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What Distracts You From the Pain?
Chronic Pain | Last Active: May 9, 2023 | Replies (234)Comment receiving replies
I am a cancer survivor and have dealt with depression and chronic pain for 3 decades. I owe my survival to modern medicine but that does not deter me from using complimentary therapies to deal with the after effects of my cancer treatment, my pain, and my depression..
I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up for my first Healing Touch session with Christine. I knew it involved energy work and I’d been practicing Qigong for several years so it interested me. She had me lie down and cover myself with a soft blanket. She said she needed to prepare herself and she went and stood by my feet. Before she touched me I could feel my feet tingling. I’m very sensitive to energy moving in my body. I wasn’t watching what she did but I felt her touch my foot and then my leg. She then moved one hand further up my leg. It was odd; I could still feel the first touch as if she had 3 hands which I was sure she didn’t.
During my second session 2 weeks later my feet did the same thing as in the first session. In addition each time her hand touched I felt a connection between that spot and a spot in my brain as if the two spots were sharing some sort energy.
After each of my two sessions I was very relaxed and invigorated. I experienced an increased sense of wellbeing and decreased levels of pain. My mind was very focused and clear. It was not unlike the way I feel after my Qigong teacher works on me. Both systems work with a set of points in the body that are common to Yoga, Thi Chi, Reflexology, and Acupuncture although these point may go by different names. Christine told me that Healing Touch refers to the Chakras,(sp.?).
These points and flows of energy have been understood by many cultures and are used in many forms of Healing. Healing Touch is the most recent to find its way to me and my efforts to heal myself. Maybe next time I’ll ask more about how it works. First I wanted to know if it works and it does for me. Thank you Christine.
Love and Blessing, Stephen
You can contact Christine at soulmountainhealingtouch@gmail.com
You can also find practitioners in your area. I look for one who is certifies or is in the process of working towards certification.
Replies to "I am a cancer survivor and have dealt with depression and chronic pain for 3 decades...."
Wonderful journey incorporating yoga and meditation into your daily ritual. You really do well with the meditation. And I am sure that helps with Mindfullness. I also make every day begin with yoga and meditation and add Restorative once a week along with pain release massage. Please tell us more about yoga Nidra.
Thanks for asking about Yoga Nidra. I have posted a link below that will take you to a site that gives a full description of it. To tell you the truth, once I am in the experience, I get so absorbed in it that it's hard to describe it.
http://www.swamij.com/yoga-nidra.htm
Just reading a part of the link put me in touch with the deep relaxation and freedom from thought I experience in Yoga Nidra. The site is very informative. I encourage checking it out. Now, I'm going back to the site and read more. 😉
Gailb
Volunteer Mentor
I used to do yoga. It's too hard physically now. I replaced it with Spring Forest Qigong. They say that yoga springs out of Qigong. Qigong has it's own set of beautiful movements and poses. Most I can only manage from a chair. I've been looking into Soaring Crane Qigong which focuses more on meditation. I stopped meditating for a while because I would fall asleep as soon as I started meditating. (sleep is it's own form of meditation). My GP recently put me on Adderall to stay awake so I'm back at it. My cancer treatment ravaged me physically, nearly killed me twice and left me needing a lot of sleep. Having only one lung to breath with tires you out as well. Fortunately I can drop into the "emptiness", and meditate at the drop of a hat. It's great but I keep losing my hats. Do you know about Qigong? I'm going to check out Yoga Nidra. Great to hear you paint. Why not attach an image to one of your posts. I spent my life making art, mostly glass. Have a look. stephenhodder.net or stephenhodder.com . I had to retire do to pain but I still play music and I'm getting into photography.
I want to check out Restorative yoga as well. These thing may not cure us but they sure do help keep the attitude positive which is 90% of the battle. Love and blessings Stephen
Your work is just beautiful and you have had quite a career. Congratulations. I love your color choices...in the fine art glass...mesmerizing and very sensitive. I had a glass gallery for 13 years and would have loved to have represented. I do you. I amch so sorry you are struggling. I do participate in Qigong at St. Johns near St. Cloud. Restorative Yoga....is quite relaxing....the instructor helps you use props to increase the stretches. There are mostly men in my class and they sometimes call it Resnorative because they fall asleep easily. My best wishes to you.....and I will think of you as your journey continues. Please tell me more about Soaring Crane.
@wsh66 I also do Qigong. Still doing some Tia Chi. The floor is out for me although there are some standing Yoga exercises. Also like to draw and paint. Trying to keep as active as I can and not always successful and this is okay for me.
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@wsh66
I have been reading your posts with great interest. I have used various alternative therapies since I first started receiving counseling in the early 1970s. I found Gestault and multi - modal therapy worked best for my depression (stuffed anger) as I could physically work on my issues. I tend to stay in my head and intellectualize the issues and my learning rather than just let myself feel the emotions. Physical work got me out of my head.
In my early 30s I discovered yoga and loved it immediately. We had a VP at work who was a yoga instructor & held classes everyday at noon at work. I was quite limber and was good at it then. When I changed jobs after a very bad car accident in which I was cut out with the "jaws of life" I stopped the yoga and used chiropractors for several years to help with my neck and back pain.
I gained a lot of weight in my 40s to 50s, and decided to get back into yoga. I was too fat to do Child's Pose, but I worked at it and all the poses anyway. I was fortunate to have great yoga instructors and even though I didn't lose weight, I stayed quite limber. It was during my 50s and 60s I learned to do meditation after the yoga. I had moved to a Restorative Yoga program which was easier on my body. Sometimes during our yoga sessions the leader did "Yoga Nidra" with us. Wow! What a huge impact that had on me. I would feel relaxed and pain-free for about 2 weeks afterward. I loved how the Yoga Nidra meditation put me in touch with the different parts of my body, calling attention to the chakras, and ending with my taking a guided journey in my own expanded brain! I would always lose track of the voice guiding the session and go to places within me that left me feeling fantastic. I loved those sessions. Our leader at that time was ReNee DeTar, an instructor of yoga for teachers who were going to be certified. She is known worldwide and is part of the Himalayan Institute, and founded the Institute of Interdisciplinary Yoga Studies, among other related activities. What a surprising opportunity to work with her in the small town of 524 people in which we both lived for about 5 years. I will be joining a Yoga in program where I now live in Orange County, California.
I agree that meditation helped relieve and distract me from my pain, in addition to laminectomy surgery a year ago on my L5-S1, and pain medications when needed. I believe that learning meditation and doing yoga for the years when I was younger have helped me be more limber now at 69 and easier to heal. I also had a gastric bypass surgery (RnY) in 2014, which was a great help in my search for better health. I made the decision to have the RnY during a Yoga Nidra meditation. I set the intention and followed through within the year.
I'm happy to hear of others who have used and continue to use alternative therapies along with traditional medicine for healing as we age. As a Volunteer Mentor with Mayo Connect now, I encourage others who are able to get out and join a Restorative Yoga program or a meditation program. If you can't get out on a regular basis, order a meditation tape or series and learn how to relax, envision your healthy self, and reduce/change your perception of pain. Each of us is different, so what works for one may not work for you. I will be picking up my paint brushes and drawing tools again soon as well as returning to yoga.