Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Pain--All a Mental Game

You have a headache and what do you do? You think about how much your head hurts. You probably take some tylenol or aspirin and hope the pain ceases. The whole time you have this headache you think about it, and the pain seems to get worse.

What would happen if you thought your pain away? Instead of concentrating on how much it hurts, you'd concentrate on how good you feel. What do you think would happen? Well according to a study done by researchers at Stanford University and MRI technology, you could reduce the pain. This experiment had the subjects look at fMRI images of their brain activity and concentrate on the brain's rostral anterior cingulate cortex, which is an area that is associated with pain. By doing so, the patients were able to reduce pain by a significant amount.

I became so excited when I found this article. For awhile now, I've been part of the school of thought that the way you think affects everything from your health to your everyday actions. Your state of mind controls everything. Don't you notice that when you are having a bad day, it only becomes worse? Or when you are having a great day, everything seems to fall on your lap flawlessly?

For instance, I've been significantly stressed about moving, the house, new jobs, money, and the works. Because of these stress levels I've been sick (for at least a month and actually my throat feels funny), broke out, and feel tired all the time. If I would stop stressing about everything going on, I bet you I would feel better and have a clear complexion. We attract what we're thinking about. It's that simple. Enjoy the article!

1 comment:

Octobermom said...

I used a "hypnobirthing" technique when I gave birth to India because I knew I wanted a natural delivery. I listened to these tapes and meditated for a few months before she was delivered and I was infinatley more calm and in less pain than with Isaac. It was still no picnic but it helped a great deal. I use the same technique when I'm in pain (stub my toe, etc) but have been unsuccessful in using it to help with the blinding (literally) migraines that I get every month or so.