Chronic Pain | Peace Mountain Yoga

March 23, 2018March 29, 2018

DRINK, SLEEP, LOVE – Part 3 of 3

LOVE

Of course there are many meanings of the word love including romantic love where there is a deep feeling of affection toward another. Here I am discussing Love in a different way without what we call attachments or arbitrarily seeking fulfillment in another.

This Love nourishes our spiritual freedom. Blood nourishes the heart, food and water give us energy, and true love flowing nourishes the spirit. This is the love we can learn to cultivate and feel even when things are unpleasant in our lives. To cultivate this love we practice the following 4 characteristics of love known as the Four Sublime States. This is part of a Buddhist practice but of course one does not have to be a Buddhist to practice. Continue reading “DRINK, SLEEP, LOVE – Part 3 of 3”

March 19, 2018March 29, 2018

DRINK, SLEEP, LOVE — Part 2 of 3

SLEEP

According to the National Sleep Foundation, most adults need at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night and adults over 65 require 7-8 hours. However, it is important to pay attention to your own needs by observing how you feel on different amounts of sleep.

Are you healthy and productive on 7 hours or do you need 9 hours of sleep to get you into gear? Scientific studies have shown that just a very small group of people require less sleep than mentioned above.

We sleep for many reasons:

Enriches our ability to learn, memorize and make logical decisions
Improves our psychological health. Dreaming also has benefits
Supports our immune system and metabolic systems
Fine tunes the balance of insulin and glucose
Regulates our appetite and supports intestinal and cardiovascular health
Lowers blood pressure
Can prevent infection and ward off all kinds of illnesses
Can lower cancer risk

Continue reading “DRINK, SLEEP, LOVE — Part 2 of 3”

March 14, 2018March 19, 2018

DRINK, SLEEP, LOVE – Introduction (Part 1 of 3)

Providing chronic pain support is an important part of my services and education for you. I will be publishing a comprehensive series that addresses three of the tools that may ease chronic pain: drinking water, adequate and restful sleep, and deep love.

As we have discussed elsewhere, many of us suffer from chronic pain. For example, arthritis can cause stiffness and pain in the joints. Pain can result from various inflammatory conditions, post surgery, etc. Research tells us that the intensity of the pain can be reduced or modified in various non-pharmaceutical ways.

Pain is modified by taming the unpleasant feelings and thoughts associated with the pain. Some ways to accomplish this include a mindfulness practice, guided relaxation, healthy eating, gentle exercise, massage and yoga to name just a few. Continue reading “DRINK, SLEEP, LOVE – Introduction (Part 1 of 3)”