explain
pain
6
section
123
page
6. Do themovement in different emotional states
We tend to put exercise and activity off whenwe are
feeling a bit down, but if youwere to perform activities
such as those listed above in various emotional states, it
would give the virtual body a richer context of
representations inwhich to run. You are now teaching
the orchestra to play some pretty sublime and new-age
tunes. The better the orchestra becomes, themore
harmoniously it will play together and themore it will
be able to remember new tunes. Also the less it will tend
to snap into that old familiar pain tune.
7. Add distractions
Distraction is a powerful way to disable the painneurotag.
Distraction removes key ignitionnodes (see page 39),
such as nodeswhich are activatedwhen you concentrate
or focus on something (such as pain). You could use
music, meditation, visualisation or you could even alter
the environment of exercise. Musicwhich is conducive to
gettingmoving and changing rhythmwould be useful.
Doing artworkwhich allows you to go into aspects of the
pain experience but without igniting the pain experience
would be therapeutic in itself. Distraction is not a simple
pain reliever – combine it with some creative activities for
added power.
8. Plan functional activities which involve bending
the back
When a part of your body hurts, your brainwill accept
movements that it knows are familiar and necessary to
your comfort and survival –meaningful movements.
While somemeaningful movements can hurt if they
bring backmemories of pain, many are gratefully
accepted by the brain. We flex our backs whenwe lie on
our sides to go to sleep (on either side). We bend our
backs to put on shoes, to pick something up off the floor
and to speak to children.
