Core Beliefs, Chronic Pain, and Choices
Our beliefs are often not a deliberate choice we have consciously made, but instead are often rooted in our physiology, manifesting as a felt sense in the body that correlates with our perception of ourselves and the world.
This is why a setback in chronic pain symptoms does not have just a physiological impact, but also psychological; taking the body/mind back to challenging chapters we thought we had worked through. These setbacks are almost always inevitably part of the process, and a way the body and brain are so intelligent and quick at communicating in the name of perceived danger, and an attempt to keep us safe; putting us back into the old neural pathways that in the past had held us back, kept us small, or strategized in some other way to avoid deeply repressed emotional pain. Often, unresolved trauma is at the root of chronic pain.
The nervous system in it's resulting dysregulation, continues this feedback loop of pain and fear…an attempt to help but ultimately continuing to prolong the chronic pain. When this happens, it’s important to recognize that our internal brain/body system is trying to help us stay safe, it's just gotten a little off track.
So, what can you do when your chronic pain flares? First, pause. Check in. Are you anxious right now? Are you frustrated? Are you holding onto some kind of stress? Notice your emotional state, and notice sensations in your body. Second, soothe. Breathe. Relax your body. Rest. Literally lay down on the ground, or do something that healthily regulates your nervous system. Dance, drum, run, pet your cat, take a nap. Third, inquire. What is happening in my life right now that could be contributing to stress? Is there something I’m not paying attention to? Is there some underlying emotional current that is asking for my attention that needs acknowledgement and perhaps a healthy outlet? Is there an oppressive force in which I feel out of control of my well-being? Can I ask for help? Obviously, some people don't have control over all circumstances, and privilege often plays a HUGE role in our capacity to tend as much as we need to self care.
It's also important to pause and ask, what am I believing right now about myself and the world? Am I seeing everything through the lens of an inner critic? Do I see the world as safe or dangerous? Not what do I want to believe, or what do I choose to believe, but what do I actually believe? What is the felt sense in my BODY when I think about this particular situation? If it comes into our awareness that there is some core belief about our worth, our sense of safety, or what-have-you where there's a recognition that our inner perfectionist or inner critic is causing us to perceive everything through a distorted lens, it's important to begin paying attention to these deeply held patterns and core beliefs.
This work is no easy, simple task. I wish the journey of healing chronic pain was a simple 1.2.3. checklist. In my experience, it's the daily work of recognizing how trauma is taking shape in my internal landscape, and to continually be on the inner journey of connecting with my truth. And for me, truth is love and compassion, embodied. Slipping to and fro, I forget, and then remember again. Cultivating a conscious practice of loving kindness, I can have conscious choice in my beliefs, and know these beliefs not as a cognitive effort, but as a felt sense in my body. ❤️
I will leave it there for now friends. Next I will share some specific somatic practices to begin shifting these beliefs, and to come into an embodied state of love and compassion.
