REDUCE STRESS, ANXIETY, AND PAIN

"Regaining health is not just about finding all the pieces of the puzzle,

but also about knowing how to put them together into a meaningful whole."

- Eva Moberg

When suffering from pain, much of your attention, understandably, revolves around the pain and how it limits you. The same goes for stress and anxiety. When stressed, you think about everything that stresses you out and become even more stressed. Having anxiety increases the fear of getting more anxiety, which in turn amplifies the anxiety. And the worry that the pain will never go away creates muscle tension, which in turn increases the pain, and so the vicious circle begins.

Stress, anxiety, and pain trigger similar mechanisms in the brain and our nervous system. Trying to focus on what you can do instead of what you can't do because of your symptoms is a wise advice from a neurological perspective.

According to recent research, focusing on symptoms actually strengthens the synaptic pathways in the brain that maintain your symptoms. Redirecting your focus toward what is possible to do despite the symptoms, instead generates new and more positive synaptic connections in the brain. This, in turn, means that in the long run, you will actually be able to reduce your symptoms, whether they relate to stress, anxiety, or pain.

However, it is usually a significant challenge to shift the focus from symptoms to what is possible to do. This requires effective tools to use. The "stopping exercise" and "breathing in a square" are two excellent exercises that help you break old habits and shift your focus.

You can find them in my book "Regaining Balance, the Swedish Healthcare Method to Reduce Stress, Anxiety and Pain".  In the book, there are also more in-depth explanations of how the connection between thought, feeling, and body works, and tips on what you can do to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain.

About the book...