If it feels like your body is under siege, regardless of whether you’ve had the virus, you’re not imagining things. The Atlantic confirms that you’re probably a “stiff, hunched-over, itchy, sore, headachy husk.”
While empirical evidence of the impact of COVID-related stress on health is still being gathered, healthcare professionals anecdotally report an uptick in complaints. For example, you might be experiencing things like tendonitis, carpal tunnel, or neck and back pain from the daily online grind from your couch or kitchen table, only to grind your teeth all night until they crack.
Clearly, the chronic pain epidemic is expanding. And crafty marketers are cashing in on our suffering with relaxation drinks, promising bliss in a bottle from calm-inducing ingredients like l-theanine, magnesium, and CBD.
As a meditation teacher, I can tell you chugging anything called “Tranquini” will do nothing beyond perhaps giving you gas. Instead, fortify yourself with mind-body practices — essential weapons in your agony-busting arsenal.
Every Body Hurts
While pain is physiological, suffering is a mental affliction. The ancients knew this, which is why meditation has been a critical health tool for thousands of years.
The CDC reports that one in five adults lives with chronic pain, often turning to opioids, which compounds the problem. To combat that spiral, scientists are researching more holistic multi-disciplinary approaches, including meditation and yoga.
In a 2020 study conducted in Oregon where access to care, addiction, and cost are challenges, osteopath Dr. Cynthia Marske provided eight weeks of mindfulness and hatha yoga training to patients suffering from chronic pain and depression. Having seen encouraging results — 89% of subjects reported being able to cope and function better — Marske noted:
… Mindful yoga and meditation can help improve the structure and function of the body, which supports the process of healing. Curing means eliminating disease, while healing refers to becoming more whole. With chronic pain, healing involves learning to live with a level of pain that is manageable. For this, yoga and meditation can be very beneficial.
This is in addition to the 3000+ studies that show meditation improves your general well-being, reduces depression, anxiety and stress, increases productivity, improves self control, and even changes the composition of your brain for the better. Soon, not meditating may be seen as pain in itself.
Om the Pain Away
Additional evidence shows meditation restructures your brain, boosting cortical thickness for less pain sensitivity. It also allows you to disengage cognitively and improve sensory processing of discomfort. And research shows that meditation releases bliss chemistry, like dopamine and serotonin, while decreasing stress-driving adrenaline and cortisol.
Thanks to the mainstreaming of meditation, relief is in reach with hundreds of techniques available. Apps like Calm and Headspace are enjoying unprecedented growth, and we’ve got a quick guide here on Further to help you pick the right meditation practice for you.
So don’t hesitate to meditate. It’s the only approach that’s truly all gain, no pain.
Groundbreaking New Study Shows Yoga And Meditation Benefit Physical And Mental Health (Forbes)
