Relieving Stress Relieves Pain

The Institute of HeartMath has focused for the past 18 years on the effects stress and emotions have on our health and quality of life. Researchers have found that the presence or absence of stress can directly impact levels of pain. For example, in the first two weeks following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, pain-treatment specialists were inundated with complaints of worsening pain. Calls came from patients who suffered from many types of illnesses – cancer, back problems, arthritis, diabetic neuropathy, chronic headaches and others. According to the medical director of pain management at Washington Hospital Center at the time, many patients who had been stable for years on their medication flooded the center with phone calls in those first two weeks after the attacks, saying their pain had gotten out of control. In Houston, specialists reported that pain complaints from cancer patients were up 33 percent, and in Buffalo they had doubled. Why?

"Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain."

—Charlie Chaplin

Your body can create chemical messengers, known as endorphins, that help manage pain naturally. The more endorphins released into your system, the less pain you experience. Although, as it now is believed, there is some endorphin secretion into the body at all times, there are periods when endorphin levels fall, particularly during times of stress, that cause aches and pains to increase. At other times, when these levels rise – exercising, listening to music or doing something as common and pleasurable as laughing – aches and pains diminish. HeartMath has received many reports over the years from people who say utilizing our scientifically researched and validated tools and technology helped decrease their pain. (Regardless of your circumstance, always consult your physician before changing your pain-management program.)

Recommended

A HeartMath TIP:

Heart Lock-In^® technique: Use the Heart Lock-In technique – an adapted version follows here – especially first thing in the morning, to increase your endorphin level and to give your body an energy boost for the day. Then try it before going to sleep at night to reduce the stress and aches and pains of the day and enjoy restful sleep.

In-depth details and a discussion about HeartMath’s Heart Lock-In technique are available in the book Transforming Anxiety: The HeartMath Solution for Overcoming Fear and Worry and Creating Serenity, by Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman.

• Shift your attention to the area of your heart and breathe slowly and deeply.
• Activate and sustain a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone or something in your life.
• Send these feelings of care toward yourself and others. This benefits them and especially helps recharge and balance your system.

Benefits of Reducing Stress

• Aches and pains decrease
• Energy increases so you can do more
• Overall outlook Improves, less focus on pain
• More restful sleep at night

Recommended

Tools For De-stressing

• emWave^® Personal Stress Reliever: Regular use of this scientifically validated, hand-held stress-relief technology has proven to be a vital tool in reducing anxiety and stress, allowing your body to recharge itself and, when used with HeartMath techniques you’ll receive, to give you relief from the aches and pains of the day. The emWave^® PSR is easy to use and noninvasive. It will help you achieve heart coherence – synchronization between the heart and brain. It also teaches you to regulate your emotions and prepare for events that can trigger stress responses and to recover quickly from stressful episodes. Carry it anywhere and revitalize your mind, body and spirit anytime.
• emWave^® PC Stress Relief System:^† The emWave PC system turns your computer into a self-contained heart-rhythm-coherence monitor and manager. It let’s you see how emotions affect your heart rhythms and then teaches you how to regulate them. Then, using HeartMath techniques, you’ll easily learn to achieve heart coherence, the state in which all of your body’s systems can function at their optimum. Among the tools you’ll receive with the emWave PC is the highly acclaimed Freeze-Frame^® technique, which has been successfully used by mental health professionals, physicians, educators, corporate executives, athletes and performing artists. The emWave PC and Freeze-Frame have proven particularly effective in pain management and they currently are used in burn clinics. † Formerly known as Freeze-Framer^®.
• Transforming Stress: The HeartMath Solution for Relieving Worry, Fatigue and Tension, book by Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman. Know the warning signs of chronic stress and learn the latest research about your "intelligent heart" and its ability to help you immediately begin reducing the stress in your life. Many HeartMath clients have reported that when their stress levels decreased so did their pain. You’ll receive step-by-step instructions for HeartMath techniques that can help you live healthier with less pain.
• Transforming Depression: The HeartMath^® Solution to Feeling Overwhelmed, Sad, and Stressed, by Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman. Depression commonly goes hand in hand with those who suffer chronic pain. Transforming Depression, the fourth book in HeartMath’s Transforming Series, can help you to understand the feelings you are experiencing such as hopelessness and disinterest in activities you formerly enjoyed, among others, and then teach you powerful tools for easing your pain and overcoming those feelings, including Notice and Ease, the Power of Neutral and the Cut-Thru^® technique. With a little practice, you can lessen feelings of depression and see dramatic changes occur in your mind and body that can lead to better health and greater peace of mind.