Читать книгу The Bellator Instinct: Reclaiming Your Life From Chronic Pain - Артем Тюльников - Страница 8

Let's talk about pain as a habit. It's one we never wanted, but it's a pattern our nervous system can learn. Every time we feel that familiar ache or sting, our instinct is to panic. We brace ourselves, we get scared, and we dread what comes next. Without realizing it, each time we react this way, we're deepening a well-worn groove in our brain, tightly linking the sensation of pain to a storm of fear and worry.

But here is where we have power: we can carve a new path. That intense connection begins to soften the moment we choose a different response. We can start to change the pattern.

So, when the pain whispers (or shouts), try this. First, just notice it. Say to yourself, "Ah, there it is." Acknowledge its presence without fighting it. Then, gently remind yourself, "This sensation won't harm me. It is a false alarm." When you worry about it less, you withdraw its power.

Your new goal is to meet the pain with a feeling of safety, not fear. With calm, not catastrophe.

The most important step in this is to catch the fear. I know this sounds simple, but it takes practice. These scared, negative thoughts are automatic. If you've lived with them for years, they might just feel like background noise. Start listening to that inner dialogue. The moment you notice that familiar spike of fear: "Oh no, here it comes," or "This is going to be terrible", that's your cue.

You've spotted it. Now, don't follow it down the rabbit hole. It’s so easy to get swept up in those thoughts, to start imagining the worst and feeding the panic. Try, just for now, to not give them all your attention. Let them be like a radio playing in another room. This isn't about winning a battle against your thoughts the first time. It's about changing your relationship with them, slowly. As you do, they will start to lose their automatic grip on you.

I want to be honest with you. Learning to face pain without fear is incredibly hard. Pain is scary. It’s your body shouting a warning, and telling it to quiet down feels completely unnatural.

But when you learn to meet that signal with calm assurance, you do something revolutionary. You soothe your overwhelmed nervous system. You teach your brain to recognize the false alarm. And in doing so, you begin to silence the pain itself.

You might be convinced your back pain is caused by sitting, or your headache by bright lights. With neuroplastic pain, the activity isn't the true cause, it's just a trigger your brain has mistakenly linked with danger. The beautiful part is that these links can be broken.

Think about it: haven't you had moments when you were lost in a great conversation, a hobby, or a movie, and suddenly realized your pain had faded? In those moments of absorption, you stopped feeding the fire. You accidentally turned off the danger signals simply by feeling safe and engaged.

These moments are your secret clues. They are proof that your pain can fade. It often follows patterns, flaring with stress or easing with distraction. Your mission is to learn from these exceptions. They are the blueprint for your new way of being. Let's build on them together.