Agencies
Services
October is Musculoskeletal Awareness Month
Muscle Matters: Use mindfulness to address your pain
Musculoskeletal pain affects more than just your muscles and bones. It can also affect your mental health, sleep patterns, relationships, activities of daily living, and on-the-job effectiveness. That’s especially problematic with chronic pain.
Fortunately, you may be able to get relief without undergoing risky surgery or taking habit-forming drugs. Mindfulness is a proven approach that often outperforms medical interventions and comes with no negative side effects.
Mindfulness is the state of being fully present and aware of what’s going on in your mind, body and surroundings. It’s an ability we all have, but there are techniques that can help you become more mindful, including yoga, mindfulness meditation, and clinician-led mindfulness-based stress reduction activities. When you’re in pain, it might seem counterintuitive to focus on what’s happening in your body instead of doing something to take your mind off your pain. But growing evidence proves that mindfulness can help.
Mindfulness doesn’t treat the root causes of pain—nor do drugs like opioids, which simply mask the symptoms.
There’s no right way to practice mindfulness meditation. The body scan is one common approach. Here’s how:
- Get ready- Move to a quiet place where you can sit or lie down comfortably.
- Ground yourself- Feel the weight of your body. Sense the parts of your body that are touching your chair or mat.
- Focus on the present- Try to let go of the past and future and just think about the present.
- Scan your body- In your mind, scan each part of your body, perhaps starting with your feet and moving to your head. How does each part feel? Is it hot or cold, tired or heavy?
- Become aware of your whole body- Finally, become aware of your body as a unified whole.
Healthy muscles help prevent or minimize a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. There is plenty of information you can find offering easy-to-action lifestyle changes to help you build muscle strength and prevent and manage musculoskeletal problems, including low back pain.
If you’re feeling unexplained pain, be sure to seek medical attention so you can identify and address the cause.
For more information on using mindfulness to address pain, read here.
Brought to you by:
