Member-only story
Pain is a tricky beast. We can struggle through the most crippling agony for fear of losing a job or letting someone down, or even through sheer determination, but the moment we get home and relax… bam! It hits you like a freight train.
How is it that we can cope with such intolerable discomfort by will power alone? Without realising it, we are modulating our perceptions and increasing our tolerance to pain thresholds. It’s not an easy way to get through the day, but I’m sure we can all think of occasions when we’ve held ourselves together in times of crisis.
What if we could suppress the level of pain without having to endure the freight train at the end of the day? This is where long-term meditation practitioners have the upper hand. Recent research has shown that even a few sessions of mindful meditation can drastically alter our perceptions and reactions to pain.
Let’s consider how our bodies react.
The problem with physical pain is that it triggers conscious and sub-conscious evaluation, tipping the mind into worry. What if it’s something serious? What if it never gets better? I wonder if I’ll get any sleep tonight? How will I manage to fulfil my duties and obligations? What started out as physical pain, rapidly descends into secondary suffering. When the pain becomes a…