Читать книгу The Bellator Instinct: Reclaiming Your Life From Chronic Pain - Артем Тюльников - Страница 6

Think of pain and anxiety as being locked in a cycle, each one feeding the other. Pain cranks up your worry, and that heightened anxiety, in turn, lowers your pain threshold. It makes every signal feel louder, every sensation more intense.

Trying to fight your way out of this loop can feel exactly like drowning. Picture yourself in deep water. Now imagine that instead of trying to swim, you’re desperately pouring more water into the space around you, filling it with emails, notifications, news alerts, and updates. You might think you’re managing, but you’re just adding weight. These things don’t save you; they sink you, making every gasp for air harder than the last.

So, your first goal isn’t to find the shore. It’s to learn how to breathe right here, in the water. This means accepting where you are, even if it feels overwhelming and strange. Acceptance is your first full breath. Once you can breathe, you can start to notice what’s flooding your life. You can begin to turn off the taps.

As you do this, something shifts. The water level starts to fall. You begin to see that this wasn’t a bottomless ocean after all. It was just a path forward, completely obscured by everything you were pouring into it. Clear the water, and the way becomes visible.

Remember, your worry, that constant tension, and the voice of self-criticism, they are all part of that heavy water. They amplify the pain.

Your mission is to lower the anxiety. As you do, the pain will begin to loosen its grip.

Start with one brave, simple act. Turn off most of the notifications on your phone. I know, in our world, that can feel like shutting down a vital sense. It’s a big step. But it is your step. It’s you, stopping one source of the flood.

From there, build your new way of breathing. Try meditation, gentle yoga, or five minutes of focused breathing. Sing out loud. Be intimate. Consume news with intention, don’t let it pour into your mind unchecked. Give yourself permission to step back from the chaos of the world.

When I was in the deepest part of my struggle, I turned off every single notification on my phone. I just needed silence from the digital noise. It was only later I realized that this wasn't me retreating from life. It was my first real act of taking control back from the pain that was running my life. That one small choice changed everything.

It let me set my own rhythm. I decided when to check in with the world, when to connect with friends, when to learn. It was a single drop of calm in an ocean of distress, but it was a start. That simple digital hygiene created the space for other changes. Collectively, these steps didn’t just reduce my nerve pain, they dissolved it.

I had been flooding my own life for years, then blaming the world for the storm. Once I saw one source, I could see the others. One by one, I turned them off. I didn't just get better; my entire condition transformed.

Now, look at your own daily life. What are your sources of that heavy, flooding water? What brings you stress, fear, or anxiety? What can you do to slow the flow? Can you avoid one trigger for an afternoon? Can you lessen its power?

Learn to recognize the little habits that pour more anxiety into your day. Then, with kindness, begin to do them less. Your calm will grow. The pain’s sharp edge will soften.

Don’t look for a perfect, dramatic solution. You don’t need to quit the internet or move to the woods. Just start by minimizing the small, daily things that feed the anxiety. Be patient. In time, the pain will recede.

And please, be gentle with yourself if progress feels slow. Old habits feel like shelter, even when they’re hurting us. Treat yourself with compassion.

Think of it like building a muscle. You don’t start by doing 50 perfect push-ups. You start with 5, then 10. You won’t see changes immediately, but you trust the process. The strength comes with consistency.

This is the same. By practicing what’s in this guide, you’ll find that every few days, you are a little more at ease. And one day, you’ll realize you’re breathing freely. You’ll notice that you feel less pain.