A Healing Response to Pain

Mindfulness Practice and Pain

When you’re in emotional pain, do you resist it, ignore it, or try to push it away? Those are all very common reactions to pain, but as Cindy Ricardo explains in this month’s Good Therapy blog, there’s a more healing and compassionate way to respond to our pain.[1]The author explains how the pain itself isn’t the worst thing?rather, it’s the way we react to the pain that can rob of us our energy and distract us from responding in ways that could actually help. Without mindfulness and compassion for ourselves and the pain we’re experiencing, we can blow it out of proportion, worry, obsess about what happened, and futilely try to figure out how to make it go away.If these ineffective reactions to pain go unchecked, they can morph into more serious problems such as addictions, distractions, or unhealthy mind state, which will add to the pain and create deep suffering.[2]I encourage you to read the article for yourself and learn to become aware of when and how you’re reacting to or resisting pain, which is the first step to responding to it. The author gives several good tips on using simple mindfulness techniques that can transform your relationship to pain, and help you stay present to the both the challenges of life and all of life’s joys and sorrows.Peace,Dr. Pamm   [1] Cindy Ricardo, “A Healing Response to Pain: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion,” GoodTherapy.org, Feb. 9, 2016.[2] Ibid.