When we feel pain, it can be almost impossible to take our minds off of it. But how we think about our pain and the language we use to talk about it can be extremely influential in how we experience and try to resolve it. After all, our physical bodies have a way of reflecting our psychological and emotional processes.

This week’s guest, Steve, a writer and educator (among other previous careers), opens up about his chronic “standard low back thing,” but when he first experienced severe symptoms of back pain, he describes thinking he had "broken" his back and refers to feeling "disabled" during that time. In this episode, follow along with Steve’s transformation from then to now, where he strives to mentally respond to recurrences of pain with calm mindfulness, situational awareness, and practical solutions rather than letting his pain or his thoughts about it define him.

Key Points from this Episode:

• Reevaluating whether we have to accept familiar, “standard” pain as part of our lives
• Optimizing our bodies’ self-repairing functions
• Combating low back pain through core stability and strength, which is more complex than simply “working the abs”
• Introducing Robin McKenzie’s system of diagnosis and treatment for specific lower back pain at the spinal level
• Stressing our bodies during air travel through both mechanical strain and biochemical disruptions (rest, nutrition, hydration)
• Fulfilling work can still involve physical tolls that may become intolerable
• Exploring Parker Palmer’s undivided life philosophy
• Comparing longer-term “balance” versus the best (and mutable) “mix” in the moment
• Pain tolerance
• Appreciating the role of language in the experience of pain
• Understanding different pain-coping personality types
• Checking in with yourself and learning what to pay attention to through mindfulness and self-knowledge

Links Related to This Episode:

The Everyday Pain Guide Facebook Page — https://www.facebook.com/everydaypainguide

FB Group: “Everyday Pain Forum” — https://www.facebook.com/groups/everydaypainforum/

Stop Everyday Pain on Twitter — https://twitter.com/noeverydaypain

IBPA — http://www.ibpa-online.org/page/MissionVision

Ben Franklin awards — http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/

Steve Peha — https://www.ttms.org/steve_peha/steve_peha.htm

Be a Better Writer — https://www.amazon.com/Be-Better-Writer-School-Anyone/dp/0997283106

Parker Palmer http://www.couragerenewal.org/parker/#bio

Robin McKenzie — http://www.mckenzieinstitute.org/about-us/the-legend-of-the-mckenzie-method/

Herbert Benson — https://www.bensonhenryinstitute.org/about-us-dr-herbert-benson/ http://www.relaxationresponse.org/

Pain language: impact to pain experience — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4589930/

Pain education: impact to pain experience — http://www.clinicalpainadvisor.com/painweek-2016/positive-impact-of-pain-education/article/521717/

Music from this Episode:

Eric and Magill – https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/

Samuel Vas-Y - https://samyel.bandcamp.com/