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A colleague of mine recently attended a pain
management seminar, where he learned updated
strategies for pain management in new millennium.
Conventional pain management strategies involve
use of opiates, which actually heighten pain centers
in most individuals and have a high propensity for
becoming addictive.
New pain management techniques focus on learning
to cope with the pain. This may involve exercise,
which produces endorphins--your body's natural
opiates/pain killers or even psychotherapy to work
through pain issues and acceptance on an emotional
level.
Interestingly, one may apply updated pain
management strategies in eating disorder treatment--
particularly when yoga is involved in the treatment of
the eating disorder. In yoga, we work towards giving
the eating disorder less importance vs. trying to "fix"
or "cure" the eating disorder. Your eating disorder is
not a separate being. It is a part of you that needs to
be integrated as you learn coping strategies.
Recovery, like yoga, is an infinite journey. You are
always learning about yourself.
In meditation, thoughts will come up and distract you.
You cannot control what comes up during meditation,
but you can learn to give these thoughts less
importance and more importance to the breath.
Again, we cannot "fix" or "cure" these thoughts, but we
can choose how we react to them.
My colleague, who is a therapist,
describes one's thoughts like pop-ups on your
computer. You can load all of the filters and anti-virus
software imaginable on your hard drive, but this still
does not stop every pop-up or virus from coming
through.
Through yoga and meditation, you learn to dip below
the surface of your thoughts and eventually apply this
practice into your life--to any struggle.
Another colleague of mine, Matthew Taylor, who
is a physical therapist and a yoga therapist in
Scottsdale, Arizona, has implemented what he
terms, "21st century physical therapy" into his private
practice. His physical therapy does not involve
machines or weights. It involves opening the hips and
strenthening the spine through gentle movements
and breathing into dormant, painful areas of the
body.
Yoga is an amazing tool. Laura Douglass, an
educator and yoga teacher who works with yoga and
eating disorder recovery at Laurel Inn, Waltham, MA,
has published a scholarly article on yoga and eating
disorder recovery that is linked through the Reconnect
with Food website. For other yoga and eating
disorder recovery peer-reviewed
research,
review this page of my website.
Recovery is a life-long process. If a treatment
provider/center tells you that they will eradicate your
eating disorder, this about as nonsensical as curing
your diabetes or any other chronic illness. Trust your
intuition and trust the
process. The journey is to be experienced without
attachment to the outcome."
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