Buddhists like to say that pain is unavoidable but suffering is optional. It is typical to say that much suffering comes not from pain itself but from fearful anticipation of pain and related mental and emotional activity such as anger that there should be pain. A typical approach is to distract the mind from pain by watching tv or singing a happy song. But pain is often a signaling system and the body sends pain as a warning. "Don't put your weight on that ankle. It is not in shape to bear it."
Buddhist advice along with many pain experts is to not run or hide from the pain. Face it, feel it. That is the first step, although it is not easy since your brain can anticipate the pain and tell you to flee or squirm or otherwise avoid it. Another step that helps, with both physical pain and emotional pain, is to label the pain. I miss my recently deceased friend and I am able to tell that I am feeling his loss and willing to face that in me. I am feeling the pain of loss, of being left behind, perhaps of facing my own death. The more I practice and accurately labeling my pain, the better I know myself and the situations I am in.
Labeling the pain or anything else in my awareness often moves the named a bit away from me, makes it a little less personal. Creating anything like a little "objective" space between any phenomenon and me gives me a little more of a chance to study it, classify it, compare it to previous occurrences and to what has been reported by others. Once I do some labeling, I am started on data collection, started on understanding beyond experiencing.
When dealing with pain, I like to experiment with focusing right on its very center. When my mind is deeply focused on the pain, I certainly don't need reminding of it and its cause since I am attending fully already. If the pain is sufficiently fleeting, it can be difficult to focus on it but doing so can sometimes eliminate or lessen the pain's severity.
The idea that suffering pain is heroic can be a help, too. When I face suffering, I am aware that I am suffering. That means I am a little bit great! I am a sufferer! My suffering is making me points, I bet, in the big book at the pearly gates. St. Peter is going to say there have been questions raised about my qualifications to pass through but those little suffering points were enough to weight the evidence to the positive side. It pays to suffer and don't forget it.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
