Your mind plays an important role in how you feel pain and in how you respond to illness. How you deal with pain can actually affect how you feel your pain. People who are in pain have stress. Too much stress can, in turn, trigger flares. Pain and stress both have similar effects on the body.
Muscles become tight and breathing becomes fast and shallow.
Heart rate and blood pressure go up. The ability to relax can help you reverse these effects. In addition, feeling relaxed helps you to have a sense of control and well-being that makes it less difficult to manage pain. Relaxation is more than just sitting back, reading, or watching television. It involves learning ways to calm and control your body and mind.