Let’s jump into using a mindbody approach for relieving chronic pain and other symptoms together. I challenged myself to condense all of the healing practices that have brought me relief down into a few paragraphs. My work pulls from Schubiner, Sachs, Dana & Porges’ work on the nervous system, and Neff & Germer’s work on self-compassion.

When routinely practiced, this simple combination of tools can deepen your relationship with yourself. I encourage everyone to do this work, but those with chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and other ongoing symptoms have so much to gain. With ongoing practice, new neural pathways are built, and our brains stop interpreting every sensation and emotion as a threat. When we make this relationship with ourselves our goal, we get all of these benefits—and we experience symptom relief.

First, I’m going to assume you’ve seen your doctor to rule out issues like active infection, breaks, and tumors. The goal is to rule out issues that can be medically treated and cured. Is it chronic pain or other symptoms that can, at best, be medically managed? This work can help you find relief. This self-assessment is helpful for ruling in mindbody issues. Are you a podcast fan? In this episode, my friend and colleague, Sean Hershey, LCSW, walks you through using Dr. Schubiner’s FIT criteria to determine if your diagnosis and symptoms are mindbody in nature.

Symptom Reprocessing:

When chronic symptoms come up, give yourself messages of safety that resonate for you like, “I am learning this pain is not dangerous. My body is strong and healthy. I am safe to feel these sensations and my emotions.” When you are feeling more curiosity than fear, try noticing what you are experiencing in your body. Describe your sensations like you’d describe an interesting piece of art or a scene in nature. After a brief practice of calmly noticing or when the symptoms are too intense to spend time with, soothe yourself with experiences that bring you peace and joy. I love to suggest time outside, music and movement, and snuggling loved ones or pets.

Reflective Practice:

Simply sit down for 20-30 minutes to write about how you feel. Instead of focusing on the physical issues or on anxiety, ask yourself what is going on in your life, now or in the past, that you may have strong feelings about. Give yourself time to explore these emotions without a filter, with both curiosity and so much compassion for yourself. Our deepest, hardest, scariest emotions will not harm us. But the outdated belief that we can’t handle our own content causes all sorts of dysregulation, protective behaviors, and symptoms.

Ask lots of questions like:

• What about this situation feels difficult for me to feel?
• When else have I felt this way?
• Why is that?

Let your writing wander however it wants to. Just keep writing about your feelings instead of focusing on the details of what happened or on your symptoms. Bring attention to any sensations in your body and let yourself explore what emotions your system may be experiencing. When your timer goes off, throw out your pages or put them somewhere no one can see them. Even you do not need to read them again.

Build Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, & Regulation:

When you are done journaling, use an activity like a self-compassion meditation on the Insight Timer app. If practicing in stillness feels too hard, consider swaying or walking while listening. I like to lay down rather than sit. The goal of this time is to help you feel more present and good, growing your capacity to care for yourself. If the meditation alone is not enough, return to soothing activities like those I suggested above in Symptom Reprocessing. Your nervous system is learning to dip into the activation that emotion brings up, then build flexibility as you shift into calm presence. Becoming your own compassionate witness has far reaching benefits.

Please note: The InsightTimer app offers a free and paid option. There are many beautiful guided practices on the free version.

Do you want support in tailoring this approach to your personal experience? Consider working with me. And come join us for connection and conversation in our Facebook group.