Where is your attention?

Do you want more play in your life? Are you sure? Many people become so used to pursuing a cure or fix for their pain, that it becomes such a habitual behavioral pattern that you may not be aware of how attached you are to it.

There are two parts to this story. The first one is that you can’t fix yourself, because your focus is still on the problem. The harder you try, the worse it will become. It’s a consistent experience. Your body chemistry will remain out of balance, and there are many physical symptoms that stem from the effects on the various body organs. The second, and most critical aspect of healing, is learning the methods to auto-regulate your body’s chemistry, which also has profound effects on your organ systems resulting in a marked decrease in physical symptoms and improves your over sense of well-being.

Play

One of the most effective ways of achieving this state of being is to nurture a sense of play in almost every aspect of your life. It is a choice you can make daily with or without your pain. If you are waiting for the pain to disappear first, you’ll be waiting a long time. The pain is center stage and where your nervous system will experience an increase in the complexity and strength of these unpleasant circuits. (1)

We discovered the play concept many years ago during our annual Omega Institute workshop, “Relief from Chronic Pain.” We held the first one in 2013. It was before I had any concept of how the body chemistry had such a profound effect on creating mental and physical symptoms. I did have a basic understanding of neuroplasticity, and also knew that social isolation creates similar symptoms to those of people suffering from chronic pain. The seminar is based on awareness, hope, forgiveness and play. The intention was to create a structured, enjoyable shared experience.

Re-connecting with play, people and life

My wife, Babs, is a professional tap dancer. Rhythm is second nature to her. We didn’t attempt to dance, but worked on some basic rhythm in the form of “The Cup Song” and a few other simple steps. Most of us were rather inept at learning these skills (there were some notable exceptions) but we began to laugh. It was clear that this wasn’t a high-stakes game and we just had some fun. Many participants had a shift in mood, and some experienced a significant decrease in their pain. Even more had improvement months later because I think their nervous system had reconnected with having fun. Fun gets buried in the morass of pain. They were able to practice the tools unique to them to get back to that spot.

The healing process is paradoxical. Before you can move forward you have to let go. You can’t truly play if you are angry and the more legitimate your anger, the harder it is to process it. So, a significant part of the weekend is focused on forgiveness.

Both play and forgiveness are processes that have different roles and impact on a given day. Even if you can’t forgive for a while, make an empirical choice to play. We do know that actively engaging in fun will change your mood – whether you want to or not. This poem was recently sent to me and reflects some core healing concepts.

When I Dance

“When I dance

I cannot judge,

I cannot hate,

I cannot separate

myself from life.

I can only be joyful

and whole.

That is why

I dance.”

~ Hans Bos

That is why

When I judge

Hate

Separate myself from life

I cannot dance.

Reply from my friend

We would love to meet you this year at our 2019 workshop at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY being held from Friday evening, June 7^thuntil Sunday noon, June 9^th.

So whatever form it takes – just dance!!

The post When I Dance – Omega 2019 first appeared on Back in Control.

The post When I Dance – Omega 2019 appeared first on Back in Control.

In August of 2013 I put on a 5-day workshop at the Omega institute in Rhinebeck, NY with 11 participants. The other two faculty were Dr. Fred Luskin from Stanford and my wife, Babs Yohai, who is a professional performer (tap dancer). We designed it to address many variables that affect the perception of chronic pain.

One antidote for anxiety is structure. As pain induces relentless anxiety we created a tightly scheduled structure. We presented videos of patients who had healed, bringing hope into the equation. Major emphasis was placed on forgiveness presented by Dr. Fred Luskin, author of Forgive for Good. The frustration around chronic pain disconnects us from others and ourselves. You cannot move forward until you can let go.

Social isolation

The factor that we wanted to most address was the problem of social isolation. I have long-witnessed that most of my patients in chronic pain become socially isolated. It is difficult to want to be with other people when you are miserable. Unfortunately you then have more time to think about your pain and really etch in the pain pathways. It is somewhat of a disaster.

“The Cup Song”

The participants were paired a partner for the week. We spent time sharing past experiences and remembering who we really were. Bab’s role turned out to be one of the more important one in that she took us through many somatic exercises, including several hand rhythms. The most enjoyable one was, The Cup Song.

We all struggled, especially me. We began to laugh and the whole mood of a bunch of adults struggling with “The Cup Song” began to change. By the middle of the week many people began to experience less pain. A year later at least half of the group that we have kept in touch with has continued to do well.

A letter from a participant

This is a letter from one of the participants who initially struggled and continued to struggle for a while. I wasn’t sure which way he would go. He is a remarkably nice person and was a major factor in the success of the week. He had the courage to stand up and share his new interest in learning the xylophone – except he had not yet learned to play it. The fact that he was willing to be vulnerable at that level instantly changed the feel of the whole room. On Wednesday evening he recited three poems, again helping all of us feel more comfortable sharing.

Here is his letter and new poem about one year after the workshop:

I haven’t the language of emotion! I never learned it. I haven’t learned it, yet. I think this may have something to do with my block in writing down thoughts, too. If this is an accurate assessment, I think the whole poetry thing is a good prescription.

Amadinda – after James Wright, author of “A Blessing”

Just off the path through the porch of my house

Stands a xylophone.

Crafted from 2 x 4 lumber.

The keys rest on a rope sling

Like a hammock.

Sliding two red mallets from the holder

I stand with hands hovering

Anticipating inspiration.

If the music inside me ever gets out

I will burst into blossom.

A remarkable experience

We held a second Omega seminar in August of 2014 with 20 participants. Again we witnessed many stunning turnarounds in a short period of time. Others are gradually figuring it out.

What we learned is that the workshop is not a formula. It is a structured environment where people could learn, relax, open up, and connect. In the end it is people that heal each other.

The post Ready to Blossom – Omega 13 first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Ready to Blossom – Omega 13 appeared first on Back in Control.

The essence of curing chronic pain is connecting to your own body’s capacity to heal. When you are trapped by any circumstance, especially chronic pain, first your anxiety escalates and then you become angry. Your body is full of stress chemicals and you’ll experience many physical symptoms. Once or twice a year we hold a retreat for people that have been suffering from chronic mental or physical pain.The intention of the workshop is for you to experience a weekend of sharing enjoyable experiences in a structured safe environment and relax. Relaxing is challenging in the context of suffering.

The faculty includes my wife, Babs Yohai, who is a professional tap dancer and movement artist, and my daughter Jasmine Yohai, who is an expressive arts therapist. The weekend begins Friday evening and ends Sunday at noon. We spend Sunday afternoon relaxing by the lake with many of the participants. The core concepts of the workshop are:

• Awareness – It is important to understand the nature of chronic pain and your relationship to it.
• Hope – We enjoy sharing many success stories – and some will be returning.
• Forgiveness – Processing anger is the tipping point of  becoming pain free.
• Play – Relaxation and play are the essence of what Babs and Jaz bring to the weekend.

Jasmine

Jaz has an unusual background in that she graduated as a dance major, has a Masters in psychology, spent extra time learning expressive arts therapy and is currently working for a non-profit organization in Oakland, CA housing homeless people. She is relaxed, although she’ll tell you that she often doesn’t feel as relaxed as she appears.  She exudes concern and compassion and loves to be of service in whatever capacity she can. Her role is putting us through different shared exercises that are calming, and she is excellent.

Babs

When I first asked Babs to be a part of the workshop in 2013, I was becoming aware of the power of play in addressing the power of pain. Chronic pain is a result of memorized neurological circuits in your brain. The more you try to fight and fix them, the stronger they will become because you’re paying too much neurological attention to them. One approach is to create alternative circuits by stimulating new connections in your brain – neuroplasticity. Learn another language Another is to shift back on to your play circuits, which is a more rapid and powerful strategy. Although, that may seem like a forgotten word to you after so much suffering, it is one of the basic foundations of the development of human consciousness. Play exists deeply in all of us even if we can’t consciously connect to it.

In addition to tap dance, Babs is accomplished in Tango, Salsa and Balinese mask dancing. She has a lot of depth in rhythm and movement. I asked her to be one of the faculty, as these types of practices can quickly reconnect and create new neurological circuits. She was apprehensive about her role but agreed to give it a try.

I wasn’t asking her to teach us to dance. I was interested in re-connecting the mind with the body through music and movement. She began with a simple song combined with stepping and clapping. Then she introduced The Cup Song. She and Jaz led us in learning a new language of rhythm, causing a shift from pain to play circuits. We began to relax and laugh.

The Cup Song

A shift in pain

My original concept of the workshop was that I had five days to give an intensive course in teaching the DOC concepts, and then people would learn to implement them at home more quickly than when learning in the office setting. What happened was completely unexpected in that many people experienced a shift their mood and the pain would drop – sometimes dramatically during the workshop. I think it happened for a couple of reasons.

First, it is common, almost the rule, that people in pain become socially isolated, which is a terrible way to live. In fact, research shows that the pain of social rejection shares similar brain circuits to that of physical pain.  One of my goals was to create a structured environment where the participants could be with others in a safe place and share enjoyable experiences. What I eventually realized was that my main function was to create and maintain the structure, and that people heal each other. By connecting to others, you are able to find your way back to you.

Secondly, “neurons that fire together, wire together” is a common phrase among neuroscientists. Anger, anxiety and pain circuits are tightly intertwined, and stress usually fires up the pain circuits. Shifting to the play area of the brain unlinks them and pain drops.

Third, anxiety is an indicator of elevated levels of adrenaline, cortisol and histamines. You are on high alert and one of the results is that these hormones increase the speed of nerve conduction and you’ll feel more pain. The weekend gives you a chance to feel again what it is like when your system is full of chemicals that are elevated when you are at play.

Omega 2019 

The workshop is now three instead of five days and we were surprised to see that it was equally as effective. It feels like the participants are more focused and dive in quickly. Much of the work is done in small  groups of four or five.

It was at Omega that we learned about the deadly effects of people discussing their pain with their family, friends and colleagues. One basic ground rule is to never discuss your pain or medical care with anyone or complain. Your brain will develop wherever you place its attention. Research even shows that belonging to a pain support group or keeping a pain diary is counter-productive. You might as well place your hand right into a large hornet’s nest. You are reinforcing the pain circuits, not moving away from them. I didn’t realize how much time people in pain spent discussing it or endlessly searching for a solution. It is completely understandable.

Although, many mindfulness-based pain programs have impressive results, it is unusual to experience such a shift within a couple of days. What has happened is that the group has tasted freedom from pain. They now have the knowledge and tools to get back to that spot. With practice, a high percent of participants can break free of chronic pain and re-create their life.

The Cup Song or the gym?

Here is an email from one of the participants who has made steady progress over the year after Omega. He had been experiencing quite severe back and leg pain for about five years:

Ah, the victim role, that is me seemingly all the time. All of David Burn’s (author of “Feeling Good”) cognitive distortions are helpful to recognize in myself, but victimhood is the reminder most useful for me. I fall into it so easily!

I had a bad evening with the lower back several days ago. Instead of my usual hour+ strengthening and stretching routine, I practiced The Cup Song for 45 minutes, and most of the tension in my back went away. I’m starting to synch the lyrics with the percussion! I’ll need to go back to Omega for The Natural Singer In You to work on my tone and pitch!

At no point during my career would I have ever anticipated play being a major healing modality.

Enjoy your day today

The post “The Cup Song” first appeared on Back in Control.

The post “The Cup Song” appeared first on Back in Control.