Five ways acceptance can help you reduce persistent pain

What do you mean by acceptance in relation to persistent pain? How is this even possible? How can you be accepting of something so debilitating and unpleasant? Doesn’t this just mean giving up? These and other questions might legitimately be going through your mind in relationship to acceptance and pain. In this article, I will give more information on what is meant by acceptance in relation to reducing persistent pain. And share some ways for you to get started.

Acceptance?is one of nine attitudes of mindfulness, qualities you can bring to your daily experience of your life and your world. Acceptance is sometimes misunderstood as passive. But it’s an active response – a conscious decision to accept and acknowledge what is, and to stop fighting what you cannot change. It does not mean you give up trying to improve your situation, and reduce your pain. It means acknowledging that the pain is here, and devote your attention and energy to the next steps you can take, today.

One example of acceptance in practice is told in the Buddhist ‘two arrows’ sutta. In this metaphor, your pain is seen as the first arrow, something all of us experience at some point or other, and which cannot always be avoided. The second arrow is your thoughts and feelings about your pain. Research shows us that?expectations and emotions around pain?can change your perception of it. Driving pain up or down depending on situation and context. When you resist sensation with thoughts such as ‘why me’ or ‘what did I do wrong’, you unconsciously set up tension that can delay healing and increase discomfort. Acceptance of what is can act to mitigate the second arrow, as your thoughts and expectations are under your control.

To read more on acceptance and reducing persistent pain, click here.