Your path to holistic and effective pain relief using the mind- body connection.

Lets unpack this, and explore how you can support your body to heal from chronic pain and get your life back. You body is designed to heal itself and this is how you can support this process:

Lets start with a few facts about pain, that might be new to you: 

• The number of people suffering from chronic pain is massively increasing worldwide. It is already very high in the ranking with other chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, dementia or cancer.
• ​Most people will have pain at some point in their lives, either from an injury, a burn on the hot stove, straining an ankle, a cut in the finger, falling of a bicycle, a bee sting, the list goes on. But this not lasting for long and the pain is gone. This is called acute pain.
• Chronic pain is different. It lasts longer. Often for months, even years or decades. This pain can continue after the injury has healed or appear without a clear cause. The pain becomes part of life, even part of peoples identity at some point. Examples of chronic pain conditions are migraines/headaches, back pain, nerve pain ( in the face such as trigeminus pain or in other parts of the body such as sciatica), joint pain (in hips, knees, shoulders or ankles) and neck pain ( often connected to headaches, facial pain, backpain and shoulder pain).
• To experience/feel pain your whole body system is involved. It starts with the part you injured ( your finger, your ankle, etc)  but then it creates a chain reaction involving your pain receptors, your muscles and tendons, the firing mechanisms of your spinal cord to send this information to your brain, and how your brain constantly processes this, is all part of the integration of the body and brain (including the mind).
  
• Pain is understandable or obvious if there is an injury or damage of a structure ( muscle, joint, nerve, or bone) and that needs to be fixed with surgery, a cast, etc so the body can start the healing process.
• But often people experience pain with no obvious/visible reason. But the pain is there and reduces peoples mobility and quality of life. Often they are labelled as " you make this up", which is very unfair as the pain exists! they are not making this up. The brain is experiencing and processing a pain response even if there is no visible cause of it. Often those people are left alone with the approach of " you just have to live with it, it will not go away". STOP! Keep reading and open up to have options for lowering your pain!
• Often the approach of the medical system is, to take pain killers ( often all the time) with huge side effects, sleeping pills to help people sleep, ongoing physio therapy to stay mobile. This is what our medical system is about. Fixing the symptoms to support people keep living their life somehow and stay "functional". Often people are stuck with this approach, not given any alternative choices or options. A few life style focused doctors look into this from a more holistic approach. They discuss with their patients options and ideas what they can do themselves to interrupt this vicious cycle of depending on " other" to be comfortable.
• Another fact is, that the amount of pain and the unpleasantness that you feel varies day to day, based on how you're feeling, how much stress you have at work or at home, how great or bad your sleep is,  what food you put into your body, how much or less you have moved or mobilized your body. If you take a closer look at those, you might notice a pattern of when your pain is worse and when it is not too bad from your perspective. If you then focus on a more holistic approach ( considering nutrition, movement, sleep quality, relaxation, self care, etc) you will be surprised how much this impacts your pain level).
• A lot of research has been done to explore alternative approaches to address pain, lower pain and even eliminate pain. The studies have shown a great positive effect on peoples pain levels and therefore improved life quality. Check out these approaches and try them yourself. they are easy, effective and even fun! ​

Effective, holistic interventions to help your body heal and overcome chronic pain:
​
Manage and lower your stress level:
Being in pain creates stress and being stressed makes pain worse.
Here a few ideas how to lower your stress level ( also suitable to calm your system to get a good night sleep).

• Breathing exercise: Inhale through your nose to the count of 3, hold to the count of 4, exhale to the count of 5 ( do at least 5 cycles)​
• Take a slow long breath into your nose, then slowly exhale through your mouth ( 5 cycles or more)
• spend time in natural light ( sunlight) for at least 15min each day 
• Take a walk in nature with your phone in your pocket and on silence 
• reduce screen time before bed to prepare your body and brain for sleep. A hyperactive brain processing endless scrolling on social media or a full on game on the computer just an hour before you go to bed, or even when you are already in bed, needs time to wind down and switch into a relaxed state.
• Start a mind-body integration low impact exercise class such as Line dance, Tai Chi, Qui Gong, Yoga ( focus on gentle yoga),  etc
• Try to meditate (not in cross legged position) in a way that works for you. Examples: Focus and observe your breath for a while, do a "body scan" by moving your focus through the body and checking in with each part, noticing what sensations are present. Starting with the feet, finishing with your face
• Practise mindfulness: be in the present moment when you go for a walk and pay attention to different colours, plants, the sounds you hear etc. BE PRESENT.
• Practise mindfulness when you eat: Pay attention to the smell of the food, how it looks, the texture in your mouth,  the different tastes.....
• KEEP IT SIMPLE AND DOABLE for your lifestyle. Start with less and create motivation to do more when you are ready. 

If you need help with this, reach out to me and we work through this together within my "stress management coaching" process.  

Contact Britta

Understand your pain pattern:

• Everyone who experiences chronic pain has good days and bad days. Days where the pain level is at 10 ( level 1-10, 10 being the most intense pain) and other days where the pain is at Level 4. A massive difference in the quality of life on both days. The clue here is to keep track of it. A useful way can be to journal how the pain on each day was. This creates a "tool" list that positively influences the pain, identify triggers that make the pain worse and notice or develop strategies to be in control of the pain levels again, instead of being controlled by the pain.

​​

How to manage and reduce your pain:

• Use a notebook (rather than just a piece of paper) that you can leave beside your bed and make entries at the end of each day to summarize your day and create a habit at a time of day when its not busy anymore
• Start your entry with the day of week and the date
• Write your pain level down, use the scale 1-10 ( the higher the number the worse the pain is, with 10 as high intense pain). This is more detailed than writing " pain was not too bad", or "felt quite good today" or " it hurt like hell today". It is also easier to compare to other days if you use the 1-10 scale. Also write down if you pain level has changed throughout the day ( example: Level 8 when getting out of bed, Level 5 after being up and had a hot shower...)
• Write down what you did on the day ( activities, work, household tasks, resting times etc), how you slept at night, what food and drinks you had ( as some foods and drinks can trigger inflammation in the body, which worsens pain level)
• Write down how the weather was . Yes that's right! Weather changes can trigger pain, often warmer and dryer weather improves pain level while wind, rain and cold temperatures worsen the pain.
• If you journal for at least 2 weeks, check in with your entries if you can notice a pattern, similarities etc. Once you have identified what triggers your pain, you can get into action and reduce the triggers ( if possible) or to manage triggers better
• If you have used strategies to relax or lower your pain level, write them down too and write down your experience with it. It is worth to try the same strategy a few more times, even it has not worked the first time. NOTE: Often people "blocking" the positive effect unconsciously because they have been told so many times from doctors and other health professionals, that "they have to live with it" and "This will be for life" or "Nothing you can do about it" , that they actually truly believe it. Because health professionals , especially doctors cant be wrong, right? This doubt of being able to improve can "sabotage" their ability of getting better. Its all happening on an unconscious level, they have no control or access to this manifested doubt.

Summary:
Pain is different and unique for everyone. A "one size fits all" is not helpful. A holistic approach that takes into consideration lifestyle aspects, stress level, nutrition, sleep and movement will provide a wider perspective. 
The more you understand that all parts of your live and living in combination can either lower or increase your pain level, the better YOU are able to create changes and become the expert of YOUR pain experience. Because you are the expert of your health and wellbeing, not your doctor, therapist or coach. YOU are the expert what makes you feel better, worse, what triggers you have, what resources you have within you. All you need to do is to start with understanding your pain better, managing it and then healing or minimizing your pain to live the life you enjoy and desire! If you need help, I am here for you. Just get in touch!

If you feel you might have doubts or even fear of getting better, you can reach out and have a chat with me if Hypnotherapy can be an option for you to resolve this unconscious "obstacle" in your mindset. Lets chat and find out!

Hypnotherapy

Final thought:
I believe in the healing abilities of our bodies and minds as they have done it for centuries.
I also respect that everyone needs to find their own way of living, healing and thriving that suits their personal beliefs and circumstances.

I have noticed that in our modern world full of information (overflow), pills for everything, a food industry that constantly manipulates us to buy even more ( unhealthy) processed food, more pressure and demands on each individuum, a life " on the go" etc, our instincts to look after ourselves and make healthy choices decreases.
We become more and more dependent on getting " fixed" by others, rather than listening to our bodies needs. Finding our own way of healing or improving our condition (with the help of health professionals who actually listen and practise a holistic approach) is the answer, from my own experience, to get better and live a healthy happy life.

Wishing you well,
Love Britta 

Need help? Contact Britta