Do you see a hint of Buddhist practise in this?

Tanda

In my Vipassana course I was told about 'observing' my back pain (instead of 'suffering' it). After a long effort, the pain REALLY disappeared,though it returned in the next meditation session. This web page reminded me of that experience and I want to share with here.

Watching yourself being injected reduces pain--study

http://www.themedguru.com/20110211/newsfeature/watching-yourself-being-injected-reduces-pain-study-86143638.html

formermonkJohn

if you stab a monks hand with a fork does he feel less pain? i think maybe so. there is a big difference between feeling pain, dwelling on it, and reflecting on the agony, vs just observing and saying; yes there is some pain, but im not going to dwell on it or let it bother me; the same thing works for emotional suffering to,

sometimes i say to myself;Even though i don't feel it; my life really sucks, i really should be suffering now, this isn't enjoyable, but i've got so good at ignoring it i don't really suffer hardly at all. positive thinking; suffering is in the mind of the beholder. our basic human nature propels us towards suffering, but the buddha teachs a way we can go beyond suffering, a good part by ignoring it, and focusing primarily on positive things, instead.

in other words one of the biggest causes of pain and suffering is dwelling on it, focusing, obsessing on it, and not just letting it go. i'm not saying you'll never need pain killers but you might be able to go without or use a lot less if you're mindful of how easy it is for us to blow pain out of proportion.

BonsaiDoug

there is a big difference between feeling pain, dwelling on it, and reflecting on the agony, vs just observing and saying; yes there is some pain, but im not going to dwell on it or let it bother me; the same thing works for emotional suffering to,

Totally agree. I believe in the old adage: "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional."

formermonkJohn

thank you, doug

zombiegirl

being a massage therapist, i find pain tolerance very interesting. i encounter different people every day and i swear, some people want me to practically beat them up and some i can barely apply pressure to. it makes complete sense to me that there is something neurological at work here.

formermonkJohn

theres neurological which is sensitivity of ones nerves to pain, and psychological(what i was talking about above), which is how we interpret in our mind the signals from our nerves, obviously some people's nerves feel pain much more than others, this doesn't mean the're less enlightened. IMO

zombiegirl

okay, so going on this mindfulness helping pain thing... i wonder if there is a way that i can help to incorporate this into my massage practice. my training differs from most in that we do not ever massage to the point of pain. no elbows in trigger points EVER (new evidence has shown that trigger points are actually just the location of where a nerve attaches to a muscle, ouch). once you push someone to a nociceptive response, you activate the sympathetic nervous system which increases heart rate, increases sweating, introduces cortisol into the blood stream, slows down digestive functions, and suppresses the immune system (among other things). healing takes place when your parasympathetic system is working.

i read an article once that talked about how our past experiences and injuries has a big pull on the way we interpret pain in the here and now (and this has a result on the rate at which we heal, as well). apparently, those that remain more positive, heal faster. i wonder if this is because you are keeping your parasympathetic system working instead of "stressing" out and activating the sympathetic (which would slow healing).

i don't really experience any chronic pain, could someone explain to me the process that would be helpful for decreasing the interpretation of pain? perhaps in a way that i can explain to patients? i have techniques of getting around this, but sometimes i find injuries that are too sensitive to even touch and i wish i could do more than describe home care and hope it's better by next session.

Vajraheart

being a massage therapist, i find pain tolerance very interesting. i encounter different people every day and i swear, some people want me to practically beat them up and some i can barely apply pressure to. it makes complete sense to me that there is something neurological at work here.

Just like a really hot shower hurts unless you relax into it, then it feels therapeutic instead.