As I wrote last week’s experiment, I also thought about the ways in which pain allows us to know what’s going on in our bodies.  If we didn’t have pain, we would be in trouble.  People without pain receptors have a greater risk of suffering serious injury because they don’t know when they’ve hurt themselves, don’t know when they have an infection, and don’t know when some internal organ is signaling a problem through pain.

While no one wants chronic pain, the day-to-day awareness of a pinch on the finger when we put our hand down on something sharp, the muscle that signals we’ve done too much and have to stop, the tooth that tells us it’s time to go to the dentist are invaluable to our health and well-being.

For this week’s experiment, there are two parts.  The first is to notice the number of times pain signals that your body needs your attention, and how important it is to have this information.  Notice that some experiences of pain are barely noticeable, and yet cause us to shift position or in some other way respond, often without thinking about it.  Notice, as well, that some experiences of pain are immediate, sharp, and require a response to ease whatever is causing the difficulty.  When possible, offer the pain your gratitude for its failsafe way of bringing things to your attention that need to be addressed.

The second part of this week’s experiment is to explore your relationship to pain.  When I work with clients on physical pain, the first thing I teach them is to translate that pain into an awareness of sensation.  Then, I point out that when we attempt to push pain away, it only increases.  Paradoxically, when we allow it to move through, when we relax into it, it diminishes much more quickly.  As you move through the week, notice what you do when you feel pain.  Do you tighten and struggle with its presence, or do you relax and make lots of room for it to move through?  If you find yourself struggling with pain, see what happens when you shift into gratitude for the signal it provides, even as you take whatever steps may be necessary to respond.

Chronic pain is another story, and requires us to dig deeper into ourselves to learn how to accommodate its presence.  If you struggle with chronic pain, rather than move into gratitude, notice what happens when you soften around the pain and shift it into sensation.  The shift to sensation can bring surprising relief. 

As always, there’s no right answer here, and it’s important to acknowledge that our relationship to pain is deeply personal and unique to each of us.

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