Unless you understand what’s going on for you, which may be some or all of the following:
- You are disconnected from your body. One way this can happen is through suppressing emotions (see #8.) Though it’s not your fault, it is your responsibility. More info you can find here.
- Your mind is running the show. You are not your mind. You must be in control of both your mind and body. More info you can find here.
- You are holding on tightly to past hurts. We all do it, we hold a grudge; we keep reminding ourselves of how hurt we were, and we think this keeps us safe. We are not designed to hold onto painful memories – we must feel them and allow them to express themselves so they can be released. More info can be read here.
- The pain is bigger than you, meaning you are giving it too much attention and it is in control. When the pain is in control you will never move beyond it. Stand up and take your life back. More info can be read here.
- Closely related to #4: pain dictates your life. “Ooh, I don’t know, I can’t do that – the pain!” It’s called ‘consulting the pain.’ Now this one can be a little hard to hear, but you can’t let the pain rule your life! If you want to take a walk and it’s painful, set the intention, “I will work on taking a walk despite the pain.” Then walk for a minute or two. You can’t avoid life because of the pain. Additional information on that topic is here.
- You are focusing purely on the mechanical. This one is so common; many have been led to believe we are nothing more than a machine. You are a complete being, you feel, you experience, you hurt, you bleed…you are everything but a machine.
- You stress too much. We have been programmed through much of our lives to stay busy, multi-task, keep moving – this keeps us stressed, which keeps us confused. A confused mind cannot think or question, so is easily controlled. More about confusion and overwhelm read here.
- Emotionally you are suppressed. We’ve been taught “bad emotions” are offensive, but just because you’ve learned not to acknowledge them, doesn’t mean those negative emotions won’t spill out anyway. One way or another, they will come back, no matter how hard you try to push them down. No getting out of this process.
- Secondary gains – this notion can trigger people intensely, but there’s no denying it, we’ve all fallen victim to this. “When I’m in pain I get lots of care and attention, and I don’t have to do anything I don’t want.” Who doesn’t want love and attention?!
- You are not taking responsibility for your health, therefore, not for your life either.
You may not relate to all of these reasons, but if you’ve experienced pain and suffering, chances are you can recognise many.
So, what to do next?
Now that you are aware, sit with the reasons you resonate with, and take action towards changing them.
Chronic pain, anxiety, and addictions have reached epidemic proportions, we can no longer ignore them. Our old beliefs are not serving us. We need a new approach.
We have been taught to give power over our health to outside parties. We need to look within and accept responsibility for ourselves. “Experts” are tools we can use, but they will never, can never, care about us as much as we do ourselves.
Basic rules of living pain-free:
- Be truthful.
- Feel.
- Let go.
- Love, especially yourself.
