Stress and anxiety can worsen pain by causing muscles to get tense or spasm and by raising levels of the inflammation-inducing hormone cortisol. Plus, pain signals can be dialed up or down depending on your mindset. Mind-body techniques “change our relationship to pain—from resisting or identifying with it to observing it with spaciousness and compassion,” says Diana Winston, director of UCLA Mindful. This shift can significantly reduce suffering, even if the pain does not go away.
Use these mind-body techniques to help with pain from any cause:
Breathe with the pain
Inhale so it feels as if you’re breathing toward the pain; imagine softening it or making space around it. Then exhale as you gently release tension in the area. Continue for several minutes.
Put a name to it
Using precise words to describe sensations (e.g., pressure, aching, stabbing) will keep you focusing on the direct experience, Winston says, rather than creating mental narratives about how challenging the pain is, how it’ll never end and you’ll never go hiking again, etc.
Be guided
Apps like UCLA Mindful and Jon Kabat-Zinn’s JKZ Meditations will take you to restful environments in your imagination to facilitate inner peace.
Immerse yourself
When gardening, cooking, or even washing dishes, focus on every move and non-pain-related sensation to keep your mind from wandering and catastrophizing.
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