It is always a struggle when you visit the dental clinic near your Townsville home and have your teeth checked. All you can think of is the pain that usually comes with dental procedures. Then, you start to think that going to the dentist will never be pain-free.
But what if someone told you that you could manage your pain? What if someone told you that by using your mind, you can convince yourself that the pain you are feeling isn’t as bad as you think? Well, that is possible and meditation is the key to managing physical pain.
Start with an itch
In order to start your journey into meditating through pain, you should begin with something small first and not painful — like an itch. When you feel an itch anywhere on your body, what you should do is to keep yourself from scratching it. Let the sensation stay there and just wait for it to go away.
Eventually, the itch will go away and you will realise that the sensation was not that strong that you could not avoid scratching it. You can use the same method when you are feeling pain. But again, it is best to start with something small, like hitting the closet door with your knee.
When you accidentally bump into something, remember what you did with your itch and try to calm yourself while the pain in your knee goes through your body. Eventually, the pain will go away, as well. When it does, you will also realise that the pain was not that strong that you needed something to eliminate it right away.
Divert your focus
The next step to alleviating the pain in your body through meditation is to divert your focus away from the sensation. It may be hard at first, but after practising this method for several weeks, you will eventually get the hang of it.
Think of something else when the pain hits you. For example, you are in the dentist’s chair and the dentist is performing a root canal on you. The anaesthesia may have already taken effect, but you still feel a little pain.
When the pain hits you, just let it pass through while you try to think of something that could soothe you. If you like the beach, try visualising that you are in the Maldives enjoying a nice cocktail while watching the sunset. Little by little, you will feel the pain go away.
Another thing that you can do is to lie down when you are in pain. According to experts, people who are in pain could minimize the sensation if they lie down on the floor. Once you are lying down, perform some breathing exercises to calm yourself down further.
By focusing on your breathing, you get to divert your attention from the pain. By controlling your breathing, you also get to control your heart rate and slow it down. Eventually, you will be able to eliminate the pain without using any painkillers.
