relaxation

One thing I have learned, especially with pain, but also other symptoms, is to not fight the symptom. If you are experiencing pain, tensing up against it, does not help, it only makes it worse. If you can completely allow the pain, accept it with your whole being, not only will you feel better, but you may have a breakthrough in your healing.

There are several things you can try, to allow the symptom in.

• Close your eyes and bring your awareness to the area that has pain or another symptom. As you breathe in imagine the breath going to that area. As you breathe out allow that area to soften. On the inhale you can also try breathing in light or warmth.

• Imagine that your resistance is a fist held tightly around the symptom. Feel the fist and slowly let go. This can be combined with the previous point.

• Just explore the sensations. When you get curious about pain, it’s quality changes dramatically.

• Practice surrender. I am not sure how else to put it, but sometimes, when in intense pain, I just keep surrendering to it.

I have a food allergy, and one of my reactions is that my esophagus goes into spasm. It is incredibly painful and I can’t swallow for about half an hour. I have never felt pain as bad as that. One time when that happened I practice surrender and exploring the sensations, together. It was an almost ecstatic experience. The pain went away very quickly, but I almost wished it didn’t because I was enjoying it so much. I have never had that pain, so intensely, since that experience.

I got an email to day about this subject. I am a little wary to post about it in general, because severe depressioin needs medical treatment. So, as long as you are under a physician’s care, you can, with his consent try my suggestions. If you have mild or moderate depression it is much less critical.

In general depression can be relieved with the same suggestions as I gave in my last post about PMS. For most people the underlying problems are the same. However I would focus more on exercise. 30 to 40 minutes a day of moderate aerobic exercise, can greatly reduce the symptoms of depression, as well as anxiety and other emotional problems.

Mindfulness training may be more effective than deep relaxation for depression. I would check out Jon Kabat-Zinn’s CDs for that.

Saint John’s Wort has proven to be an effective herb in relieving mild to moderate depression, but current research suggests that it may be less effective for severe depression. More research is needed there.

I recommend a book called Potatoes not Prozac. It looks at the role diet plays in balancing our mood chemicals.

Finally, I would like to return to the importance of attitude. Humor is so important in keeping a healthy state of mind. Laugh a lot and it’s harder to be depressed. Also, regularly focusing on gratitude is a great antidote. Every morning before you get out of bed, and every night before you go to sleep, focus on all the things you are grateful for in your life. Don’t just do it routinely, really feel the gratitude. Enjoy what you have.

Chinese Medicine has an excellent success rate in treating PMS and other disorders related to the menstrual cycle, including menopausal symptoms. PMS, however, can usually be treated with lifestyle changes. It is related, to a large degree, to stress. So, many of the recommendations I give here are generally applicable to most people in our society today.

In Chinese Medicine the various energy systems are named after one of the internal organs they are related to. So when I am talking about the Liver throughout this post, don’t think I am necessarily talking about the actual Liver organ.

The Liver, according to Chinese Medicine, is responsible for the free flow of energy throughout the body, and it is responsible for cyclical events in the body, including the menstrual cycle. Stress, frustration, and emotional suppression are the main disruptors of the Liver. Deep relaxation is probably the most important antidote. Ideally you should spend 20 minutes twice a day in deep relaxation, especially if you are having symptoms. Once a day is fine for maintenance. To the meditators who are reading this: although meditation is a great way to de-stress, it is not usually a great way to attain a deep state of relaxation. Try different forms of guided relaxation. Some people respond best to visualizations, and some best to conscious relaxation of each muscle. If you are interested, I have made a CD with three different, 20 minute guided relaxation sessions on it. Most likely, one of the three would work for you. Contact me at edward@prhealthworks.ca.

The second most important thing you can do for yourself is exercise. 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, 3 days a week, will improve the Liver’s ability to maintain a free flow of energy.

The third thing is make a few dietary changes. Avoid difficult to digest foods, as well as foods that affect the Liver, such as caffeine, alcohol, greasy foods, and processed foods with preservatives, and other artificial ingredients. Also most drugs, including over the counter medicines and recreational drugs, have a heavy impact on the Liver.

Following these guidelines, most women will be symptom free, within 2 months. If you are not symptom free within 3 months, I suggest you find a competent acupuncturist or practitioner of Chinese herbology.

Here is a simple visualization for relieving pain.This technique can heal underlying problems, however, it may just relieve the pain, without affecting the cause of pain. Therefore, just as with pain medications, be sure you know the cause of the pain. Pain is a warning that something is wrong. If you just get rid of the pain you could end up a lot worse off.

That said, for pain relief, try this visualization:

First get into a very comfortable position. Become aware of your breath. Just notice the movement of your breath, in and out, for a minute or so. Then move your awareness to the site of pain in your body. Just notice it; its size and shape, its qualities. Then imagine, if you could see it, what it would look like. What color is it? Is it a red ball, a black, amorphous blob, a greenish pointy thing? Visualize it as vividly as you can, and get very familiar with it.

Next, find a pathway out of your body for it. For instance, if it is in your shoulder, it could move to your elbow, wrist, finger, then out. Or if it is in your stomach, it could move to your pelvis, then down one leg to the knee, ankle, toe, and out.

Now that it is outside of your body, look around for some place where it it my stay. For instance, if it is a red ball, and you can see a traffic light, send it there. If it is an amorphous blob, send it to the corner of a room, where the dust collects.

Now that the pain is outside of your body, it should not bother you so much. Enjoy!