Mindfulness & Chronic Pain

???????????During my own journey with chronic pain, mindfulness has become a useful concept that is really an umbrella practice which is a necessary component to nearly every topic that I discuss in terms of overcoming chronic pain.?Whether covering a spiritual, physical, or emotional modality, mindfulness is a key ingredient to making any self-care practice work.?

???????????What is mindfulness, exactly? Mindfulness is intentionally bringing your awareness to the present moment.?For most of us, during most parts of the day, we are not mindful at all.?We might be dwelling on events from the past, replaying scenes in our minds, and remaining stuck in those experiences.?We also tend to live in the unknown future, anticipating events that may, or may not, happen.?We build up anticipation, and prepare our reactions for what might come, which is also not being present in the moment.

???????????Do you ever go on a long drive with a lot on your mind? Re-cycling old memories, or rehearsing what you need to do when you get where you are going are common thought processes that “take the wheel” when we are performing an activity that is almost second nature for us.?Before you know it, you “snap out of it” miles, or even hours down the road, with no recollection at all of how the drive went for you.?This is not mindfulness, and the truth is, this is just one example of how we go on “auto-pilot” throughout our daily lives.

???????????Using this same example, what would mindfulness look like? Practicing mindfulness during an activity in which we easily go into auto-pilot is actually a great way to practice this concept, and truthfully, it is probably something that we should all practice! The next time you are driving, try this exercise when you notice that your thoughts are not focused on the operation of your vehicle:

-??????Notice your breath: are you holding your breath? Is your breathing shallow? Practice taking some full, consistent breathes.

-??????Notice your body position: Are you completely comfortable? Are you holding tension in any areas of your body, such as your neck or shoulders? Try doing a body scan, releasing tension in any muscle groups that you aren’t necessarily using to operate your vehicle.

-??????Notice your thoughts: are your thoughts on anything other than what is going in in your vehicle? Try keeping your thoughts present by consistently noticing any signs that you pass, even briefly notice passing scenery, other cars, and pedestrians.?Try to notice how often you are actually looking at your gauges, and checking your mirrors.?Constantly cycling your attention between these various factors that are pertinent to your driving, in this moment, will keep your mind plenty busy, without dwelling on the unchangeable past, or going into the unknowable future.

This is just one example of one exercise that you can try to practice mindfulness in your daily life.?The relevance to learning what mindfulness is, and how it feels for you is a vital component to integrate into your self-care practice, in order to gain the full benefits, regardless of what the practice is.?If you are going through the motions of a self-care routine, but you are intellectually and emotionally dwelling on and experiencing an event from the past, or dreading and anticipating a possible event in the future, your self-care routine will probably suffer and ultimately get moved to the back-burner, so to speak.

Try bringing mindfulness into your daily routine, wherever you tend to automatically run with your body going through the motions, but your mind is elsewhere.?Try using this practice when you are washing dishes, eating a meal, or even showering.?Once you have a grasp of what this feels like, apply it to your self-care routine, with the intention of remaining in the present moment during the time that you have set aside for yourself.

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