January 22, 2018
First “real” session (no more paperwork to fill out!). Francis is gone for 10 days on some kind of “mission trip” so Dr. Whitehead was the primary presenter. She showed a video of a TED talk by a woman who had had massive body injuries and accompanying pain and told her story of persistence in “getting her life back.” I pointed out that this woman had the financial resources to do what she did, and Dr. Whitehead had to admit that was true.
She encouraged us to interact with each other by dividing us into small groups to discuss the video. Then she focused on “belly breathing” and had us practice for a long time. After that, we did relaxation/meditation and “gentle movement.” Our “homework” was to practice “mindful breathing” at home. I knew I could best do that (and the meditation) while in bed.
She ended with a group exercise on the impact of chronic pain, what factors “open the gate” for pain and what factors close it. The whole point was to NOT focus on the pain! Yeah, right, a lot easier said than done!
