Words do Shape Your Reality!

Last week, in my office, one of my pain management clients came in to tell me how the advice I gave her reduced her discomfort tremendously. She was amazed how a simple change in how she describes her pain could actually make a difference in her perception of the pain.

She has severe jaw pain and finds it difficult to talk, eat and drink. Opening her mouth wide is extremely painful and she reports being in chronic pain 24/7. She hates pain medications and uses them sparingly, stating she would rather have the pain and feel clear and sharp than dulled by meds.

Well, the change in words she used is something I have posted before and she isn't the first person to report a change in their perception of pain by doing this. What this woman did was stop using the word 'Pain.' She substituted the word 'Discomfort.' She stated that after only three days of doing this she was talking to a friend who made her laugh...now laughing usually causes her pain to escalate, but this time her mouth opened and she was laughing without care. Her friend noticed it and made the comment on the wonderful change.

My client was ecstatic with delight.

So, how does this work?  Discomfort has an imbedded hypnotic suggestion of Comfort. The Subconscious Mind which is responsible for your healing can't pick up on the Dis in Discomfort. It can only see and respond to Comfort. One of the prime examples of how a negation, like Dis, or Un or Not, can't be picked up the subconscious is for me to ask you right now..."Do Not think of a Blue Monkey with a big red butt".

Yep...Blue Monkeys...Big Red Butts.

So, be mindful of the words you use. They do shape your reality. Now, don't think of Blue Monkeys tonight when your head lies down on your pillow...

For more info on Pain Management make sure you check out "Black Belt Healing: A Martial Artist's Guide to Pain Management & Injury Recovery"...you can buy it at www.blackbelthealing.com

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen

Testing my stress limits...arrgh!

Life has a way of throwing a lot of stuff at you. In the past few weeks my two daughters have been very ill. One with a nasty virus that has effected her lungs, the other stung by a bee. My daughter who was stung is in college 3 hours away...she is allergic and went into shock. Fortunately a friend grabbed her epipen and gave her the doseage.

My wife and son, both have had surgery and lots of pain afterwards. My wife had to have a d&c to check for uterine cancer. Everything is okay as tests came back benign. My son had to have a eyelid repaired as it drooped due to a weak muscle-tendon connection. It was effecting his vision.  Both of them, on the journeys home had break-through pain that caused my wife to pass out and my son to cry.

On top of this, once again, a top ranked bookseller, this time Barnes & Noble has screwed up an upcoming booksigning by forgetting to order my books. The one at Borders I had a few weeks ago, they accidently sent my books back just before the signing. What's up that?

Oh, well. Just gotta keep on one day at time. Everything does work out well. My son is recuperating well (I am home with him today...his surgery was yesterday) and he is feeling fine. My wife does not have cancer. My daughters have recuperated and are well...and my book signing for this weekend will go on. 

What is there to learn from this? Not sure right now. Just needed to vent a bit. I feel better already.

In Gassho,
Shinzen

Nothing left to do? Laugh!

My Zen calendar today, "Nothing is left to you at this moment but to have a good laugh!"

Good advice. Grouch Marx was known to have said, "A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast."

So...A man went to his doctor complaining of painful headaches. After concluding his tests, the doctor said, "There's only one solution, but it's extreme: castration." The patient said he could never resort to that and he walked out.

As the weeks went on, his headaches go so painful he couldn't take it any longer. He went back to the doctor and agreed to the castration. The operation was a big success, and the patient couldn't believe that his headaches were finally gone. He felt like a new man. He was so excited about his new life that he went to a tailor and bought a whole new set of clothes---suits, socks, shirts, even underwear.

In jotting down all the appropriate information, the tailor finally asked, "What size underwear do you wear?"
"Forty" replied the man.
"Oh, no," said the tailor. "You're a 44 if I ever saw one. If you wear underwear that tight, you'll get terrible headaches!"

Oh, well...nothing left to do but laugh.

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen

Amnesia for Discomfort & my next book

For the past week I have been experiencing some rather intense discomfort in the metatarsal region of my right foot. I figured it was from wearing some new sandals while on vacation, but the darn thing won't go away...in fact, it has progressed in its discomfort. Two evenings ago I dreamt I was walking on a gravel road in my barefeet and when I awoke the bottom of my feet felt as if they were burning. To get them to stop burning I used some visualization techniques to cool the sensation and fell asleep. (you can read more stuff like this in my book by the way).

Well, just this past evening my right foot woke me up with once again a severe burning sensation across the pad of my foot but also shooting into my toes. I tried a new technique using hypnotic amnesia.  I simply told myself to remember to forget the discomfort and then focused my breathing into my hara (remember the red rubber ball technique?). That's all I did and I feel back asleep and had a good night's rest.  I had to do this twice during the evening and it worked both times to get me back to sleep.

I know I am improving and will get better soon...I have a martial art seminar/camping retreat this weekend and will be on my feet all day. I bought some special shoe inserts so I hope this can give me the support I need to facilitate comfort. I am curious to see how it works.

Also, for those who are interested, I have started writing my next book and will have a co-author, Teri Nehring. If you remember back in November of 09 I had asked the 'creative spirit' for seeds for my next book. This led me into the world of shamanic studies and meeting Teri, a healer trained in Andean Shamanism. Well, the seeds have finally sprouted.  It involves warriorship, healing, sacred swords of the samurai, shamanic journeys and wherever inspiration leads us.  I will keep you posted.

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen

A Strange Healing

About two months ago I jammed my neck (head-butting a brown belt in the stomach...long story). About two weeks after this my vertigo returned. This prompted me to go see my Chiropractor for an adjustment of my neck and back as it helped in the past.

During the first session (I had four in one week) she told me I really f**ked-up my neck. After the adjustments I began having a sharp pain in my back between the shoulder blades. Breathing was difficult and sleeping on my side exacerbated the discomfort. I continued to due my yoga and visualizations for healing which gave me some relief.

Well, today I had a strange healing. At lunch I decided to do some self-hypnosis and requested a healing from my subconscious. I put on some Shamanic drumming music and entered into a trance. I lost track of time but my conscious mind kicked in when I heard and felt a 'pop' coming from my chest/heart area and I could 'see' the shape of glowing chakra in my mind's eye. The feeling was great and one of relief. All afternoon I have felt at ease, not only emotionally, but the discomfort in my back was gone!

I am going to use more Shamanic background music for my self-hypnosis sessions and see what happens. I have been thinking of doing some past life regressions in this manner as well. I love taking trips. Would you guys who read this blog be interested in hearing about my journeys?

Hands palm to palm,

Shinzen