Pain is the hot topic

Either physical, emotional or mental, pain is making its way through. Asking us to notice it, to finally see it for what it is, begging for our attention without judgement, for our curiosity and acceptance, for pain is not just part of life it is a needed survival mechanism. Let's get to know it well.

Are we in pain? If you’ve heard me talk about pain you know I’ll ask if you’d checked with a medical doctor first. No matter what the cause is, if it has reached the body, it needs to be seen there first. If we have a broken finger, we are not going to sleep in it, or meditate our way through. We have no shame to go to a hospital if we have a broken bone, yet we might not be as fast asking for professional help when the pain is not physical.

If it is hurting in a non-physical way, how are we deciding what do we need? Reaching out, talking about it, asking for help, this is not only needed, it is fundamental for our survival. Having said this, I’ve learned the hard way, to choose carefully. We must choose someone who is able and willing to see us and our pain, to hold it, and care for ourselves now in this pain.

Not everyone reacts in the same way to pain, not everyone has the same pain tolerance level, not everyone has learned to deal with pain growing up. If we are in pain, let us ask for support, look for appropriate help. We don’t go to a dentist for an ear ache, we don’t go to a clown to fell heard, we don’t talk about our financial problems with our wiseass uncle that is in debt. Let us be wise about asking someone for support.

Chilli peppers, have an active component, capsaicin, these apparently was created in the plant as an anti-fungal protection. When ingested by mammals, it causes a burning sensation followed by a pleasurable one. This pleasurable sensation is due to the release of endorphins creating an analgesic effect. Let us embrace the burning sensation of a pain, just for a nano second, in order for us to have some time and space to assess what is this pain asking for, what does it need?

This might be the time needed for the analgesic effect to kick in and give us the courage to ask for the appropriate help. If we don’t develop this ability to hold our pain just for a few seconds, we might just do anything (most of the time, in a reactive fight or flight mode) to get out of it. So ask for help. We are all in pain, no one is imune, we are not here to be free from pain, we are here to learn to live with it. Let’s talk about it, let’s keep it simple even when it is not easy.