.2 to help cleanse the soul and teach it humility or even to level out a raging ego-take your pick

link

answered 13 Dec '09, 23:15

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eleanor sawitsky
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