The "New" Pain Relief: Mindfulness
/I remember when I first graduated from Physio school and someone actually gave me a job and I could practice on real life patients. My mind was in constant panic mode, thinking about what i’m doing next, what did I just do? Can I even feel what’s wrong? Are they going to be worse? It was a constant state of fight or flight, or in my case FREEZE.
Ironically the biggest thing I've learnt in 23 years as a Physio is that the more present, or mindful I am, the better I am at my job. The more present I am the more I can feel what is wrong, what needs to happen and what we need to solve. In some ways it is a very therapeutic job where the less you think, the more you feel.
This led me down the path of mindfulness, breathwork and everything in between. Interestingly, along the way, I discovered that people in pain also respond incredibly well to mindfulness. Becoming more present and observing, rather than judging, calms your nervous system and reduces the noise coming out of the pain centers in your brain!
Our brains are constantly thinking. It could be a negative replay of something someone said to you the past week. It could be a previous negative work experience that you keep reliving over and over. It could be something you're worrying about in the future. It could be all of these things all at once! It’s like having your computer on and you have 36 tabs open all at once (guilty). Being mindful or present is simply shutting all the tabs and just looking at one. Your breath, your surroundings, what you’re feeling, or what you’re hearing. Focusing on one of these to help you be present in the moment. For such a simple concept it took me far too long to understand it.
My current understanding is that being present in the moment is focusing on what’s around you currently without judgment. Looking at the sky and not attaching to it whether it’s a lovely sunny day, or it’s raining and miserable.
“The present moment is all you ever have. There is never a time in your life when your life isn’t this moment”. Eckart Tolle
So how does this relate to pain, injury or improving sporting performance?
There are a few ways and a lot of research to show that mindfulness meditation, breathwork, or mindset work are incredibly powerful. Here are 3 quick reasons based on systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials
A study of 75 people with chronic pain, who did 4 sessions of 20 minutes of mindfulness meditation in a week, reduced their pain intensity by 27% and had reductions of pain unpleasantness by 44% when compared to just resting alone! On functional MRI’s of their brain, there was reduced activity in the pain centers of their brain.Also in chronic lower back pain, mindfulness was found to be twice as effective as painkillers in pain reduction!
Another cool study was that after 8 weeks of meditation, there was reduced activity in the amygdala of your brain. The area responsible for stress and anxiety (known to increase pain).
If you think about being injured or in pain, there can be unhelpful subconscious beliefs that can be adding to your pain. Common things can be “I thought I'd be better by now, but here I am still in pain”. “All i’m trying to do is get better, but the work cover case manager doesn’t believe me”. Finally my fave “i’m going to need a knee replacement, it’s definitely bone on bone”. These unhelpful thoughts are on a reflex loop. Going on - and on - and on, all day.
Mindfulness meditation, or breathwork, is like a factory reset of your phone. Getting you back into the calm relaxed state your body requires to heal and repair, and muting those lovely negative thoughts.
For athletes, being in the present moment or “flow state” is the name of the game. The less you're thinking, the better your performance. Mindfulness is like exercise. The stronger you can make your ‘mindfulness muscle’, the longer your attention span will be able to focus, the more you can get into the flow state where you play on instinct.
So how can I start being mindful? What’s out there? I googled it and gave up.
Personally I've found apps are the quickest and easiest way to get started. I have an annual subscription to Headspace, and it is worth every cent. There are multiple series on anxiety, stress, sleep, performance and everything in between. I regularly do the anxiety series. Each day it begins with a brief explanation of anxiety and then begins with a meditation, focusing on your breath or scanning your body. You get a free 30 day trial and that’s enough to see whether it’s for you.
Calm is another option, similar to Headspace. Great app and even has sleep stories by famous celebrities and athletes. I personally liked the LeBron James series.
If you want to go somewhere and learn. I’d recommend these people, based in Sydney, who do an 8 week course on reducing stress, anxiety and pain. Click HERE to check them out
You could also try two mindfulness exercises right now!
Breathing: through your nose and out through your nose x 3. Now breathe in for 4, hold for 6 seconds and out for 7 seconds x 10
2. Name 5 things you can see. Don’t label them as good or bad just name them. Name 5 things you can hear (close your eyes if you want). Name 5 things you can feel. Again no labels.
How does that make you feel? Calmer?
The cool thing is you can do these anywhere. At work if you’re wound up, with the kids when they are kicking off or on the drive home from work.
Give it a try. Commit to it for around 4 days per week, for at least for 3 weeks. It’s ok to be constantly thinking. I like to think of them as exercise reps between thoughts. Good luck and email me for any advice. I’m doing my trainers certification at the moment because it’s made such an impact on my life.