De-Personalize the Pain
As we move through life, external focus on our circumstances occurs. Things like:
I got caught in traffic. He/She made me so mad. If they just would…….
Learning to embrace and understand our personal, physical self is a big part of well-being. The experience of pain is the area we will explore today. Try to remain curious and open as you go through this exercise.
Think about an everyday chore or tasks that you have to do. Laundry, planning or preparing meals, feeding the animals, going to work….You get the idea.
Write a quick story from your perspective. What you did; how you felt about it.
Use words like I, me, my, or mine to describe the story.
NOW, tell the same story without any personalization. You cannot use the words I, me, my, or mine (or your name) in the re-write.
- How difficult was it to write it without placing yourself in the story?
- How did it feel to see it from the second point of view?
- What was the major difference between the two stories?
Next, repeat the practice of personalized and non-personalized stories with a painful experience. Remember, this can be physical or emotional pain. For this exercise though, choose a pain level around 2, 3, or 4. (on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being lowest, 10 being extreme)
With the repeat of this exercise in regards to pain, ask yourself the same 3 questions above.
Close the exercise with this final question.
How might this experience support you in the future?
