A new year has arrived, and I have survived the hustle and bustle of yet another holiday season. A focus other than the pain. The pain still exists, no matter how hard I try to pretend it doesn't. Then I read something that Penney Cowen, founder of the American Chronic Pain Association, said about counting from 1 to 24 and saying the alphabet at exactly the same moment. If I focussed my attention on something other than the pain it was pretty difficult to focus on the pain.
Holidays are a great place to focus attention.
However, they do tend to cause extra stress and as one of my group members stated recently while it is good stress it is still stress. After all, it is still stress. One of the best ways that I have found to cope with stress is through relaxation excercises. There are many types of relaxation excercises, imagery, autogenic relaxation, the Jacobson Technique, and audio-focusing. In the next issue of the Track we will explore the world of relaxation.