I was referred to a Rheumatologist 2 years ago to check and see if I had Fibromylagia as I suffer with a lot of pain all over my body, The Rheumatologist asked loads of questions then took blood tests, the result came back as positive, I do have Fibromylagia but with me taking a lot of medication at the minute for pain he only tweaked a few things by weaning me off opoids over 2 years and upping another tablet. He spoke to me about Mindfulness Meditation, which if you want to check my blog there are quite a few posts about me trying it. He wanted it to help with the pain.
After trying it a few times for my pain and the pain winning I started using the Meditation for relaxing me instead but then thought more about pain help by introducing the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy I had been shown a few years ago.
I was on this course to help me deal with the abuse I had gone through as a child, it really helped me put things right in my head and destroy what I was carrying around with me. I was taught to relax much the same as the meditation, I had a ball of anger in my stomach that at times was really hard to keep under control, I had to picture the ball which to me was like a ball of wool but the strands were much thicker, blood red and pulsating with anger, I then focused on the ball and imagined it getting smaller, losing its colour and becoming motionless, this took a few lessons but it worked, I don't have that ball of anger anymore, plus it taught me to do the same with my father, imagine him getting smaller, his voice getting weaker to the point it was a squeak then either stand on him or flick him away, I chose to flick him away which is what I do now when I start to remember, I imagine him falling, screaming until he goes splat.
So my thoughts were why not try that with the Mindfulness Meditation, Picture the pain as a ball etc.
I woke up this morning in a lot of pain, I still had a couple of hours before I could take my next dose so thought this is the perfect time to try out blending what I had learned with Mindfulness Meditation and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
I lay back in bed, the place was very quiet so I first concentrated on my breathing Inhaling 1, 2, 3 then Exhaling 1, 2, 3 slowing down my breathing and letting my body relax, once I was in a relaxed state I focused on the pain in my knee thankfully I wasn't suffering pain anywhere else I focused in where the pain was and imagined it was a ball of pain but this time it had spikes that stung. that's how my pain feels. Every time I breathed in counting 1, 2, 3 I exhaled the pain I imagined the spikes shortening, the stinging feeling numbing and the ball of pain getting smaller, I carried on with this for a good 15 minutes until I could still feel something but it wasn't as bad as it was, there was still pain but my exhaling was numbing it in my mind.
I definitely felt a little better afterwards, I am going to continue this a few times a day to see if it can help. It will be a lot harder to do when I am having a flare up with Fibromylagia, that will be something for the future. I did feel relaxed when I woke up and lasted until my next dose without thinking to much about it. I really don't want to be adding more painkillers to my list as I take enough.
Thank you son-of-satire