Category Archives: Living with Pain - Page 2

Meditating the Pain Away

Posted by on May 3, 2008 Comments Off

A few years ago we went to South Carolina in a Hilton Head rental. We stayed for a week and a half and I loved it. It was the best vacation I’d ever had. We had immediate access to a private beach, a pool and spent a lot of time strolling along the walking paths (like a sidewalk but different). Being so close to the ocean was calming for me and so I use my memories from there for meditation purposes.

There are many health benefits of meditation which include but are not limited to:

  • Stress reduction

    Meditating properly helps bring stress chemicals down to normal levels, eases anxiety, and for some people even cures phobias.

    Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex – brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety.[source]

  • Decreases blood pressure

    See Above for why.

  • Decreases muscle tension which can reduce the frequency and severity of headaches

    Learning to recognize muscle tension through meditation is an excellent way of controlling chronic pain. Many people suffer from tension (stress) headaches and proper meditation can reduce that.

  • Increases self-awareness

    This can help with problem solving and issues with low self-confidence. Most meditation requires that you remove all thought from your mind and float in “nothing”. Because of emotional conflicts, the practitioner is forced to deal with issues s/he wasn’t aware of previously. Then the brain follows paths to a resolution to these conflicts, leading to higher levels of self-confidence. [source]

How Do I Do It?

Depending on what you read regarding meditation you are either supposed to empty your mind and completely relax or focus on something that relaxes you. It’s almost impossible for me to completely empty my mind. Just thinking about emptying my mind causes me to think about something. Obviously that method doesn’t work for me. And it may not work for you. My method may not work for you either, so take that into consideration if you try it.

First, I make sure that I have absolute solitude. I cannot be disturbed during my meditation. Because I’m a mom and wife, I have to make sure there’s no one home and the dog is outside. I go into a room with no phone and no television. Nothing to distract me from my meditation time.

Then, I put on a CD of sounds of nature. I particularly like the sounds of thunderstorms or waves breaking in the ocean. I try to limit the sounds of animals as they can be too distracting for me. I place a folded blanket on the floor and sit cross-legged on that. Then I close my eyes.

This is when I go back to Hilton Head. It’s a more complex type of meditation than what you may have read about elsewhere. With my eyes closed I imagine the blue sky above me. Then, if I’m using the ocean CD, I imagine looking toward the shore with the waves crashing against the sand. I imagine the smell of a salty breeze and the feel of fine sand under my legs. I use my mind’s eye to walk me from one sensation to the next until all of my senses are utilized.

When I’m at a place where I can almost believe I’m really on that beach in Hilton Head, I start to really relax. I start by relaxing the muscles on the top of my head and work my way down to my toes. I mentally find every muscle that is being used and relax it just enough (I don’t want to fall asleep or fall over). This is amazingly useful in finding those trouble spots that you didn’t know were troublesome. I imagine that each muscle is being smoothed over by a warm breeze. I do this for each part of my body, including my face and, yes, my ears.

Finally I’m completely relaxed and I let myself “walk” down the beach. When I was physically in Hilton Head, the early morning was the best time of day for me. I could walk on that beach and not be bothered by anyone- save for the occasional jogger. Since I was the only one in my family who enjoyed these walks, I was left alone with myself and Mother Nature. It was peaceful and I was completely content. It was a near-perfect experience for me. And so, when I meditate I take myself back there.

Today there is much emphasis on medications to ease your mind and calm your body. Many people still scoff at the “New Age” practice of meditation1 and refuse to contemplate it. But when you’ve exhausted the options modern medicine offers for stress-relief and pain management, meditation is really something to consider. Because, believe it or not, it really works.

  1. Though meditation has been practiced for centuries in Eastern cultures [↩]

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Posted by on February 4, 2008 Comments Off

I was just floating around, trying to… I’m not really sure. At any rate, I came across this forum thread wherein the original poster announced s/he believes her/his sister-in-law is a huge fraud. There were a lot of responses, but this is my favorite and I want to post it here for my own future reference.

Your first sentence was enough. Those of us who have to deal with Fibromyalgia everyday eventually just cut people like you out of our lives for good.

What makes you think she DOESN’T have it?
Why do you care what she does all day?

You say she uses it as an excuse not to get off her “big backside”. what is that all about? Are you perfect? Do you think if she weren’t big as you say she would feel better?
She is probably afraid to get up and do something because she knows it will cause her pain. Something that is simple and done without thought for others like, chopping vegetables, vacuuming, washing the floor etc. can put us into agony. We avoid it because we are in pain, then on a “good” day which some one else already described to you as horrible we have to decide if we should try to do something that could put us into bed and tears for a week or more or try to let it go and enjoy the fact that we can move around a bit.

usually out of guilt we choose to do whatever it is that needs to be done, Then when we can’t so much as walk from the bed to the bathroom without exrutiating pain and we can’t keep our eyes open yet we can’t sleep either We have to deal with someone like you who thinks we are lazy.

We are not lazy, we don’t want to sit home while everyone else is out and about, we don’t want to miss special events. We don’t want to have to ask you to help zipper the kids jackets because last night we made you dinner that involved chopping something and now our hands don’t work!

We learn to not make plans in advance so as not to dissapoint and if that’s not possible we either push it or we do dissapoint.

We cannot just live spontaniously-we must always consider what the price will be that we know we will have to pay for doing something you take for granted. We don’t WANT to dissapoint our children because we can’t help out in their class trip that we volunteered for a month ago because the day we said yes was “good” day. I could go on and on but hey it’s actually PAINFUL to type for this long. Dealing with attitudes such as your is also very painful. I really feel for your sister in law. I am so glad she is not married to you which brings me back to-What do you care? Really, if you can’t accept it, why not just leave her alone? You say you have a bad back? and you hate it when people say they do? We WISH we had a bad back and hate it when you think it can even compare. [kdel]

(I’ve cleaned up the paragraph structure a little to make it easier to read.)

Low Impact Exercises to Get Your Blood Flowing

Posted by on January 10, 2008 Comments Off

I woke up this morning feeling better than I have in ages. Unfortunately my rash is back. I’m pretty sure this all has to do with the wonderful weather we’re having here in Southeastern Ohio and I’m so thankful for it. I’m going to take some time today and get out of this house. And hopefully burn some of Mags’ engery. :)

We have some old bar stools in the basement and I’m considering bringing those up so I can do some stretching exercises. Low impact, low stress exercises are recommended to keep the fatigue and pain at bay. Start out slow to adjust to any new workout routine, and don’t overdo it. Otherwise, if you’re like me, the next day you’ll feel it in bones you didn’t even use.

What kind of exercises make me feel better?

Stretching

The bar stools will be good in stretching my back without hurting my knees and/or elbows. If you have something similar- high chairs or counters that are relatively close to each other- you can use them. Make sure to place your chairs close enough together that you’re not going to fall down trying this and far enough away that you actually get some benefit. Simply place one leg as high as you can on one stool (or chair), turn to the other top, place your hands on the top and lean into your hands. You do this with both sides. Do it slowly and far enough that you feel some stretching. You’ll wake up your muscles and help them remember that they are useful for something.

Walking

Another good exercise is walking. Of course, you’ve heard this all before, so what am I going to tell you that’s new? Nothing. It’s important for both your bones and muscles to be active. For people suffering with chronic pain, I’m certainly not going to advocate running or power walking. That would take too much out of you. But a gentle stroll around town for about an hour will do your body good. You’ll absorb some much need vitamins from the sun, get fresh air, and get the blood flowing properly through your muscles. It’s also good for your spirit to get out in the world and be a part of it. Many people with chronic illness spend way too much time cooped up indoors, so getting out is incredibly beneficial. Oh! And if it’s raining just take an umbrella. Rain is good for your soul too.

Dancing

Another thing that I like to do (and something which I did a little of yesterday) is dancing. You don’t have to do the hip-hop thing or be a prima ballerina. Just get a groove going and let out a little sweat. You know which moves will cause you the most pain and which will invigorate you- and if you don’t you will after a couple of days of this – so get with it! I do some Salsa dancing with Mags (to the tunes of Fisher Price Little People on CD) and get a little sweat going. It’s nice and she has tons of fun. A good half hour of this will do the trick and maybe even raise your spirits. If you’re body-conscious then close the door and do it alone. You’ll like it and might make it a habit.

Yoga

Low impact yoga is something else that I do. I don’t do this often because Mags and the pooch think that floor time is play time and so I don’t get much done with them around, but you can find one or two days a week to fit this in and it could be beneficial. I use the beginners version every time. If I get more advanced, the poses get more painful, and I pay for it the next day. I’m trying to fight off the fatigue, not send myself into episodes (“flares” to most people).

Yoga is an excellent way to learn deep breathing and relaxation techniques, which are also beneficial in fighting chronic pain and fatigue. As you stretch and bend you have to take deep, cleansing breaths and that can carry over into other aspects of life as stress relievers.

Not For Losing Weight

I don’t do these exercises to lose weight. For that you need cardio exercises and sweating and pain (for me- ultimately). My body can’t take that. However, you should see some weight loss benefits if you couple these low-impact exercises with a healthy diet. You won’t get the results you see on “The Biggest Loser” though and it’s important that folks with chronic pain and fatigue realize that. Slow but steady wins the race and makes us healthier, but not dramatically thinner.

I’ve basically given up going to the gym, walking fast and trying to lose that last 30 pounds quickly. I can’t handle too much activity. I certainly can’t handle getting sweaty for an hour three times a week. Nope, I take it slow and easy, which helps me fight the fatigue and be a part of my family again.

That’s my goal.

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