Meditation Helped Me Heal

How a Journey to Reduce Stress also Reduced My Pain

Many of us have chronic pain.  Most of us have experienced stress; some even have constant stress at some point in their lives.  Both pain and stress cause the muscles to tighten and become stiffer.  The more you tighten up, the worse pain becomes.

What is Meditation

Meditation is a process or journey that helps one understand how their minds wander, how fast-paced they are, and how to slow down.  Over time, you can come to relax for more and more extended periods.

Pain Caused by Two Separate Accidents

By being in the wrong places at the wrong time, I fell not once but twice.  Recovery from the first accident took a year with some lasting problems.  The second fall, which was two years later, left me in intense pain and reduced my mobility to walking only a few steps and sitting for only 10 minutes at a session.  Consequently, I know a thing or two about chronic pain and stress.

My First Attempts to Manage My Stress

The pain was so intense that I could not sleep.  Yes, there was some relief in meditation.  I had been introduced to “Transcendental Meditation” years before, but found it challenging to stay with the practice.  Meditation is a process, a long process to calm down our ‘monkey minds.’  Monkey mind is where you are continually going from one thought to the next.  By nature, I am frequently working with and thinking about several things at the same time.  That pace is not good for stress.  When I fell, I had a very stressful, multitasking, corporate job working 12 hours a day, five days a week in NYC.

Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep) was My Turning Point

Along my healing journey, I discovered Yoga Nidra meditation, called “yogic sleep.”  I used the same CD repeatedly when the pain was intense or exhausted because of not sleeping.  The CD even helped me to get to sleep.  When the pain woke me up, the CD was useful in getting back to sleep.

Even when I could not fully sleep, I used the CD to rest my body and mind.  I became a practitioner in the technique of meditation.  I have since studied with other knowledgeable meditation teachers to learn all of the different methods.

Guided Meditation

My favorite technique is guided meditation because the teacher coaches you throughout the process.  When you wander off, there is a voice to come back to – – to regain your focus.

Some techniques focus on the breath

Sample one by counting the inhale and exhale from 10 backward to zero.  You will likely get to 8 or 7 when your mind wanders off.  It takes practice and time to clear your mind.  That is not to say that the process is not working. It is … but it might take time to move beyond that point.

Stick with this technique to experience stress reduction and to clear your mind of distracting thoughts.  This will enable you to better focus on the present moment.

How it Reduced My Pain

I am less stressed because I meditate three times a day.  That might seem like a lot of time, but it does not take more than a few minutes for each event.  A meditation practice can be 20 minutes or 2 minutes, depending on how much time you have.  You will still benefit greatly!

One amazing side effect of reducing my stress, is that it also reduced the intensity of my pain.

I am confident you will find that this technique works.  Not only because it worked for me, but because it works for many others as well.  Now that the intensity of my pain has reduced, I once again enjoy the freedom to do many of the things I love to do.

Other Benefits of Meditation

One key benefit is being able to divert attention from one prevailing thought to something else.  When I notice the pain, I can shift my attention to the task at hand.  That can happen when I am teaching.  My mind will register that there is hip pain.  Still, I can divert my attention back again to teaching.  Meditation has given me that gift of presence.

When I don’t focus on the pain, it does not increase. That also helps prevent my muscles from tensing and becoming tight, and in turn, my stress level doesn’t grow.

When to Practice Meditation When It’s Not Yet in Your Daily Routine

Rule of Thumb: If there is something in life that causes your stress level to increase, turn to meditation so that your muscles don’t become tight, thus managing the pain.

It takes some practice to be able to learn the techniques.  It is definitely worth the time because your quality-of-life will improve as did mine.

When I learned Transcendental Meditation, it involved two sessions, then you were expected to continue on your own with no one to guide you.

That was the missing piece of the journey for me because everyone learns in different ways and at a different pace from each other.  There will often be questions, and people will often want coaching and encouragement.  Luckily, with the invention of technology, more options are currently available.  Now you can use an app or learn the techniques with a well-trained teacher to guide you.

Bottom Line: Whatever path you decide to take, start today.  Improvement in your quality of life will surely follow!

For those of you who are interested, I offer a free meditation recording to new subscribers.  To get your free copy sign up here.

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