In my adolescents and early 20’s my pain was unbearable. I literally felt like there was a monster living inside of me.

And I did everything in my power to wrestle that monster to the ground.

I tried to beat it down and make it submit.

In all honesty I wanted it to die.

The problem was this monster inside of me fought back with a vengeance.

And my pain only grew in intensity.

It felt like I was strangled by a vice grip with no way out.

But everything changed when I discovered that this monster inside of me was actually a wounded part of myself.

And this hurt, scared, alienated, confused part of me didn’t need to be approached with aggression or violence but with an open heart, a curious mind and receptive ears.

I started to heal when I stopped trying to destroy this wounded part of me.

I started to heal when I learned how to listen, understand and love this wounded part of me.

Ahimsa teaches non-violence and non-harming and it can be a total game changer on your road to chronic pain recovery.

Ahimsa can teach you how to shift your relationship to yourself and your pain.

It teaches me gentleness towards my body.

It teaches me gentleness towards my trauma responses.

It teaches me gentleness towards my thoughts, emotions, memories, beliefs and behaviors.

And the more I live in gentleness the more I’m able to disarm the fear that fuels pain.

Chronic pain often leads to frustration, anger, and even hostility towards the body.

So practicing ahimsa involves treating the body with kindness and compassion, acknowledging its inherent value and honoring its limitations.

By cultivating a gentle and loving attitude towards the body, we can reduce the emotional distress associated with pain and create a more supportive environment for healing.

Ahimsa helps us cultivate a mindful awareness. It encourages us to meet reality as it is, without judgment or resistance.

In the context of chronic pain, this means bringing mindful awareness to the present moment experience of pain, without trying to change it or wishing it away.

By cultivating awareness and acceptance of pain, we can reduce the psychological suffering often associated with chronic pain and develop a greater sense of resilience.

Chronic pain can trigger a natural impulse to resist or fight against it, which often exacerbates suffering.

Ahimsa teaches us to let go of the impulse to resist and instead surrender to the experience of pain with compassion and openness.

By embracing pain with non-resistance, we can reduce the tension and struggle associated with pain and create space for healing to unfold naturally.

When suffering with chronic pain many experience self-blame, self-criticism, and feelings of inadequacy (all of which make pain worse).

Ahimsa encourages us to cultivate self-compassion by treating ourselves with the same kindness and understanding we would offer to a loved one. This can help reduce the emotional burden of pain and foster a greater sense of well-being.

Ahimsa teaches us to honor life. To meet what is, where it is, as it is and this includes our pain.

When practiced moment to moment to moment this helps to turn off the alarm signals of fear that fuel pain. And overtime this creates the psychological safety that allows the brain to unlearn pain altogether.

So your homework this week is to notice when you approach or react to yourself or your pain from a place of force, effort, manipulation, control, judgement, criticsm or blame. Notice the subtle violence in this.

Then see if you can shift how you approach yourself and your pain from a place of lovingkindness and acceptance.

Each time you forget is an opportunity to remember. So the goal is not to never forget. The goal is to keep on remembering.

And the more you remember to acknowledge what is with compassion, the more you are on the road to recover from chronic pain.