Mindful Ways to Cope with Pain

Suffering = Pain x Resistance

Pain is inevitable. But suffering is optional.

If you are someone who deals with chronic pain of any sort, you are not in control of the pain that is present for you. However, you can control how much you suffer. Pain is present, but suffering doesn't have to be. Here are a few helpful ways to stop suffering as you cope with pain.

1. Awareness

Bring your awareness to whatever is present for you, and simply notice it. Without judgment.

Practice: Try a body scan

2. Acceptance

Accept the present situation. We often waste energy resisting what is already happening. The longer we resist, the more tension builds, and the more we suffer. You can always handle the moment you are in, so focus your energy on being with it, rather than resisting it.

Practice: 1:2 Breath

3. Compassion

We don't get to choose what is present for us. But we do get to choose how we meet ourselves. No matter what you are experiencing, you can choose to meet yourself with compassion and kindness. Compassionate self-talk activates our parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body and counter-balances it's stress response. Compassion also strengthens the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which deals with our ability to regulate behavior, making us better equipped to deal with whatever is present.