What have I learned from working with people in pain? Many people in the world live with chronic pain. Pain that does not always have an easy explanation. Pain that can come and go unpredictably. Pain is complicated and the…
How would you feel about saying ‘thank you’ for pain? It seems like a bizarre idea. And yet viewed from the perspective that pain is a protective mechanism – an alarm system designed to help us – not being grateful…
The writer Mark Twain once wrote that: ‘kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see’. It is a behaviour marked by generosity – offering consideration, assistance, and concern for others. Without regard for praise…
The Buddha once said no one should believe things just because he said they were true. He advised his listeners to apply his teachings in their own lives. Take what worked for them, discard what didn’t. Learning to trust yourself…
The word strive means to make great efforts to achieve something. To ‘struggle or fight vigorously’, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. And given how often we hear about the ‘fight against’ in healthcare, whether it’s cancer or drugs, you…
Good things come to those who wait. And if you are dealing with chronic pain, you may well feel you have been waiting rather too long. Chronic pain is defined as pain that has gone on for more than three…
The Buddhist monk Ajahn Chah once said: ‘If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace’. It’s easy to get stuck, when you have…
Persistent pain comes in many different forms. It may a have specific name, like fibromyalgia, or spondylitis. It may affect your head, or your shoulders, your pelvis, or your gut. It might be termed neurogenic, or non-specific. It may happen…
The stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote about ‘the real source of harm’. He concluded that it isn’t the person who takes a swipe at you who harms you. The harm comes from your beliefs about what the event means. While it…
What do you mean by acceptance in relation to persistent pain? How is this even possible? How can you be accepting of something so debilitating and unpleasant? Doesn’t this just mean giving up? These and other questions might legitimately be…