meeting pain with awareness elizabeth maher

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Meeting Pain With Awareness Elizabeth Maher

*Mindfulness for Pain


*Introducing Mindfulness for

Pain

*What is mindfulness

*How can it be used for chronic pain

*Practise mindfulness exercises


*Reactions to Pain

Pain

Emotions

Thoughts

physical

lifestyle


*Thoughts

*Judgements

*Negative thoughts about the pain and ourselves

*Anxious thoughts

*Depressed thinking

*Brainstorming ways to soothe the pain

*Scouring for solutions


*Feelings

*Anxiety

*Despair

*Anger

*frustration


*physical

*Tense up

*Lie down

*Rest

*Move/keep still


*Lifestyle

*Reduce activity

*Reduce going out

*Reduce spending time with others


*Mindfulness

*Kabat-Zinn MBSR programme 1979

*Originally created to help those experiencing chronic pain

*Now also those experiencing stress, anxiety, chronic health conditions


*Mindfulness Definition

Mindfulness

Pay attention

In this moment

to my experienc

e

With openness and non-judgemen

t


*Mindfulness Definition

*moment-to-moment, non-judgemental awareness. It is cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment, and then sustaining that attention over time as best we can. In the process, we become more in touch with our life as it is unfolding.’

Myla & Jon Kabat-Zinn, Everyday Blessings; The inner work of mindful parenting’, pg 24


*Paying more attention to Pain

*Awareness & thinking are different capacities

*learning to relate to our pain differently

*curious about the intensity of our pain

*let go of goals and expectations

*engage with the pain just as it is

*Healing in awareness

*More accurate perception of pain

*Make room for distressing emotions

*Disentangle from unhelpful thoughts


*Mindfulness Exercises

*Mindful breathing

*Body scan

*Leaves on a stream


*Pain

*Pain that comes out and presents itself

*chronic pain

*uninvited/unwanted bodily sensations

*Distressing emotions

*Life adjustments/changes/events

*Grief/loss


*Suffering

*You used to live a life that you loved…now your life is devoted to trying to keep the pain at bay

*Putting life on hold

*Disconnection from life


Suffering

suffering

Values disconnect

avoidance

Pain mindscript

s


*Mindfulness for pain

awareness

• Present moment experience

Make room

• Make room for feelings (emotions and bodily sensations)

defusion

• Notice thoughts/mind script without getting entangled


*F.L.E.X

*Feel it

*Let it Be

*Expand awareness (make room for it)

*Execute (choose workable response)

meeting pain with awareness elizabeth maher

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