Mental Approach for Recovering from an Injury

Mental Approach for Recovering from an InjurynnPractice the following strategies for recovering from an injury. nI twisted my ankle during a scrimmage, it was sore for about two days. So i decided to used the "Special Place" technique. Thinking of the bahamas while I was in pain made me forget all about the pain I was in.nnn Volume KnobnImagine that your pain is a radio turned up uncomfortably loud. Imagine reaching out and grasping the volume knob on the radio. Turn your pain down slowly, like turning the radio down. Turn it down to the merest whisper of a sound.nn Sensory substitutionnThis is a good technique to use if you find it difficult to believe that you can eliminate all your pain. Change your pain to another sensation like itching, tingling, heat, cold, or numbness. The substitute sensation doesn’t have to be a pleasant one, just less unpleasant than the pain. Another advantage of this technique is that it allows you to know that the pain is still there, in case you need to monitor it for medical treatment.nn Special PlacenGo to your special place and get comfortable. Tell yourself, “This is my special place, a haven from the pain.” When you are fully settled into your special place and the details are very real to you, slowly open your eyes and sit up. Go about your normal routine as if you were still in your special place, directing the actions of your body and your speech by remote control. The idea is to disassociate yourself from your pain. It’s as if you have moved up to a higher level of awareness, putting some distance between your consciousness and your pain.nnAt any time during the day, you can reinforce this fantasy by closing your eyes briefly and intensifying the details of your special place. Tell yourself, “I’m operating from my special, painless place. I’m not fully in the real world at all.”nnAnother version of this distancing fantasy is to imagine that you are an alien intelligence who has taken control of your mind and body in order to learn more about life on earth. As your own “puppet master,” you can feel the pain only dimly. You’re aware of it, but it is just a minor annoyance in the background of all the fascinating new experiences you’re enjoying.nn LockboxnPut your pain inside a small, strong metal or wooden box. Shut the box and lock it. Put the box into the refrigerator or a closet. Slam the door. Lock it, nail it shut, or put duct tape around the edges to firmly seal the door shut. Tell yourself, “I’m my pain away. It can’t get out.”nn TunnelnImagine that your pain is a tunnel that you can enter and exit. As you enter the tunnel, your pain increases for a moment. Then as you walk along, you see the end of the tunnel coming nearer. With each step, the light at the end of the tunnel becomes larger and larger and your pain hurts less and less. As you leave the tunnel and walk out into the light, your pain fades away. Every step heals your body and makes it stronger. You own this tunnel: you can enter and go through it any time you want, and doing so always makes you feel better.nn NumbnessnFocus your attention on one of your hands. Imagine that it is becoming numb. First feel a pleasant tingling in the fingertips and warmth flowing throughout your hand. Let the tingling spread to your whole hand. Now let the feeling fade. Your hand is becoming numb. All feeling drains out of your hand and it becomes totally numb, like a block of wood.nnWhen your hand is completely numb, completely heavy and wooden, place it over the part of your body that hurts. Let the numbness drain out of your hand into your body. Transfer the numbness into the part that hurts until it also is numb.nnThis is a powerful hypnotic technique called “glove anesthesia.” It has been used to perform surgery on hypnotized patients without any other kind of anesthesia.nnIf your pain is in a part of your body that you can’t easily reach with your hand, create the numbness in the part that hurts and do not use the hand transfer method.nn Red ballnImagine that your pain is a large, red ball of energy, like the sun. Watch this bright red ball become smaller and smaller. As it shrinks, watch it change color to a soft pink. It gets smaller and smaller, changing again to a light blue color. As the ball gets smaller and smaller, you feel less and less pain. Keep watching until the ball is just a tiny blue dot. Make it disappear and feel your pain disappear with it.nn Cool WaternImagine that the part that hurts is bathed in cool water. Feel the cool water flowing away, taking your pain with it. The water washes away the pain.nnDale Brownnwww.ebaycashjackpot.comnwww.enivamembers.com/treasures