I have chronic lower back pain and have tried everything. The medications, particularly the muscle relaxants, make me loopy. How could this sort of program help me?

Mindfulness can help people dealing with pain in a number of ways. It can help you to learn how to stop resisting the pain and thereby soften muscles and relax even in the midst of the pain. Stopping the contractions that are the body’s natural reaction to pain can by itself reduce the pain.

It also helps you to distinguish between the direct sensation of pain and the thoughts and stories your mind is telling you about the pain. So for example, you may be telling yourself that the pain will last forever, which can contribute to the bracing around the pain and exacerbate or extend those sensations. Once you learn these distinctions and how to let go of the thoughts that exacerbate the pain, it can reduce the sensations and increase your overall quality of life.

Diane Reibel, PhD
Director, Mindfulness Institute
The Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals