Pain is a signal. It’s telling us that the body need some sort of attention which could be a simple as taking a rest. It could be more complicated but the important thing to think about is that it’s just that signal, a message.

What happens, though is that we had so many layers to that signal. We add complaining, we add fortune telling, we add drama, and we add both imagination and memory.

With all those layers the messages get lost. The signal now sounds like there’s static on the line or maybe worse yet, it sounds like a party line (for those of you who remember them). It’s distorted and you have hopped on the confusion train.

When we feel a pain we tend to go to the analytical part of our brain to figure out what’s happening. That’s a recipe for disaster in and of itself. Why?

Because our analytical brain is just like an AI engine. It has to have data from which it can draw its conclusions as to the danger. That data is past experience. So if we’ve exacerbated and built on pain in the past we’re liable to do that again.

Our memories also go wild. We think “oh no, here we go again. What if it’s another round of ——— (pick a condition)?”

We add the imaginative process too. “Aunt Sally had pains like that and she was miserable for months.” You may or may not know what her condition was and time gets altered as life goes on. Things in medicine Have probably also changed since Aunt Sally had her “thing”

The fortune telling is the worst because your mind can create the most monstrous situation possible. And when you add Google to it, there’s no stopping Armageddon.

There are, of course, instances when the memory (your own and other family members) is important to consider. If you’ve had heart disease (heart attacks or angina for example) and you have the same pain again, you definitely need to pay attention and get it checked out.

If your doctor has said to come in is this or that happens, do it.

But most of the pains we have can be addressed with a calm mind

Find a sensation and just feel it for about 10 seconds. Notice only the feeling itself. Don’t name it, judge it, or predict it.

Let the body handle the sensation without adding a story.

After the 10 seconds, ask yourself:
Did the discomfort change, or did my reaction change?

Practice on the many sensations we get all the time. Don’t wait for some excruciating pain and then wonder why it didn’t work.

I guess i have to say this. Use common sense and get pains checked out if you’re concerned. This is not a “you don’t need to go to the doctor” post.