Low Tolerance

[dulaney0330]

I have an incredibly low pain tolerance. Is this the result of negative self-talk? (The pain is too unbearable, I can't stand it)

Any way to improve on this?

[Dreamline]

There are F-MRI studies that show people with a low tolerance for pain actually experience pain differently than people who are more indifferent to pain. You can try hypnosis and EFT. But it may be your wiring.

Except for a couple circumstances, my tolerance for pain is high. I find that my mind basically looks at the pain as if I am observing someone else experiencing it, if that makes sense. Almost a detachment.

Jennifer

[Holistic Star]

Yes hypnosis is great for helping with pain.

When I teach HypnoBirthing to couples, we explain the Fear-Tension-Pain cycle.
i.e. experiencing fear leads to tension within the body, and this can result in pain. If you can reduce fear (we teach positive visualisation and self-hypnosis techniques and meditation breathing for this), it reduces the tension and consequently the pain.

There are two ways of doing this. You can either use hypnosis to achieve a dissociated state from the body which is very useful when doing operations under hypnosis and involves a deep trance state.

Or as in HypnoBirthing we teach the mothers to be very associated with their bodies, completely relaxed and awake. So they can feel everything that is happening but as pressure and sensation, rather than pain.

There is probably other methods to help with this too. I would be interested in what other board members suggest.

[betterman]

yes...it is my friend because the mind is a very powerful tool you can convince it of anything you want and when you do the universe has its own way of making that come true

[Angela]

There are a few ways of thinking about this that you might like to try on.

First, how do you know your level is incredibly low? According to whom? How do you know your pain tolerance level isn't absolutely perfect for you?

You know I think pain is an angel, a heavenly messenger, so to speak, who is there to deliver a message to you. In less new-age terms, it's your unconscious mind presenting something to your conscious mind, something valuable for you to learn and carry with you going forward. If you don't get the message or the lesson, the angel will just keep coming, with more and more dire effects -- she'll knock louder and louder until you finally get up off your butt and come to the door.

So, having a relatively low tolerance to pain saves you time and trouble, and puts you on the fast-track of personal development. You don't have a low tolerance to pain, in other words; you simply have a low tolerance to your own resistance to learning. You are highly motivated, at an unconscious level, to grow.

The downside is that you might find yourself trying to move gingerly, so that you don't have to feel any pain at all, and thus prevent yourself from getting certain learnings. That's fine, as long as you are committed to getting the learnings short of feeling the pain. It can be done; you simply have to put yourself on a new, higher level of awareness -- tune your antennae up so that you are receiving more learnings from sources other than the angel of pain.

Secondly, if you find yourself being a big baby about pain -- like you whine and moan about pain, either consciously or unconsciously (your self-talk sounds like a pretty good example of that), the message may not be audible over the whining and moaning. So, yes, learning how to turn the volume down on the self-talk, eventually turning it off, is a great idea! (NLP has some great techniques for that -- one to try is to just go to your control room and find the knob that says "Self-Talk Volume" and just turn it down. You can also change the tone of the voice -- maybe so it sounds like the three little baby mice in "Babe.")

The most important thing about pain is to get the learnings. So be sure that you get the learnings, acknowledge and thank the angel (your unconscious mind) for presenting them to you, and implement what you've *gotten.* When you do that, notice how powerful you are, and how enjoyable it is that you've created all that for yourself, and allow yourself to feel gratitude for the whole shebang.

Transform that pain into feeling good.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

Or as in HypnoBirthing we teach the mothers to be very associated with their bodies, completely relaxed and awake. So they can feel everything that is happening but as pressure and sensation, rather than pain.

Hey, HS, did you happen to see my post on Anna Verwaal's photography? She doesn't do hypnobirthing, exactly, or at least that's not what she calls it, but it sure looks amazing. She takes photographs of the birthing process that just knocked me out, they're so full of emotion and love and welcoming. It makes giving birth look like an enjoyable experience.

I'd love to introduce you to each other! I know you'd love each other.

[Brutha]

There are F-MRI studies that show people with a low tolerance for pain actually experience pain differently than people who are more indifferent to pain.

So what? Perception is not something that can't be changed.
It's no huge discovery that people with low tolerance for pain perceive pain differently. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have a low tolerance for pain.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Brutha

So what? Perception is not something that can't be changed.
It's no huge discovery that people with low tolerance for pain perceive pain differently. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have a low tolerance for pain.

I agree -- especially after reading "The Brain that Changes Itself," by Norman Doidge, and working with hypnosis and deliberate thought therapies. I'm believing less and less of what we've been taught is "hardwired" into the human brain, as I see more and more evidence (written and in person) of people making significant changes in their mind/body connection.

[drakecatz]

I also feel I have a low tolerance for pain. I have had a life long friend who can take it all, and yes, I've compared myself to her.

I have wondered if my low tolerance is due to the fact that I am rarely in pain. I've led a very healthy life. I'm also deft and not prone to slamming fingers and stubbing toes. Therefore when something physically painful happens I am very aware of it.

The more you do something the eaiser it is. Maybe it's the same with pain.

[dulaney0330]

Originally Posted by drakecatz

I also feel I have a low tolerance for pain. I have had a life long friend who can take it all, and yes, I've compared myself to her.

I have wondered if my low tolerance is due to the fact that I am rarely in pain. I've led a very healthy life. I'm also deft and not prone to slamming fingers and stubbing toes. Therefore when something physically painful happens I am very aware of it.

The more you do something the eaiser it is. Maybe it's the same with pain.

Interesting. This could be part of it.