In a recent report the BBC reported that around 28 million UK people are suffering with pain of some sort or another – including myself. Some of this pain is caused by disease, but if the disease is an “itis” then the likelihood is it’s inflammation of some description. Arthritis for example often starts when a joint has been damaged, it’s out of control inflammation however is not natural. Our body should heal itself – our immunity is slowly being eroded. This can be explained in terms of stress – the body’s immunity is undermined if a person is constantly battling stressful situations, or it may be under stress from environmental factors – pollution etc in towns and cities.
Fear too will increase pain. With the run up and the consequent fall out of the Brexit campaign I have been aware of clients complaining more about headaches and tension in their body as many people are afraid of the migrant crisis and the chaos that leaving the EU has placed us in. Some new clients have found the idea of relaxing every muscle in their body a bit weird as they have never experienced relaxation to such a depth before. But it could be their diet is also at fault.
It could be the very food we eat – I have been recently reading “The inflammation syndrome” about how the modern diet is severely lacking in nutrients that can help reduce the pain, such as making sure you eat fresh fruit and veg and particularly oily fish, the Omega 3 being the substance that helps keep the inflammation at bay. Modern processed foods are so over refined that our body does not have to work hard at extracting the small amount of nutrients left in it. Plus for the last 20 years we have had “no fat” drummed into us only to find it was a bad move. We can eat olive oil, we can eat nuts, both are marvelous in reducing inflammation.
There are many things that can influence pain, from an injury that has healed but for some reason the pain has become chronic and carries on. It’s this pain that trance work can help. When we are in a deep state of relaxation our perceptions of our body and therefore pain changes. I often find myself feel like I’m just a floating head – that the rest of me has just disappeared. There is also the mirror box, where the person with pain in their arm or hand, or even leg can look into a mirror and by manipulating the opposite limb, the brain gets confused into thinking that you are manipulating the injured arm. The brain is strange like this, able to fool itself into thinking about things in a different way.
So if you are experiencing pain, apart from going to your GP to find out what is causing it, there are a few things that might help.
- Don’t take Ibuprofen but a pain killer such as paracetamol. Anti inflammatory drugs can in the long term cause inflammation.
- Use ice packs to reduce swelling and to numb the pain.
- Have hot baths to help reduce stiffness.
- Use relaxation methods and visualisations to fool the brain into thinking the body is doing something different.
- Try to rationalise the pain a bit more. Often when our bodies feel pain we instantly worry about our health, which can make the pain worse. If we tell ourselves it’s only temporary or there are things you can do about it, it can help.
- Go for a walk and exercise all the parts of the body that you haven’t been moving around. Perhaps the pain comes from stiffness that comes from in action.
