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Learn to Shut Your Mind Off and Dismiss Thoughts to Ease Fibromyalgia Suffering

October 23, 2009 by Lisa


One of the most important things I ever did to help me transition from having fibromyalgia to not having fibromyalgia was learn to shut my mind off and dismiss thoughts that came to me. To stop thinking and obsessing about my day, my pain, my issues, what my husband said or didn’t do, what I should have done, what I should do next time, what I would do if I ever was in a certain situation, and on and on.

I spent a lot of time worrying about things, running what ifs through my mind, and analyzing the rightness and wrongness of situations and people’s actions.

Wow, just writing that out makes me realize how incredibly different I am today from how I was just 4 years ago. I can remember laying in bed and tossing and turning and getting so frustrated or wound up by the conversations and scenarios going on in my head. And then I would wonder why I couldn’t sleep.

These days my mind is mostly quiet unless I am actively working on a project or deliberately appreciating something in order to invoke the good feelings and good health appreciation brings. I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes every night. If I get up to help my son or go to the bathroom I fall immediately back to sleep. I purposely don’t worry and do minimal analyzing and planning. I deliberately trust and have faith that things will work out in my favor. It’s just easier that way, and every day my nervous system gets a little calmer and a little more relaxed.

For me, even getting rid of pain is less important to me than being able to dismiss thoughts and calm my mind for two reasons.

  1. Pain is translated by the brain and transmitted via the nervous system. The brain is part of the nervous system, and when the brain is wound up and hyper-sensitive, that contributes to the nervous system being wound up and hyper- sensitive, which makes pain more acute and intense, in my experience.
  2. I have found that if I can stop focusing on pain – if I can get my mind off of it, it becomes less intense. If I can keep my mind off it long enough, I can either fall asleep or continue about my day, and in many cases when I wake up or think about it again, it has lessened or disappeared. Having a set routine and position that I get into to relax and purposely quiet my mind helps with this. Purposely focusing on an area of my body that is not currently painful is also helpful.

One example in which this has been very helpful for me is acute muscle cramps. It used to be that if I got a cramp in my back or my hamstring I would grit my teeth, maybe moan or scream a little, and just wait for it to be over, all the while focusing all my attention on it. Cramps seemed to last forever – at least 30 seconds or so before they loosened.

I don’t get muscle cramps anymore, but in years 4 and 5 of my recovery, if I ever did, I started trying something new. If I felt a cramp coming on I would purposely deepen my breathing, focus my attention on the opposite leg or the opposite back muscle (the one in the same area on the other side of my body that wasn’t having a cramp) and do my best to relax the other muscles in my body. Cramps started to lessen and loosen in seconds. It was actually quite amazing.

So, hopefully I have convinced you of the value and benefits of calming and soothing and quieting your mind. Now let’s talk about how to learn how to do it.

Learning to quiet your mind and dismiss your thoughts, especially your negative ones, is not an instant thing, just like healing your body from fibromyalgia is not an instant thing. Be easy on yourself, you will eventually get this.

I read a certain book three times in the last 6 years, and it helped me each time with this issue. The first time I read it I got a general idea out of it, but didn’t feel that I took too much away from it because the ideas in it were really foreign to me. The second time I read it (4 years later) I was nodding my head in agreement and saying YES! this makes so much sense! and the third time I read it was mostly for fine-tuning.

What I am saying here is that if you take this book and read it, your sub-conscious mind will work on it and start seeing where the ideas in it apply to you and can help you and you will start to act on some of these suggestions and you will gradually find your mind quieting over time, even if in this instant you feel frustrated because you are frustrated. We change gradually, and just reading this book is like an instruction to your brain on what kind of a person you want to transition into.

The book is: You Can Feel Good Again: Common-Sense Strategies for Releasing Unhappiness and Changing Your Life I highly recommend it. In my opinion, the central message is that we all have inner wisdom that helps us through life but we can’t hear it or benefit from it when our mind is constantly chattering. Start today by recognizing that you are thinking about something that you don’t need to give anymore attention to, and deliberately let the thought go. Don’t follow it. and find peace and happiness.

That’s how it worked for me.

Another way to learn to quiet your mind is to take up a daily practice of meditation or relaxation. I did the relaxation for a long time and tried to do the meditation, although I still am not very good at meditating, but what I found the most success with was yoga. Every yoga class ends with savasana, or corpse pose, which means you spend 5 to 10 minutes after the workout laying on your back and relaxing and letting the benefits of the hard work sink into your body. I have found that in a class setting, or even after doing an intense tape, I can best let my mind just be and not think about anything.

And I become calmer, happier, more peaceful, and relaxed. It’s so wonderful. Life can be good, I promise.

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Filed under: Listening to your Body, Reversing Fibromyalgia, Sleep Better, Thoughts and Emotions, Wellness




Have you seen my book yet? I reversed Fibromyalgia in my own body. I think anyone can do it, no matter how long they've had Fibro or how severe their pain, fatigue, fibrofog, or tiredness. Click here to Start Your Journey Back to Wellness!

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