Mindfulness Group For Chronic Pain

A powerful method of cultivating joy and freedom in our lives is training our mind to be present and accepting. Mindfulness is this quality. Mindfulness training has grown substantially in medical and psychotherapeutic settings over the past twenty years. Often credited with origins in Buddhism, mindfulness is an ability we all have, yet uncommonly cultivate.

Mindfulness-based groups, such as those initiated by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Marsha Linehan, and others, offer training that has shown to be efficacious for alleviating depression, anxiety, pain, emotional reactivity and stress. Fundamentally, such groups are about practicing and training our minds to stay with and accept our here-and-now circumstances, whether pleasant or unpleasant.

Mindfulness has become a foundation in my daily life and psychotherapy work. I have practiced mindfulness meditation for over fifteen years and led groups over the past five years. I trained in California and Massachusetts with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teachers trained by Kabat-Zinn. The groups I lead meet weekly and have education, practice and sharing components similar to MBSR formats.

When we cultivate mindfulness, we learn the difference between primary pain (existential pain such as cold, loss, sickness) and secondary pain (our reactivity to primary pain such as being angry, depressed or fearful about our circumstance). From our direct experiences, we see that primary pain becomes acceptable and secondary pain becomes optional. Concentration and relaxation are also common byproducts of the training. Overtime with practice, mindfulness becomes a psychological power and skill that we can apply most anywhere and anytime in our lives to increase ease and reduce distress. It affords us awareness and the freedom to choose how to relate to difficult physical, emotional and mental states.