How to Reduce or Eliminate Pain (without products) — Try these 3 things

1. Get the message and move on
   
   
2. Ignore/Distract (soften)
   
   
3. Pivot and move towards a better feeling

Pain is a big industry. A lot of time and money gets dumped into searching for answers to or merely managing pain. At some point in our lives we all experience pain. We are taught to deal with pain in various ways: walk it off, take a product to help it go away, numb ourselves with food/alcohol/drugs.

But what if your pain was simply a message? And what happens when you ignore messages? They tend to get bigger, more obnoxious, more in-your-face. The more you ignore something important, the greater the chance that it snowballs out-of-control. This message is trying to get your attention. It won’t stop until you finally get the message that something is out-of-balance, something needs to change in your life.

As a mind-body doctor, I’ve had to personally confront my own messages. At first I ignored the messages, thinking they were going to be too scary. We all do this. It’s what we are taught from a young age – just ignore and cover up, pretend nothing is wrong. But pretending that nothing is wrong only keeps you locked up in a living hell. It keeps you stuck.

If you’ve been following my work, you know that I healed myself from Lyme Disease a few years ago. In healing myself and helping others to recover their health, I discovered that you must address underlying thoughts, emotions & beliefs. Get rid of your stinkin’ thinkin’ and your life will turn around. I know, I know! At first I thought this was a load of crap (maybe where you are right now). When you actually learn to do this for yourself, THEN you will experience freedom like you’ve never experienced. That is when you will stop at nothing to turn everything around in your life. That is when joy and fun return to your life. That is when your relationships turn around. That is when your life feels like an amazing journey…like it was meant to feel!

Here are 3 tips to get this ball rolling in a better direction.

1. Get the message and move on.

Every physical symptom has a message for us. We all have the ability to get our own messages. This is where learning to meditate effectively can really help. Meditation is where you receive your own guidance on what to do next. It allows you to step back into your own power – you no longer need to rely solely on Google, or go to endless doctor appointments, or go through endless testing.

So, how do you really know there is a message behind your pain? An easy way to tell is that NOTHING YOU ARE DOING IS HELPING. Pain med’s (prescription or over-the-counter), chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, essential oils, massages, etc –> NONE of these things helps you feel better for more than a few hours or a day or so. By now, you are probably feeling really crabby and blaming everyone around you for their shortcomings: Don’t these practitioners know ANYTHING? Why can’t they fix me? What is wrong with THEM? [How do I know this? Well…been there done that! This used to be my thought pattern prior to receiving my own answers.]

When you first begin this process, merely pay close attention when you are 1st aware of your pain. What were you just doing? What were you just thinking? What were you just saying? Write down or take note of everything you can think of. These will give you powerful clues when you are searching for your message.

Here are some specific examples of lessons I’ve learned from my pain:

• Low back pain. I used to love shoveling snow (don’t judge!). I loved being outside, getting some exercise, playing with my kids & dogs. And then I had to shovel at my business PLUS at home…and all before my business opened in the morning. It was too much. And my husband wasn’t the shoveling type. So instead of getting help elsewhere, I did what any woman I know would do…I held in my feelings until I was so angry and resentful that I felt like I was going to punch someone. I felt unsupported. I felt alone. I felt like no one cared. I felt like I was burdened and no one would help me. My back hurt so bad. Without realizing it, I began using my back pain to garner sympathy from my husband. Maybe he would help me if he knew how much pain I was in. Nope. Maybe my kids would help if they knew. Nope. It wasn’t until I began paying attention to my thoughts WHILE I was shoveling snow that it all made sense. I was playing a constant loop in my head about hating the situation I was in, about how no one helped me, about how no one cared about me, blah blah blah. While I wasn’t able to immediately stop this negative Nellie in my head, I listened to my favorite music while shoveling. This distracted me enough that I no longer continued to hurt my back while shoveling.
• Gallbladder attacks/pain. I used to have chronic gallbladder attacks. I thought I would need to have my gallbladder removed, but I also had a gut feeling that this wouldn’t solve anything. My big aha moment came one morning at work. I was having another gallbladder attack and immediately went into meditation to see what this was about. I had been thinking about an upcoming family birthday party and was dreading it. I was holding onto anger and resentment towards a family member. I immediately forgave her, forgave myself, and reconnected with loving myself. My gallbladder attack went away completely within 10 minutes, and has NEVER COME BACK!
   

2. Ignore or Distract Yourself.

Maybe you got your message, and maybe you didn’t yet. Until then, look for ways to soften your thoughts or distract yourself with pleasing things. The goal (at first) isn’t to shift your pain completely to zero, or to shift your mood from despair to bliss. Just reach for the next-best feeling. Look to soften your pain or your miserable mood.

Some people are so unhappy that they no longer have any idea of what would please them. They might be so used to pleasing others, worrying about what other people think of them, or obsessing over things they can’t control that they no longer know what they want or how they want to feel.

Here are some of the things that I learned along the way that please me, and help me shift into a better-feeling place:

• Listen to my favorite music. I was in chiropractic school when I first discovered (beyond a shadow of a doubt) how music could shut down my inner critic. When I was getting down on myself, judging other people, or just feeling crappy, listening to my favorite music always helped me feel better. And I’ve since learned that I really enjoy listening to live music!
• Take a relaxing, soothing bath. I like to take a nice, hot, relaxing bath. I use Epsom salts and essential oils, and sometimes some coconut oil. My skin feels better, my muscles are more relaxed, and it just feels good.
• Be in nature. I enjoy walking my dog, sitting on my patio, laying out soaking up the sunshine, and hanging out with good friends around our fire pit. There is just something about begin in nature that just soothes my soul.
• Meditate. I meditate daily, and sometimes multiple times daily if I’m feeling “off.” It took me about 9 months of consistent effort to get really good at “receiving” my guidance. I teach my clients to do this in a lot less time. Consistent effort is the key. No one can hear your guidance as well as you can. Once you get the hang of this, you will make it a priority because if feels so good!
• Exercise. Many people that enjoy exercising use it as a way to “blow off steam.” I used to exercise for this very reason. Now that I have “blown off” or “let go of” a lot of steam, I use exercise to move my body and feel alive, feel refreshed, feel strong, and just plain old feel better.
   

3. Pivot and move towards a better feeling.

You’ve seen plenty of politicians lately use the “pivot” method. They are asked a question, and instead of answering it, they “pivot” or shift the conversation towards something else they want to talk about or focus on. It frustrates other people, but it is a brilliant tool for shifting out of pain.

Think about your typical day. How focused are you on your pain (or any other physical symptom)? Do you think about your pain constantly? Do you tell other people about your pain? Do you post on Facebook about how crappy you feel? Do you actively search for online groups that discuss pain? Do you compare how much pain you are in with others who are in pain? Has pain become your identity or label? Has pain now defined who you are? Do you wonder who you would be without your pain? Do you wonder what you would talk about if you didn’t have your pain?

Can you see how focusing on pain (or any symptom) can keep you stuck? If thinking, speaking & searching about pain has become your life, then that will continue to be your life. It does no good to drag other people into your hole with you. Other people will try to help lift you out of the hole you have dug for yourself, but when pain has become your life you think that others need to come down to your level and sit in your pain with you. #Backwards. It’s time to change your focus!

How do you want to feel? Take some time to reflect on this. Here are some examples that might seem like a good start:

• I want to feel energetic
• I want to feel alive again
• I want to feel pain-free
• I want to feel healthy and vibrant
• I want to feel safe
• I want to feel accepted
• I want to feel important
• I want to feel loved
• I want to feel free (free to be who I really am)

These examples are somewhat generic. When you feel your body start to relax, then explore these feelings a little deeper. How do you really want to FEEL and WHY? If you want to feel energetic…why? What will feeling energetic do for you? Will it allow you to do the things you love to do? Will it give you freedom?

Begin catching yourself when you are focused on your pain, and immediately STOP yourself! Pivot and shift your attention towards where you want to go (how you want to feel).

Stop doing the following:

• Stop explaining and justifying why you have pain
• Stop talking about your pain
• Stop reading or listening to others talk about their pain
• Stop making such a big deal about your pain (remember the goal is to shift away from focusing on what you don’t want)

Start doing the following:

• Do something nice for yourself; learn to love yourself
  
  
• Continually shift your attention to HOW YOU WANT TO FEEL! Think of this as taking a trip from Chicago to Miami. You can easily focus on Miami, and how to get there. You have been looking up the current weather in Miami, you have been planning what you want to do when you get there. You are really excited about getting to Miami, but you know you have a long car ride. You don’t worry about the car ride. You enjoy it. You know you are moving towards your destination. Everything is OK. You are enjoying the journey.
  
  
• If this part is extremely difficult for you, then go back to #1 –> What is pain trying to tell you? What is the message? What benefit are you getting by remaining in pain?If you are like me, most of this information will logically make sense to you on some level. In order for it to actually work for you, you will need to do the inner work. You will need to change your thoughts and beliefs. You will need to let go of old emotional wounds. You will need to learn some specific tools to do this. You will need to learn to meditate effectively.

Ways I can help you

1. If this resonates with you and you are ready to move through all of this, I would love to help you! I'll teach you my best tools in my next online workshop series, Mastering Your Mindset - Introductory Workshop Series.
2. If you need to gather some more information on "the basics" of how you can use your mind to heal your body, your emotional stress & your relationships, click here to check out my selection of Free and Low-Cost Mini-Courses.
3. You can also set up a $30, 30-minute chat with me to discover your #1 Roadblock to Well-Being and options that would be a good fit for you. Click here to schedule.
    

Many Blessings,

Dr JoAnn Tully, Mind-Body Doctor & Mindset Coach

Click Here to Visit my Website