Mind Over Matter Chronic Pain and Your Belief System

By Heather Allen, MS, PT

Journeying into Healing, LLC

. http://www.journeyingintohealing.com/

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Mind Over Matter Chronic Pain and Your Belief System

You were in a car accident 20 years ago; rear-ended while sitting at a light. You've had problems with your back ever since. You've tried physical therapy, the chiropractor, exercising, various doctors, and pain management. After 20 years, your back still hurts and you are convinced you will always have this pain. You've learned how to modify your lifestyle; the activities you participate in, the way you sleep. You've had the pain so long that you've learned to ignore it and now it's just background noise.

Is this you? Most of us have suffered an injury at one point in our lives and find ourselves dealing with the pain years later. But why is that exactly? You saw the right doctors, did the exercises, and took the medication. Why is the pain still there? You may have done all those things, but a critical piece of the process was forgotten changing your perception of the pain and your condition. If you've spent 20 years being told by the medical community that there's nothing more that can be done, odds are you have come to believe the same thing yourself. You've set yourself up to live life around your pain and your body has responded accordingly.

This mentality is self-sabotage. Your mind has told your body that no matter what, you will never be free of your pain. You've identified with it and made it part of who you are both physically and mentally. With this belief system, you will never see relief no matter what specialist you see or treatment you try. Do you really want this to be how you live? Chained to your pain and all its restrictions? Changing your belief system can offer you the opportunity for true healing.

Take a closer look at your pain, bring it to the foreground. Choose to no longer be accepting of its presence, know and remind yourself that it is not who you truly are. Express and accept your anger toward the event(s) that left you with a chronic pain condition. Grieve for the losses in your life that have occurred as a result of your pain. As your minds perception changes, so will your body. This new mind set, when coupled with a holistic treatment modality such as myofascial release, will allow you to begin a journey to a more pain-free and healthy life.