Many people believe that their burden in life is to suffer emotional and physical pain. Some assume that “it is their cross to bear.” Others assume that there is no way out of it, other than distracting oneself with entertainment and hobbies, or anaesthetizing their brains with pain killers, alcohol or other psychotropic substances. Still others just shrug it off as something that accompanies life and that should not be taken too seriously. In psychiatry, these are all called coping mechanisms, and the ability to cope with the stressors in life without causing undesirable or additionally uncomfortable side effects is sometimes referred to as having good coping skills.
The suggestion that there is a natural way to truly transcend all emotional and physical pain and suffering is rarely taught or discussed. The very notion that human beings have a mechanism which is built into their brains which can do this is almost never addressed.[1] However, the fact is that we do have such neurological hardware and persistent effort is required to activate it. It is a separate faculty of consciousness which is not cognitive (thinking or visualizing), it is not emotion or feelings, it is not behavioral or anything to do with taking action, and it is not sensory, such as anything directly related to the five senses. For want of a better label it is called mindfulness.
Most of us have some mindfulness which allows us to integrate those other faculties of consciousness and remain effective and active in life. Since it is derived from our prefrontal cortex primarily, injury to this part of our brain from a concussion, a tumor, or from chemicals, can make the faculty of mindfulness much harder to discover or develop. A universal component of all mental disorders is a loss of mindfulness, often caused by those injurious conditions. Conversely, the strengthening of mindfulness through regular practice lessens the likelihood of mental illness. In fact, all the hundreds of chronic medical disorders that have been “treated” with mindfulness training have been shown in peer-reviewed studies to improve dramatically.
Mindfulness works through a process sometimes referred to as paradoxical change. By embracing the direct experience of pain and suffering, by experiencing it directly and persistently, through the application of mindfulness practice, the pain and suffering lessens or disappears completely. Beginners are often encouraged to “disappear” common aches and pains or headaches, to become familiar with this important attribute of mindfulness. Actually, well-studied neurological mechanisms are utilized to activate this pain-disappearing effect of mindfulness. Thus, all chronic symptoms are “grist for the mill”[2] so to speak and can be used to deepen mindfulness.
Besides only emotional and physical pain relief, many medical conditions are healed with mindfulness practice as well. Simply search Google in your computer and type in “mindfulness effects on XYZ.” Fill in the “XYZ” with almost any medical or psychiatric disorder, and sure enough, researchers somewhere have studied it and have shown that mindfulness benefits those who suffer from whatever medical or psychiatric condition you search for. Mindfulness is a universal antidote.
Again, almost no one promotes the fact that we are designed with a neurological apparatus that is designed by evolution to enhance this faculty of mindfulness, which can greatly relieve any physical pain or emotional suffering. Those who have invested their lives into serious mindfulness practice will often testify that it can relieve all pain and suffering, and they will often be happy to explain how that has happened for them. The time is now for all of psychiatry, psychology and medicine to embrace this modality of healing. Mindfulness should be learned and practiced by all healthcare providers, and if one is not teaching it to their patients, they should at least refer most of their patients to a mindfulness training group. Generally, children eight years old and older have had enough neurological development to engage in mindfulness practice.
We are not supposed to have to endure pain and suffering, especially when almost everyone has this dormant equipment in their brain that is designed to make it lessen and disappear. Mindfulness training can make the practice of the healing arts more effective for all practitioners and patients. At this point in history, given the wide availability of mindfulness training, there is no excuse now to let anyone suffer from a lack of such treatment which can only enhance all other modalities of treatment.
[1] Gant C (2019) Awaken Your Godly Brain: The Undeniable Link Between Brain Chemistry and Function, Sustainable Happiness and Spirituality. See: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Awaken+Your+Godly+Brain&i=stripbooks&crid=2N6Q9CD89IIM3&sprefix=awaken+your+godly+brain%2Cstripbooks%2C81&ref=nb_sb_noss
[2] See: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/grist+for+the+mill – Something that initially seems bad or negative but is ultimately used in a positive way by someone. A famous book on this subject carries that title: Grist for the Mill: Awakening to Oneness (2014) by Ram Dass and Stephen Levine