How to Meditate Away the Crippling Pain in Your Lower Back

Do you believe our bodies are very capable of healing even major problems? Mindfulness practices and CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) are life changing practices. More and more people are engaging in them for better emotional and physical heath and wellbeing. Now research shows that these practices can reduce pain and make like easier for people experiencing lower back pain.

Lower back pain can be a chronic condition, and quite a painful one as well. It can also limit what a person is able or unable to do. According to sciencedaily, lower back pain is the leading cause of disability in America. That’s a major negative in a person’s quality of living.

How Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and CBT Can Help:

It’s amazing to think that we don’t have to rely so much on conventional medicines and physiotherapy just to feel better. Research done at the Group Health Research Institution at Seattle shows that even 8 weeks of 2-hour weekly sessions in mindfulness based stress reduction and CBT can help. Those that did MBSR and CBT felt at least 30 percent better than those involved in only regular treatment.

After 26 weeks, 43.6% people in the MBSR group reported to feel better, 44.9% in the CBT group reported to feel better, while only 26.6% of the group receiving regular care reported to feel better. This is all despite that a lot of the people in the MBSR group and CBT group didn’t even attend all the 8 sessions; only around half attended at least 6 of the 8. If more people in the group were able to attend more sessions, the results would probably be even higher for those groups.

Research does show that even a little bit of meditation practice could make a real difference when it comes to pain management. In one study, even 3 sessions lasting 20 minutes over the span of three days had a huge effect on pain. Meditation reduces the perception of pain; the results of meditation stay even after the meditation is done.

What Do We Do?

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction is a process which teaches us to observe, acknowledge and accept the thoughts and feelings we experience. Asides from the sessions, the participants also had workbooks, audio CDs and other home practices. These practices include meditation, body scans and yoga. These resources are available in stores, as well as online.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the connection between thoughts, behaviours and feelings. It aims to change our thinking patterns so they can serve us in a better way, allowing us to make our lives better. Participants took CBT sessions and also engaged in imagery and relaxation at home.

How to Get Started

We can include these practices into our lives for better overall heath and wellbeing, as well as better quality of life. These practices can help increase our awareness and bring us closer to our deeper selves, as well as allow us to gain a better understanding of humanity.They can help us learn to detach ourselves from our thoughts and emotions in a way that serves us.

The effect of these practices on our health is also manifold. We learnt of how they can help with pain management, and make our lives more functional even with physical challenges. They also help us better manage emotional and mental challenges. It is worth it to take sessions with a qualifies psychotherapist or counsellor who is trained in these practices.

However, there are other resources we can use to benefit ourselves. Below are some links to such resources. Why not try a good meditation retreat? Anything can happen.