The word ‘adventure’ in dealing with pain is not a joke or lack of respect for pain. Pain is a real mind trapping spirit testing experience and adventure in a person’s life. It can also be an emotionally stressful, fear ridden, and draining experience. The adventure is that of dealing with it’s reality within our lives.

Many people take the only way out from the experience of pain they think is available; that of the prescribed medication, or self-prescribed medication. An over the counter pain reliever or a prescription from a doctor can help alleviate pain, and is a blessing if used in moderation. The physicians prescribed medication approach is not necessarily the right or wrong approach for long term chronic cases, but it is not always the most effective way of empowering yourself, or dealing with chronic pain on a long term basis.

There are many types of pain. As a matter of fact the innumerable ways pain can ensnare and trap us is uncountable. There is the momentary pain, the long term pain, the light pain, the severe pain of prolonged and agonizing duration. There is physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain, and spiritual pain. In these four basic types of pain there can be the unlimited possibilities and twisted ways pain can affect us on any one, combination of, or all, of the possible levels of our conscious, or subliminal life realities.

Life is an adventure in living physical actions, reactions and decisions from birth to death. In the life adventure many things will affect us. Pain is one of those adventures that all of us will encounter in at least some small way. Most of us will have to deal with all of the four possible types of pain in our lives. Even a small cut on the tip of our finger will trigger physical pain, mental pain in the form of fearful imagination, and emotional pain in the form of stress to some degree.

Those of us who are forced to deal with long term chronic pain of one kind or another will have to deal with all four of the possible pain induced struggles.

Spiritual pain is a major part of the long term serious chronic pain. It takes spiritual strength, strength from our core and value center, to deal with long term serious pain.

Emotional pain is usually the first pain a child must face in life. The needing of attention or sustenance from one or both of the parents is the first conscious pain if not fulfilled. Physical pain is the second conscious type of pain that most human beings encounter as a very young child. As a child, a fall, or small accident of any type gives us physical pain. A very young baby’s hunger will cause discomfort that may be interpreted in the inexperienced mind as pain. There are many possibilities for physical pain as we grow and move through life’s many various adventures.

Mental pain can come to us in many ways also. There can be the pain of an unbalanced mind, due to chemical imbalances and other inner physical reasons, or various other types of mental pains such as fear, or anxiety. Mental pain can come in a vast variety of disguises. A separate branch of the medical community is dedicated to the analyses of mental pain, impairment and imbalance. Fear mixed with a thimbleful of fanciful imagination, interpreted as anxiety, is usually the root cause for most common mental pains and stress. Emotional pain walks hand in hand with mental pain. Emotions seem to be equated to mind in action, so emotional pain and mind are inexplicably linked.

Pain comes in many forms. The physical body hurts and is in pain. The mind, for whatever reason, interprets the physical pain with a reality based observation, or adds a little, or a lot, of imagination. The reality based observation is the mind living in the here and now and dealing with the pain as a scientific reality. The cut bleeds and there are ways of stopping the bleeding and quenching the pain. Or the cancer is real and we have to deal with it in a sane and balanced manor. Whatever the cause of the pain, if observed with a scientific attitude, and dealt with in a sane and balanced manor, the outcome is real and part of life.

If however, the mind and imagination get caught up in the fearful imaginings and emotional stress that pain and imagination mixed together can produce, then the pain can become more of a problem. The fearful mind can take us from a manic physical and emotional attitude at one end of the possibility spectrum, to a mentally and/or physically frozen with fear attitude at the opposite end of the spectrum. This manic, or frozen with fear attitude, or anywhere in-between the two, can affect us in our daily lives of work and play, our social lives, private lives, and family life is affected. It slows, or stops, the healthy growth of a good attitude that people need to get through the world we all live in. The unbalanced mentally and emotionally fearful observation of pain can cause many other relatable stresses and problems in our lives.

How we deal with pain throughout life shows us to what depth our experiential character and self discipline has developed, and to what degree we have put our Spiritual center, our core of beliefs and values, to the test.

The adventure in dealing with pain is just that; and adventure in learning about ourselves and the universe around us, which is the true personal adventure.

Dealing with chronic pain is the hardest experience in this adventure. The things a person might try as the answer in coping with chronic pain is endless. My own experience is from a period of my childhood and having to deal with intense pain in my feet. I remember trying many different types of inner mental tricks to rid myself of a pain that would not go away. At times it was like being trapped in a world of pain that seemed to throb and grow, to a point that almost felt insane, and totally unbearable. So I tried many different techniques with my mind to deal with the unrelenting pain. Some of these techniques worked on a limited basis, or within a limited time-line. At some point a person must simply accept the pain and continue on with whatever life endeavors are physically possible.

Some of the many working ways to deal with long term chronic pain are as follows.

Meditation is one of the ways a person is able to build up the mind to a point of mental strength where it is possible to move the conscious awareness of pain toward other awareness’s. Thus alleviating the conscious recognition of the pain for a period of time, this giving the mind and body a window of time and opportunity to release the stress from that constant awareness of the chronic pain. This is only temporary at best. But it is a step in the direction of healing the emotional mind and dealing with the pain.

Taking a mental journey is another form of meditation, and can be a great step in redirecting the minds awareness from pain. The controlled daydream vacation, taken by using the mind and emotions to carry us away into an inner visual fantasy of our choosing is a good way to look at this mental journey. The vacation from pain awareness is usually only for as long a time-line as we have learned to focus and direct the mind away from the pain and into this type of meditation. But it is amazing how emotionally and physically healing even a short good experience away from the awareness of pain can be to our lives.

The same type of mental journey can be used in the active ‘doings’ of life. Doing something that takes all our mental focus. Things like crafts, cards, games, work or play of any kind that is mentally challenging and stimulating. The computer is a mind consuming work to many of us, so are social interactions with other people that add a positive energy to our lives. There are many types of action oriented work and play in life that will take all of our concentration and focus to achieve. These types of endeavors and distractions from pain work like the controlled daydream to take our conscious awareness away from the pain.

Learning the self-discipline of meditation is not accomplished overnight. Learning the discipline of focusing the mind on a particular thought or action is a time learned talent. But it is possible for anyone to learn the techniques of focus and self-discipline. Some of us have an easier time learning mental discipline and focus than others, but all of us can learn to one degree or another. It all takes time, and each one of us reaps the benefits of pain relief more and more as we learn the tricks and techniques to mental focus.

As we reap the rewards of self-discipline in meditation, whether it is from the mental vacation, or the real life action of social interactions, work or play, we find that we have in some way lessoned the impact and vice grip that the chronic pain has had on our lives. We also find that it is possible to change ourselves in the form of some type of healing that occurs with this escaping from pain new reality. We find ourselves growing a new attitude towards life in general. A more positive and healthy attitude is healing and allows more strength and self-confidence to come into our lives. All of this is healing on all levels of our lives.

As time goes on, with our new more positive attitudes, we find our lives changing in ways that we had never imagined. We realize how very much time the chronic pain that is still with and affects us, has robbed from the quality of our lives. But at the same time we see how taking personal responsibility for the adventure of our pain has freed us from some of the more negative and disabling aspects of its affects. This is healing at its very best.

Taking personal responsibility for our pain in life does not necessarily free us from the pain itself, but it does free us from the chains that the pain has wrapped us up in. It also gives us a different more clearly defined view of pain in general. Pain does not totally enslave us; we partially enslave ourselves with our attitudes and views of pain.

The adventure of dealing with pain is a quest into our own lives and beliefs. It takes us from the pain of blind enslavement, to the enlightened understanding of our own ability and responsibility of taking control of our lives. The adventure is one of self-discovery, and self-liberation, to whatever degree we find it, through our own personal efforts in the art of healing ones self.

Written by: William H. Bricker © 2006

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The magic of T’ai Chi Ch’uan can be yours for the effort. The master of the 37 posture calisthenics for health and self defense, Cheng Man-ch’ing, wrote his detailed abstract on the T’ai Chi form and push-hands exercises in the 1950’s. Juliana T. Cheng copyrighted the small booklet, with pictures of the master Cheng Man-ch’ing doing the form in 1981.

The T’ai chi form and martial arts have been practiced and changed to add Qi Gong healing exercises, some say since the 12th century. Prior to the notoriety of T’ai chi form as a healing exercise, it was developed and practiced as a masterful martial art in China.

The art of T’ai chi has a background misted in legend and reality. Most of the practices of the martial arts of T’ai chi were practiced and handed down from family members, to family members. The daughters of the family were not often taught the form because they would eventually marry into another family, and the secrets of the art were well guarded.

The art of T’ai chi ch’uan martial arts, or otherwise called ‘Grand Ultimate Fist’, is one of self defense. The relaxed posture and correct inner attitude of the art adds to its power and effectiveness. The power is generated from a person’s center and waist. The Qi, or Chi, is cultivated within the center of a person with breath and mind control.

T’ai chi martial art uses the opponents own movements against the aggressor as he attacks, so the effort involved is that of ‘listening’ to the energy and then using that same energy to control the opponent.

There are very slow movements, as well as very fast movements in the form of the Chen style of T’ai chi. The Yang style of the form, which is the style that Cheng Man-ch’ing demonstrated in the book, is slow and gentle. The movements of the form are controlled by deep regulated breathing and a very straight and posture perfect spine so the energy can flow up the back and through-out the body with ease.

The book is short but inspiring to those of us who practice and teach the art of T’ai Chi Ch’uan.

Abstract by William H. Bricker jr. (c)2006